Taylor Swift’s new album, The Life of a Showgirl, was released on October 3rd of this year and has since received mixed reviews. Some fans have praised it as a “no skip album,” while others describe it as “the worst album she’s ever released.”
Some listeners claim this album feels lazy, with lyricism that falls short of her previous work. However, this perception is not entirely accurate.
For example, her song “Fate of Ophelia” is a reference to Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. Ophelia was driven to insanity by men and ultimately died. She connects her life experience to that of Ophelia, saying that “if you’d never come for me, I might have drowned in the melancholy.” The fact that she is even using Shakespeare as a metaphor shows understanding and lyrical depth.
So many songs on the album are hiding hidden meanings and easter eggs. For example the song “Opalite” while appearing to be a song with a good beat and very simple lyrics has lines that tie back to previous songs for example, in “Opalite” she says “I thought my house was haunted. I used to live with ghosts.” which is a call back to her song “Anti-hero” from her album Midnights where she says “When my depression hits the graveyard shift, all of the people I ghosted stand there in the room.” In Opalite, she says, “You finally left the table,” which is a reference to “Right where you left me,” and represents how she has moved on. There is also the added symbolism of Opalite. Opalite is a man-made gemstone, and Swift uses this to talk about creating your own joy and man-made happiness.
She also multiple times throughout the album criticises the entertainment industry, while some fans believe this subject is not relatable, it can be applied to anyone if they try hard enough. She does this in “Father Figure.” Which is believed to be about her Masters and her relationship with the man who sold them, Scott Borchetta. Particularly in lines such as “ This love is pure profit.”, “I can make deals with the devil because my check’s bigger. “They want to see you rise; they don’t want you to reign.” While Swift is referring to the music industry, this could be applied to many different situations, including the double-standards between men and women, etc. The lines later in the song “Mistake my kindness for weakness and find your card cancelled” has resonated with some people even though she is talking about something not necessarily relatable.
Another song that is facing a lot of criticism online is the song “Eldest Daughter,” specifically the overuse of slang in it. When looking at the deeper meaning of the song, the slang does have a purpose. The slang is used to highlight the idea that people (especially firstborn daughters) feel the need to maintain a facade and hide parts of themselves to fit in. The slang represents the fitting in part of the message.
Most of the criticism that seems to follow the album is based on fans not getting what they were expecting. Swift did something different like she does every era and the reaction wasn’t great. When looking at the album by itself it is a good pop album with clever lyricism that will eventually grow on fans and the general public.
