“You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby,” Taylor Swift sings in “Elizabeth Taylor.”
The Life of a Showgirl, Swift’s 12th studio album, released on Friday. Following last year’s 31-song The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, this 12-song performance feels unfinished. Working with producers Max Martin and Shellback of Red, 1989 and reputation, expectations ran high. Written during “The Eras Tour,” the album captures the glamour of the show, but behind the curtain, scattered clothes and makeup suggest a creative process cut short.
The TikTok-ification of music ruins a genuine listen of this album. Lyrical shock yielded criticism, but catchy songs will soon spark new trends. Swift weaves a commentary on social media throughout the album, but it gets lost in the delivery. If initial reactions to TTPD and Midnights say anything about internet culture, the most raunchy, cringe-worthy lyrics will go viral, but eventually get swept under the rug as the double entendres sink in.
“I love the blending of old and new with lyrics,” Swift said about the opening track, “The Fate of Ophelia.”
Her unserious verbiage makes some lines a hard listen. “Wood” might reference a viral 2021 tweet in its NSFW lyrics, proving the song slightly ironic, but not enough to save it from its own tacky fate. It feels as if Swift wants to sound lyrically like her friend, and only feature on the album, Sabrina Carpenter, but the jokes don’t land.
Subtler than TTPD’s name dropping on “thanK you aIMee,” fans speculate “Actually Romantic” references Charli XCX, “Everything is romantic” singer. They also theorize that “Father Figure” represents Big Machine Records’ Scott Borchetta, who sold her masters to Scooter Braun. “Father Figure” interpolates George Michael’s 1987 hit.
“I’ll be your father figure … / I can make deals with the devil because my dick’s bigger,” Swift sings.
Looking past Swift saying “dick,” the song criticizes a darker theme of exploitation in the music industry. The clean version says “check,” which makes more sense, given the next lyric, “This love is pure profit, just step into my office.”
1989’s “Wildest Dreams” music video and reputation’s “Ready for It…?” reference Elizabeth Taylor. TLOAS’ “Elizabeth Taylor” honors the “quintessential” showgirl in a reputation-esque love song through the lens of fame. Alongside “CANCELLED!,” “Elizabeth Taylor” feels most reminiscent of the 2017 record, but lost the key to emulating it.
Carpenter, the “ultimate showgirl,” Swift said, appears on the title track, closing the album. A live recording of the duo closes out the song and “The Eras Tour,” bringing back memories as they say, “Goodnight!”
“It’s much more than just the glitter and the glamour,” Swift said in the Amazon Music track-by-track. “It’s an ode to show business and the women who move through those pitfalls and obstacle courses.”
The Life of a Showgirl adds a chapter to Swift’s old Hollywood-inspired anthology, despite millennial-coded lyrics revealing her billionaire reality. Imitating pop masterpieces 1989 and reputation, The Life of a Showgirl tries to call to a time that Swift herself said proved impossible to recreate — and the old Taylor can’t come to the phone.
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