"The Life of a Showgirl" Review: Continued Criticism For Taylor Swift

The Life of a Showgirl is the twelfth studio album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. The album was released on October 3 of this year through Republic Records after being recorded in Sweden with Max Martin and Shellback during the European leg of her 2024 “Eras Tour.” The album is an upbeat pop and soft rock record inspired by the tour and her overall outlook on her current life, such as her transition into becoming part of mainstream culture and her recent controversies. Although the album has charted in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, reaching platinum in New Zealand, Spain, and the UK, it is still under some amount of scrutiny, similar to her previously divisive albums Midnights (2022) and The Tortured Poet’s Department (2024).

This new album looks to trim the fat that previous Taylor Swift albums have been criticized for, such as her 2024 release, which had an excessive total of 31 tracks, and brings only 12 tracks to the table with a runtime of just 41:40. In this album, Swift also moved away from her tried-and-true producer Jack Antonoff in pursuit of a happier and brighter tone.

Here’s a short synopsis of the 12 tracks on the standard record:

The Fate of Ophelia looks much deeper into Swift’s personal relationship with her current partner than some of her and Martin’s previous work on 1989 ever did with her and ex-boyfriend Harry Styles. The title and track reference the famous play Hamlet by Shakespeare. This track is a very strong opener to the album.

Elizabeth Taylor is a very similar track to the album opener, while also addressing her shelf life as an artist. From a production standpoint, this features a good, more grandiose style of production with strings, large drums, etc. People have also gotten mad at Swift for comparing herself to famous actress Elizabeth Taylor, who the track is named after. Overall, it’s a relatively insignificant criticism of a great song.

Opalite concludes a relatively strong opening leg to the album and continues the themes from the first two tracks. There is speculation that this track is a diss on Swift’s fiancé’s ex-girlfriend, however this once again seems like unnecessary and invalid criticisms. The track doesn’t add much substance to the album, however it is a well written cut and an enjoyable listen.

Father Figure looks into Swift’s own character and characteristics as a paradoxically nurturing yet ruthless business-oriented person. Although the concept is interesting, lyrically this song lacks depth, however Martin’s production and songwriting shines through.

Eldest Daughter is the general consensus for where the album begins to dip in quality. The track is a piano ballad and talks about Swift’s depression and frustration with the scrutiny that she’s faced on the internet. However, this track has been criticized for out-of-touch lyrics.

Ruin the Friendship seems to revert to Swift’s older style and focal point, focusing on a story of a high school crush. However, the track takes a darker turn when the other character dies and focuses on the message that you should have pursued them earlier. This track has also been denounced for being out-of-touch, simple, and easily-misinterpreted. It doesn’t stand out from a musical standpoint either, blending into the middle of the album.

Actually Romantic is a pop-rock song that truly leans back into Swift and Martin’s work on 1989, with a stiff chord progression and drum track. Listeners on the internet have theorized that this track, which is a response to someone who is overly obsessed with Swift, is pointed at Charli xcx and is a response to her track Sympathy is a knife off of her 2024 release, Brat. These allegations have formed some amount of drama, as Charli xcx has become a culturally favored artist. Musically, this track also feels like an afterthought, lacking outstanding moments.

Wish List comes with a message about her desire to have a rural and secluded familial life, contrasting with other people who are more driven by materialistic purposes, and the track almost has a Christmas-like sound. Despite the message being received poorly, it’s musically one of the strongest and most unique on the album.

Wood sounds like some of Martin’s previous work with Maroon 5, such as One More Night, and has been criticized for surface-level, inconsequential, and uninspired lyrics.

Cancelled! has been criticized for Swift’s lyrics focusing on her friends, their wrongdoings, and her efforts to not be caught doing them. This can be interpreted in two ways:

Swift building up how unfavorably her friend group is perceived

Swift has genuinely malicious friends with malicious intentions, which would be an interesting choice amidst the Epstein File controversies that have unfurled across the US recently.

This is overall the most tone-deaf and problematic track on the entire album and, depending on how it ages, in her entire catalogue.

Honey is very milquetoast with few new ideas that weren’t discussed earlier in the album.

The Life of a Showgirl features Sabrina Carpenter but is an overall weak closer for the album. Although it attempts to lean into the showgirl aesthetic with commentary on fame and performance, it fails to be a grandiose finish and doesn’t feature Carpenter to her full abilities.

Overall, the album has been successful commercially and has been praised for moving away from the dreary and somber tone of her previous records and moving towards a brighter sound in the future. However, it has also been criticized for the aforementioned controversies with Charli xcx, milquetoast or uninspired lyricism, out-of-touch themes, and “stealing” from other artists. Lots of influence from other projects bleeds into this album, such as the Jonas Brothers’ Cool on the album closer, the Jackson 5’s I Want You Back on Wood, and influence from Lana Del Rey’s 2023 release Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. The album has received mixed reviews, including:

Metacritic: 70/100

AllMusic: 3.5/5.0

The Guardian: 2/5

The Independent: 4/5

The London Standard: 1/5

Rolling Stone: 5/5

theneedledrop: Light 4/10

Rate Your Music: 1.68/5.0

In conclusion, The Life of a Showgirl is far from Swift’s best work, fizzling out in the latter half of the album and dumbing down one of Swift’s strengths, her lyricism, to the point that the album almost feels made with commerciality in mind. Although it may fall short of the mark as an Album of the Year contender, and although it isn’t Swift’s best work, it's still an improvement both musically and commercially from her 2024 release due to its more involved production, less obnoxious tone, etc.