Haters Gonna Hate
Taylor Swift’s twelfth studio album The Life of a Showgirl dropped on October 3. In it’s first week, 3.5 million copies sold in the U.S.–breaking the previous record set by Adele’s 25–and the accompanying film “The Official Release Party of a Showgirl” grossed $50 million worldwide in its opening weekend. The music incorporates elements of 1970’s funk, 1950’s doo-wop, and 1980’s disco-pop with accents of trap beats, R&B and grunge.
I took my sweet time before I finally popped this album on. I knew it was produced by Shellback and Max Martin–the same producers she had for Reputation (2017), 1989 (2014) and Red (2012)–but this time Jack Antonoff was nowhere in sight. Swift writes with the inspiration of her real life experience, and even before the album was released she told fans it was created during The Eras Tour. I was anticipating songs about her new fiance, about being in the spotlight, about the grueling work of a tour that size and the amazing shows that make it all worth it, and all of it was being served by Shellback and Martin. Before it even came out, The Life of a Showgirl was already the biggest pop album of the year and I was hyped.
A meme circling the internet described the album as “Reputation in a trench coat with only lingerie underneath.” Having finally listened through a few times myself without distraction, this description hits perfectly. Musically, the album did not take Swift in a new direction as Red and Reputation did, or even Tortured Poets Department (2024) with its 31 track listing. The Life of a Showgirl is a classic twelve track album with timeless sounds reminiscent of various decades. Many have criticized this album for not bringing an innovative new direction, but I view that as purposeful. Showgirls have come before her, and showgirls will come after her. This album is not just about Swift’s life but about all showgirls, and she incorporated that concept into the music.
I don’t find any of the tracks skippable. The Life of a Showgirl flows like one big story giving you a peek into showgirl life. Let’s dive into the album making headlines across the world and find out what has the haters up in arms and Swifties jumping to Taylor’s defense.
Track 1: “The Fate of Ophelia”
The first track takes us into a Shakespearean world where Swift combines themes from Shakespeare’s Hamlet with more modern language. For those who aren’t familiar, Ophelia is a noblewoman in Hamlet who is eventually driven to madness because of Hamlet’s mixed signals towards her, and eventually her madness causes her to drown. The very first line of the song, “I heard you calling on the megaphone” is a reference to her fiance Travis Kelce trying to get her attention for a date through his podcast, and the whole song tells the story of how Travis saved her from the same fate as Ophelia.
One thing that caught me with this opening track is Swift’s strong vocals. The chorus has her showing off vocal flips, not to mention the depth of her vocal range throughout the song. A simple drum beat keeps the song moving, and the background vocals fill the space between the instruments and Swift’s lead vocal while also adding a touch of the 1960s. This felt like a strong track to open the album with, showing off Swift’s vocal range and lyrical prowess.
Track 2: “Elizabeth Taylor”
Swift released a “Track by Track Version” of the album in which she provides a brief explanation of each song. She describes actress Elizabeth Taylor as one of the ultimate showgirls in the sense that she was under an intense microscope that she handled with humor and grace. Swift explores the relationship between romance and fame with references to Elizabeth Taylor throughout. My favorite reference is right at the beginning of the chorus: “I’d cry my eyes violet.” Elizabeth Taylor was known for having eyes that appeared violet.
The song incorporates a light trap beat, with musical drops and strong harmonies every time the song title is sung. As it fades out, some of the instrumentation begins to drop out as Swift sings “All my white diamonds and lovers are forever / don’t you ever end up anything but mine…”
Track 3: “Opalite”
Swift discussed “Opalite” on Jimmy Fallon’s show, explaining that opalite is a man-made opal. She took that metaphor and created a song about how in life you have to choose joy and make your own happiness. The chorus is advice from her mother; she sings “You had to make your own sunshine / but now the sky is opalite” referencing that she made her own happiness and joy like man made opalite.
This is the most doo-wop track of the album, particularly in the chorus. The verses and pre-choruses have a bit more modern pop feel to them before hitting the classic doo-wop chord progression and vocals of the choruses. The bridge carries on the doo wop feel culminating in harmony stacking reminiscent of “Twist and Shout” before launching into the final chorus.
Track 4: “Father Figure”
This song tells the story of a protege and their mentor. On the track by track version of the album, Swift talks about how she’s always enjoyed stories like this and had always wanted to create a song with this theme. It’s a great addition to The Life of a Showgirl as this is a common experience in the entertainment industry. By the end of the song, the roles have shifted between the two characters and it’s now the mentor who needs the protege. The song is also a nod to George Michael’s “Father Figure”.
This one is a little slower than the previous three. The verses are light in instrumentation as Swift tells the story, but the chorus brings in high piano, bells and other instruments. Leading into the bridge are sweeping strings that along with the bells conjure songs like “Mr. Sandman” by The Chordettes. Swift loves a bridge, and she used this one to bring the listener into the inner thoughts of the mentor. The final chorus brings what Swift has called one of her favorite key changes that she’s ever done in a song, and it is so appropriately placed as it lifts the listener out of the mentor’s thoughts and back into the reality of the tables turning between the characters. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the excellent line “I can make deals with the devil because my dick’s bigger.” *chef’s kiss*
Track 5: “Eldest Daughter”
“Eldest Daughter” is Swift’s classic track 5 ballad. It explores how we all have a public life now with social media and how it’s hard sometimes to be sincere in a public persona. However, when people get close to you they get to see the real you.
