On Oct. 3, Taylor Swift released her twelfth original studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl” (TLOAS). Fans were ecstatic, as this would be the first album dedicated to Travis Kelce, Swift’s fiancé and National Football League star. However, those dedicated fans, including myself, would be sorely disappointed.
For years, I have classified myself as a “Swiftie,” or a loyal fan of Swift. I had grown up on her pop albums “Red” (2012) and “1989” (2014), and I fell back in love with her music in my early teenage years with the introduction of her folk-inspired albums, “folklore” (2020) and “evermore” (2020).
Swift’s music has always held a special place in my heart. Between her beautiful storytelling, poetic lyricism and effortless execution of any genre of music, there was always something for me to like in each of Swift's albums. But in the case of TLOAS, I unfortunately have to agree with the negative criticisms of the internet. This album is bad.
Contrarily, TLOAS actually does start off strong with its first three tracks.
Track One, “The Fate of Ophelia”, is genuinely a great song. Although she has been criticized for her tone-deaf references to Ophelia’s death in “Hamlet” and comparing that to her life before Kelce, the song’s upbeat nature and lyrics remind me of her older pop-esque love songs. In my opinion, this is the best song on the album. I love Taylor Swift’s literary references and upbeat music, and both of these combined instantly had me hooked. Since this was such a strong opener for the album, I was left even more disappointed with the rest of it.
“Elizabeth Taylor”, the second song, heavily resembles Swift’s 2017 album, “Reputation,” which blends the genres of pop and hip-hop. In the song, Swift compares herself to Elizabeth Taylor, a 1950s Hollywood actress who married eight times. Swift, like Taylor, has been criticized for having too many romantic relationships. In this song, Swift wonders if she will ever find a man who does not feel insecure under her spotlight. “Do you think it’s forever?” Swift theoretically asks Taylor and listeners. I think this song is brilliant, and I wish the rest of the album were like it.
The third song in this album is the last good song. “Opalite” takes the perspective of both first and second person and is from Kelce’s point of view. It follows him throughout his past relationships and shows how Swift is better for him than his ex-lovers. Swift compares Kelce’s love life to colors of gemstones: “[You were] Sleepless in the onyx night / But now the sky is opalite.” This song is reminiscent of the beautiful and lighthearted love songs from “1989” and “Lover” (2019). “Opalite” is the kind of song that makes the listener want to dance freely, especially outside on a sunny day.
Sadly, TLOAS truly falls short after these three songs. From the subject matter to the general production of the final nine songs, the internet has slammed them again and again, many of which are for valid reasons.
The main criticism that many, including myself, have with this album is the lyricism.
Swift uses too many outdated modern references and slang in the rest of the album’s songs that can make a young adult like myself wince upon hearing them. The first line in the chorus of Track Five, “Eldest Daughter,” is “But I’m not the baddest / And this isn’t savage.” Lyrics like this coming from a woman in her thirties in the year 2025 are actually painful. And let us not forget, “Did you girl-boss too close to the sun?” from track ten, “CANCELLED!”. How this line even made it out of the studio is beyond me.
Some lyrics that don’t include modern references still feel extremely cringey. The lyrics of track nine, “Wood,” are extremely vile and left me shocked after my first listen. The grotesque sexual innuendos from this once child-friendly artist made audiences uncomfortable. “Welcome to my underworld” from “CANCELLED!” makes it impossible for me and any of my friends who’ve listened to this album to take it seriously. For an artist who is renowned for her lyricism, it is disappointing to say the least.
I have also seen a lot of criticism for Swift’s tone-deaf lyrics from listeners looking at this album through a political lens. With many of Swift’s friends being critiqued for supporting President Donald Trump and the discriminatory ideals of his “Make America Great Again” campaign, Swift saying, “Good thing I like my friends cancelled” in “CANCELLED!” has rubbed many people the wrong way, especially since Swift claims to be an activist for feminism and the LGBTQ community. Considering the circumstances, I do find her releasing a song of this nature a bit odd.
Lyrics like “[We could] Have a couple kids, got the whole block looking like you” and “[You] Got me dreaming ‘bout a driveway with a basketball hoop” from track eight, “Wi$h Li$t,” have also caused many fans to speculate that Swift is moving toward a life as a conservative housewife due to her relationship with Kelce. I disagree with this. I don’t think Swift thinking about living a simple, suburban lifestyle with a husband and kids means she’s changing her political views or wants a completely traditional lifestyle.
Another criticism that I do agree with is that Swift has no emotion in her voice on this album. I didn’t even notice it until track twelve, “The Life of a Showgirl,” which features Sabrina Carpenter. Carpenter sings the song as if she’s performing on a stage, with the same depth and emotion as an actor. Swift, however, just sounds like she’s reading the lines for the first time. Her monotone voice makes it sound like she doesn’t know the words to her own song. After listening to the album again, I noticed this phenomenon in the rest of the songs as well.
This lack of vocal variety has been something I’ve noticed throughout multiple of her recent albums. Since 2021, Swift has been re-recording her older albums to regain ownership of her music. These albums were given a new title addition of “(Taylor’s Version)”. Although fans wanted to support Swift on this endeavor, there was a stark difference in the quality of vocals between the original and newer albums. My mother was the first to point this out to me—saying that “Mean” from “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” (2023) has a lot less passion and anger than the same song from “Speak Now” (2010). I honestly believe that the difference in the quality of vocals is because Swift is now writing songs for commercial value, not for the love of music.
My last criticism is for her instrumentals, specifically that they sound too much like songs from other artists. “The Life of a Showgirl” heavily resembles the Jonas Brothers’ “Cool” (2019). “Wood” also sounds uncannily similar to one of the Jackson 5’s biggest hits, “I Want You Back” (1969). Rumors are spreading that The Jackson 5 are suing for this similarity, but there are no credible sources to back this up. Despite this, these comparisons still make it more difficult for me to like these songs.
Between Swift’s lyrics, voice and instrumentals, TLOAS is a major let-down for me. I recommend the first three songs, but definitely not the rest of the album. Although I will still listen to her pre-2025 music, this album has truly made me question my love for Swift and my status as a Swiftie.
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Amelia Gatzke, freshman majoring in psychology, is from Huntsville, Alabama. She has been with The Auburn Plainsman since the fall of 2025.
