Taylor Swift returns to us this year with her much anticipated, spanking new pop spectacle “The Life of a Showgirl”, featuring other artists such as Max Martin, Shellback, and Sabrina Carpenter. The album itself is widely ambitious, giving a new look and aesthetic for Swift.
Ultimately, in reality, this ends up being an exterior to present a frustrating vehicle to reveal a concept that is very thin and leaves us wanting more.
The thing that stands out as being the most frustrating of all is that Swift has all the resources, time and heart to tell her story as a multi-billion dollar artist. There are tools available to give us insight into the pressures she had thrust upon her.
She lives in a world that is alien to us, which would have presented a golden opportunity for her to invite us into this world, this “Showgirl” life. “The Life of a Showgirl” barely captures this idea. Worse, it gives us the tiniest drop of it. It is mentioned in tracks like “Elizibeth Taylor”, but it’s never fleshed out enough to give the idea any space to breathe and allow Taylor to be seen. We never get admission, just catchy hooks smoothed out through overproduction.
While the isolation of Kitty, a character in the song, is discussed in the album’s self-titled track with Sabrina Carpenter, it remains too comfortable.
Maybe this is intentional, to highlight the glamour and the good moments that present themselves to Swift, and it is possibly the criticism she talks about in “Cancelled”. Perhaps this led her to believe people think she complains too much, and that she should focus on the success rather than the struggle. However, it’s hard to think this is the case when the album feels like an attempt to ride off the success of artists, like Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan.
The hooks throughout this album, however, end up being the best part. “The Fate of Ophelia” definitely has potential to be a hit, as the hook in that song is just wonderful, along with the melodies in the chorus being so catchy.
Regardless of how hard it is trying to be deep with references to Shakespeare, Rapunzel and other works, it just doesn’t make it there. I loved the synth embedded throughout the album, and I wish we could have gotten more of it. I really liked “Eldest Daughter”. It felt more stripped and there were many things in it to appreciate, like the heartfelt piano.
“The Life of a Showgirl” succeeds in reminding us that Swift can still sell. However, I believe it fails at a goal that could have allowed Swift to connect more with her fans, and leads me to believe she has bought into a consumerist mindset.
The lyrics feel more like a mishmashed, constant rambling, rather than carrying any sort of narrative or intent. With that, we are left wanting more on our plates.
It will be interesting to see what Taylor Swift does in the future, and I would love to see more stripped down tracks like “Eldest Daughter”, or acoustic versions of the songs we got in “The Life of a Showgirl” that might come off stronger than their original interpretations.
Compared to her earlier albums this is definitely a departure from what she has shown in the past.
Article written by Mackenna Thurman
“The Life of a Show Girl” bracelet.
