Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, promised fans a behind-the-scenes look into her record-breaking Eras Tour as a glamorous, frightening, rapturous, and beautiful experience, and she delivered. In April 2024, The Tortured Poets Department faced criticism for being too lyrically dense, lacking visuals, and melancholic. With The Life of a Showgirl, Swift pivots tonally and visually from TTPD—trading in the antique typewriter for the sparkly dressing room.
Criticized upon every new album release, Swift is no stranger to public scrutiny; in fact, she invites it. WIth polarizing early reactions, Swift addressed the initial backlash in an Apple Music interview with Zane Lowe, “I welcome the chaos. The rule of show business is if it’s the first week of my album release and you are saying either my name or my album title, you’re helping,” Swift declared with a smirk. “And art, I have a lot of respect for people’s subjective opinions on art. I’m not the art police. It’s like everybody is allowed to feel exactly how they want.”
The general public’s key complaint lies in the lyrical decisions Swift makes, described online as “tone-deaf,” “cringe,” and “out-of-date” in various songs like “Father Figure” and “Eldest Daughter.” In the song “Father Figure,” Swift sings, “I can make deals with the devil because my dick’s bigger.” Swift plays into the culture of show business and its exploitative nature. “Eldest Daughter,”—a track 5, which is often considered the most vulnerable on Swift’s albums—contains the line “cause I’m not a bad bitch, and this isn’t savage.” Upon first listen, the lyrics may hit your ear the wrong way. Judged in context, these songs read as intentionally cheeky, and playful. While they’re no means her best-written lyrics, they’re enjoyable to dance along to. The Life of a Showgirl occasionally struggles with its tonal shifts, especially when compared to her previous albums.
Public dissection of Swift’s artistry is a historical phenomenon, especially at her level of fame and superstardom. In 2017, Swift released Reputation, which was met with disapproval from long-time fans who had memorialized her pop bible, 1989. It was too edgy and a step in the wrong direction from her innocent image at the time. Now, Reputation is one of her most revered records, unreplicable. The common theme in the release of a Taylor Swift album is initial hate that later softens. For Swift, whatever an album is “not” will be the main criticism she faces with any new project, but that’s what puts her in a league of her own. According to the numbers, Swift is only in competition with herself. The Life of a Showgirl is a perfect example of an album being judged based on an artist’s catalog rather than a separate entry. The album experiments with less-poetic lyricism to attract a different audience, and fairly reflects the duality of her public and private lives.
Despite public opinion, Taylor Swift utilizes a strong writing technique in The Life of a Showgirl—storytelling, reminiscent of her sister albums folklore and evermore. In both albums, Taylor Swift weaves narratives, such as a teenage love triangle in the songs “cardigan,” “august,” and “betty” featured on folklore, and the murder-mystery “no body, no crime” on evermore. On both of these albums, Swift writes from the perspectives of different characters, offering nuance, insight, and multi-faceted meaning to each of her characters’ stories and arcs. Similarly, on The Life of a Showgirl, Swift draws from her personal experiences through the lens of different characters in songs like “The Fate of Ophelia,” “Elizabeth Taylor,” “Father Figure,” and “The Life of a Showgirl.” The Life of a Showgirl takes a deeper look into Swift’s personal life, her feuds, her public romance with Travis Kelce, and the cutthroat music industry. Swift’s use of characters gives The Life of a Showgirl theatrical depth and written sophistication.
In “Father Figure,” Swift depicts, presumably, a music executive who “protect[s] the family.” The story includes betrayal and a lack of loyalty. A slight nuance in the last chorus gives headway to this narrative and changes the meaning altogether, a signature of Swift’s writing style: “I was your father figure / We drank that brown liquor,” which highlights the more nefarious side of show business. The change to the word “was” from the original lyric, “I’ll be your father figure / I drink that brown liquor,” signals a collapse in the relationship. Her anger is palpable and on full display as she sings, “You want a fight? You found it, I got the place surrounded / You’ll be sleeping with the fishes before you know you’re drowning.” Finally, the song, “The Life of a Showgirl (feat. Sabrina Carpenter)” tells the story of a performer, Kitty, who warns an aspiring artist of the dangers of show business, “Hеy, thank you for the lovely bouquet / You’re sweeter than a peach / But you don’t know the life of a showgirl, babe.” The final song explores Kitty’s character and the lessons Swift has learned from her colossal fame over the years, passing it along to a new generation of performers.
The Life of a Showgirl’s producers Max Martin and Karl Johan Schuster “Shellback” offer infectious beats that make you want to, need to, get up and dance. Thriving in her pop roots and dabbling in soft rock, Swift gives several high-quality vocal performances. She layers melodies, harmonizes to perfection, and belts when needed. The production matches the ferocity of her lyrics. Her song “Opalite” is a prime example of pop perfection meeting with great lyricism. If the lyrics, “But my Mama told me / It’s alright / You were dancing through the lightning strikes / Sleepless in the onyx night / But now the sky is opalite,” don’t get you up and moving, I’m not sure what will. On the other hand, if the joyful, vibrant beats of “Opalite” don’t get you dancing, “CANCELLED!” can give you a nostalgic Reputation vibe and will leave listeners feeling defiant and vindicated, “Good thing I like my friends cancelled / I like ’em cloaked in Gucci and in scandal.” Songs like “Wi$h Li$t” and “Honey” are light-hearted tracks that amplified Swift’s romance with Travis Kelce. All of the songs on the album evoke the life behind the showgirl.
As a whole, The Life of a Showgirl is a strong entry in Taylor Swift’s discography. While not her best pop entry, it certainly outpaces her older records. It’s a sincere entry depicting her life during the Eras Tour and her budding romance. The record exudes happiness and cleverly crafts the story of her wants and desires, while showcasing the obstacles she’s overcome as an artist in the music industry, and inevitably, Swift’s commercial success is a guarantee. Swift’s ubiquitous style will always attract mass listenership and discourse. A look at the spectacle of Swift’s personal relationships and public clashes will turn heads, whether it is critically acclaimed or not.
Overall, this may not be your favorite Taylor Swift record, and that’s fine. And if it is, that’s great too. I’m keeping it one hundred, like Swift does in “The Fate of Ophelia.” But either way, Taylor Swift will continue to break records and leave an indelible impact on the music industry. Already, The Life of a Showgirl is the most-streamed album in a single day in 2025 on Spotify so far. In terms of vinyls, Swift has beaten Adele’s 10-year record of first album week sales, 3.48 million, and is on track to climb up to the 4 million mark. The Life of a Showgirl is a look behind the curtain of Swift’s personal life—a 12-song run of love, show business, and caution for a new generation of artists aspiring to reach new heights. Taylor Swift—“the music industry”—will continue to break records, enjoy her engagement to Travis Kelce, and live the life of a showgirl!
