By: Megan Dick | Staff Writer
Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, came out on October 3rd, 2025. She announced the record back in August on her fiancé Travis Kelce’s podcast. The marketing of the album was well done, increasing overall anticipation.
Before long, the night of the release rolled around. I anxiously awaited it with my housemates, staying up until midnight to listen. We really liked the first track on the album, “The Fate of Ophelia” and labeled it a bop. It was lyrically well done and had a great beat, so I was excited to listen to the rest of the soundtrack after this.
“Elizabeth Taylor” and “Opalite,” the next two songs on the album, were also enjoyable. We did not like them as much as “The Fate of Ophelia,” but they were still well done, notably the variety in tempo. I personally liked the lyrics of “Opalite,” especially “you were dancing through the lightning strikes” which did actually resonate with me.
After these few tracks, I thought that the album unfortunately went downhill; and most of my friends that are college-aged agree with me. Every other song that we listened to, we labeled as a flop. The lyrics at times had me physically cringing as I listened. Swift is typically a lyrical genius, so having surface-level lyrics was incredibly disappointing as a listener. If you only listen to the beat, the songs are solid. But what is the point of that? Lyrics hold so much meaning. If anything, the music and beat add to the significance of lyrics. Giving us The Tortured Poets Department, one of my favorite albums of hers, before The Life of a Showgirl also contributes to the disappointment, considering how vastly different the two are in terms of story-telling and lyricism.
While listening, I also picked up on the fact that the beat of some of her songs sounded like other popular songs. TikTok user @jarredjermaine made a video about this, which went viral. One of the most striking song similarities was “The Life of a Showgirl” to “Cool” by the Jonas Brothers. Another example was the song “Wood” to “I Want You Back” by the Jackson 5. I have to agree with @jarredjermaine, but give these songs a listen and form your own opinion!
Overall, I was unfortunately disappointed by this album. It will certainly be interesting to see what the next era for Swift looks and sounds like!
Photos from WikiCommons.
