The Life of a Showgirl - Taylor Swift
- Suzannah Bedford
- Oct 5
- 6 min read
Taylor Swift's highly anticipated The Life of a Showgirl features her return to iconic producers Max Martin and Shellback. Marketed, through her fiancé's podcast New Heights, as a 'peek behind the curtain' with 'bangers’, expectations were set very high for swifties everywhere, but does Swift's planned return to pop perfection actually translate into the album? The Mic's Suzannah Bedford reports.
The lead single The Fate of Ophelia opens the album, immediately addressing the listener through the line 'I heard you calling on the megaphone'. Swift commands the listener to pay attention to her heightened showgirl persona and opens her Shakespearean retelling. The literary inspiration of the opener acts as a bridge between her previous album The Tortured Poets Department and The Life of a Showgirl by blending her poetic lyricism with darker pop. This synthy opener is solid, but for me, it fails in comparison to some of Swift's other track 1s - it's hook is very repetitive yet lacks any standout production or lyrical moments to make it truly memorable. However, its music video is a wonderful experience and significantly elevates the track through its mesmerising visuals and homage to various showgirl eras - definitely worth a watch!
The following track Elizabeth Taylor was the first written for the album and definitely presents the criticism of the spotlight that myself and other swifties expected from The Life of a Showgirl. Through lines like 'you're only as hot as your last hit baby', Taylor begins her critique on fame, creating parallels between her life and the criticisms that Elizabeth Taylor faced, but when placed beside some of her previous tracks about fame like Red's The Lucky One or TTPD's Clara Bow - there is a missing piece. Taylor's quintessential charm and storytelling seems lost behind her satirical, showgirl persona; lines like 'I would trade the Cartier for someone to trust (just kidding)' result in an only decent song that personally, I would not choose to listen to over some of her more cemented tracks.
Opalite, Wood and Ruin the Friendship are examples of Max Martin and Shellback's excellent production elevating the album. Opalite's airy electric guitar, Ruin the Friendship's distinctive funky bass and Wood's catchy guitar reminiscent of the Jackson 5 really carry these tracks. Ruin the Friendship is a standout on the album for me, as it seems like the song that is the most authentically Taylor Swift. It blends the successful pop production on this album with her signature storyteller approach to songwriting. The song, a poignant lesson from Taylor to her listeners that it is often better to shoot your shot with somebody, rather than wonder what could have happened if you had asked, builds to the lines 'I whispered at the grave, should've kissed you anyway'. Swift creates a clear an end to the story that allows her to share her life experiences and knowledge with the listeners, continuing the almost sisterly bond between Swift and her fans.
Throughout this album, Taylor steps into many different characterisations, most notably on Father Figure and CANCELLED!. The interpolation of George Michael's song of the same name, allows for Father Figure to be an immediately memorable track. Sonically, the darker, mellow synth on this song heightens Taylor's powerful persona, letting her depict the experience of overcoming someone who pretends to care, for their own gain by ultimately becoming more successful than them. The repetition of 'I'll protect the family' six times, could be Swift's allusion to regaining her masters of her first six albums through a similar power dynamic established in the song - something she continually expressed the importance of to her fans, making an unexpected, emotionally resonant track. Swift takes on a very different characterisation in CANCELLED!, through her unbothered, edgy persona that has previously been seen on tracks like Vigilante Shit and I Did Something Bad. She attempts to tackle the challenges of cancel culture, by turning it into something empowering. Despite its undeniably infectious beat, the excellent layering of her vocals and the signature electric guitar, often featured on her edgier tracks - CANCELLED! cannot help but feel out of touch. Swift's declaration that she '[likes her] friends cancelled' although perhaps intended as gritty satire, for me, comes across as ignorant, making it harder to enjoy what rightly should be one of the strongest tracks on the album.
"Where it has strong storytelling, it falls flat with its production or where it sounds incredibly catchy, it has quite jarring lyricism."
Taylor's lyricism does fall short on this album, perhaps most significantly on track five, Eldest Daughter. Swift's track fives are predominantly known for their sophisticated, relatable and emotional lyrics. On Eldest Daughter, as explained in the release party of The Life of a Showgirl, Taylor wanted to discuss the feeling of trying to seem 'cool' and how damaging that can be to someone’s identity. With this insight, the lyrics in the track do make more sense, however her delicate vocals and guitar beautifully lend themselves to her characteristically devastating track five format, so lines like 'I'm not a bad bitch/ and this isn't savage' can't help but feel out of place. Eldest Daughter personally strikes me as Taylor taking a risk on something new, but it just not working towards a cohesive song, or album.
Actually Romantic is a continuation of Swift's empowered, confident persona through a mockery of someone who talks about you behind your back - Taylor uses this song to belittle people who make petty criticisms of her, as the amount of attention they give her is 'actually romantic'. In the release party of The Life of a Showgirl, Taylor states that in her industry, 'all attention is affection', and this track's 2000s inspired electric guitar, Taylor's humours yet confrontational lyrics and playful vocals really deliver that message. Actually Romantic, is a fun, carefree, rebellious track that is truly one of the album's highlights.
Wi$h Li$t and Honey are the album's typical love songs. Honey sonically appears very similar to Taylor's album Lover and it serves as a competent track about love being able to transform experiences for somebody. It's relatively simple synth-pop production doesn't make it stand out, but it is a perfectly fine love song that's worth a listen, particularly for Lover fans. Personally, I think that Wi$h Li$t is one of the album's lowest points, as again it has a relatively generic sound and doesn't have anything particularly notable vocally or lyrically. The song deals with social desires, but in fact Taylor expressing that she just wants her partner and 'a couple kids'. Although a completely understandable sentiment for Taylor, lyrically, this song lacks her typical passion and drive, both in the song's content and how she is expressing her desires - so when compared to some of her love songs with similar themes, Wi$h Li$t simply falls short.
The album's titular closer, The Life of a Showgirl returns to the themes explored throughout Elizabeth Taylor, but this track does have Taylor's signature storytelling. This song shows someone going to see a showgirl called 'Kitty' and being completely inspired by her, but 'Kitty' warning them about how gruelling showbusiness can be and then the song's speaker reflecting on her life as a showgirl. Although again, lacking some of the complexity seen in some of Taylor's songs about fame, this collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter, does feel like a return to form for Taylor. The sound of this song is a little underwhelming, rather unfortunately as Taylor's and Sabrina's vocals complement each other wonderfully and perhaps with a slightly more impactful production this song could have been fantastic. However, the song's Era's Tour themed outro perfectly wraps up the visuals of the album and ends on a fond high.
In my opinion, The Life of a Showgirl is an album that was filled with potential, but unfortunately does miss the mark a little bit. Where it has strong storytelling, it falls flat with its production or where it sounds incredibly catchy, it has quite jarring lyricism. Taylor's attempt at creating a catty, yet confident showgirl persona sacrificed some of her most well-known features of her songwriting, ultimately making for an underwhelming experience, compared to her back catalogue.
Suzannah Bedford
Edited by Daniela Roux
Album photo courtesy of Taylor Swift, YouTube video courtesy of New Heights
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