The song’s second pre-chorus references how eldest daughters are often subject to extra pressure, and the entire song features beautiful layered harmonies built on a simple foundation of acoustic guitar.
Track 6: “Ruin the Friendship”
This song tells the story of a high school friendship and the regret of not taking a chance on the feelings they had for each other. Swift has played with this theme before, like in the song “Dress” off Reputation: “And if I get burned at least we were electrified.” She obviously feels strongly about living without regret.
While this one speaks straight to my hopelessly romantic heart, some of the lyrics are a little clunky. Halfway through the second verse is the line “Have fun / It’s prom” wedged between beautifully written lines that make it obvious she’s talking about prom. (Also, are we rhyming ‘fun’ with ‘prom’?) It’s a little on the nose compared to Swift’s usual style, but on my first listen the song’s story still had me tearing up at the end.
Track 7: “Actually Romantic”
“Actually Romantic” is allegedly about Charli xcx, fans pointing at the “boring Barbie” line as a reference to when Charli xcx said that about Swift. Swift has taken a little heat for releasing such an obvious diss track despite Charli xcx releasing a song about Swift first.
Sounding like it could have been a Weezer or Pixies song in another universe, this song goes a little harder than the others. She combines her classic pop sound with a little bit of grunge and her vocals drip with snarky sweetness. It has already gone viral in a video from California Governor Gavin Newsom who put the song over footage of himself with Donald Trump.
Track 8: “Wi$hLi$t”
This track examines how everyone has their own dreams and ‘wishlist’ of what they want. We see everyone’s lives through social media now and it’s easy to want what everyone else has, but the chorus chimes in with Swift’s wishlist. Swift commented on the track by track version that everyone has their own wishlist and while she hopes everyone’s wishes come true, she has her own list of wishes.
A couple slight sonic shifts (and a little more depression) and this song could have been on The Tortured Poets Department. It has similar vibes to “Down Bad” but with happier lyrics.
Track 9: “Wood”
Swift created this love song by exploring superstition and the ways in which we try to create good luck, such as knocking on wood. She explained to Jimmy Fallon that it started with this innocent idea about superstitions, and then became much more suggestive as she kept working on it. She acknowledged she got “carried away” in the studio with the song referencing Kelce’s manhood and the podcast he hosts with his brother in the lyrics.
This is also one of my favorites on the album. It starts with funk guitar a la “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5 and while she takes the sound in a more modern direction it still carries Jackson 5 vibes all the way through. The lyrics are giving Sabrina Carpenter–so much so that I checked to see if she had any writer’s credit for this one. She doesn’t, but obviously she had an influence on Swift’s bold lyrics.
Track 10: “CANCELLED!”
Being a showgirl–especially in the age of social media–means dealing with everyone weighing in on all your words and actions. On the track by track version, Swift talks about how she has been through it herself and has watched people she knows go through it, and she has made a point over the years to use her own judgement to decide who she wants to associate with instead of automatically siding with public opinion.
If your favorite era is Reputation, this is “Look What You Made Me Do” 2.0. The lyrics feel like they are 100% Swift’s voice and she keeps her vocals fairly light and breathy throughout the song, as if she feels no reason to yell–this is just how the world is.
Track 11: “Honey”
“Honey” is about how words that were once used to hurt you can be repurposed by someone who loves you to be more positive. She gives examples of times people have used terms of endearment passive aggressively towards her, but how her new love (who we know is Travis Kelce) uses all those terms affectionately and has changed her perspective on them.
What I really love is how she drops a little piano jazz run on the bridge, followed by a counter melody on clarinet. An R&B beat keeps this chill song moving and hits like a more upbeat version of “The 1” off of Folklore (2020).
Track 12: “The Life of a Showgirl”
The album wraps up with the title track. It tells the story of someone who wants to be just like their favorite showgirl. She gets the chance to talk to her idol, and the chorus explains to our main character that she doesn’t know what goes on behind the scenes and how hard it is. Our main character internalizes her idol’s advice, and succeeds in becoming a showgirl herself despite how tough it can be to deal with all of the downsides that come with being in the spotlight.
I love that Swift included real audio of herself and Carpenter from the last show of The Eras Tour (Vancouver). We hear Swift acknowledge her band, her dancers, and finally Carpenter mixed with cheers from the audience as the song fades out.
Swift has made appearances on all of the late night shows from Jimmy Fallon to Seth Meyers since the album’s release. In response to the album’s many critics, she explained that if you’re speaking her name or her album title in the first week of its release, you’re helping her. She added, “I’m not the art police. Everybody is allowed to feel exactly how they want, and what our goal is as entertainers is to be a mirror…What you’re going through in your life is going to affect whether you relate to the music I’m putting out at any moment.”
Swifties often say that if you aren’t a big Taylor Swift fan, it’s probably because you haven’t needed her music yet. Every Swiftie has their favorite era and it’s okay if The Life of a Showgirl isn’t yours, but Swift’s masterful execution of an album that truly encompasses a showgirl’s life can’t be denied alongside this record breaking release.
