“The Life of a Showgirl,” was born on October 3, 2025, making it Taylor Swift’s twelfth studio album. However, this is the first one to have received backlash from the general public, as well as fans of Swift, commonly referred to as “Swifties.” The album has faced criticism for lazy songwriting, lyricism, misusing references, and microaggressions. 

Starting strong with the opening track, The Fate of Ophelia, Swift references Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The controversy surrounding the work boils down to media literacy, and arguing the meaning behind the song, as well as whether or not Swift references the work and its character well. Ophelia’s story is one about an absence of autonomy, which leads to her death. She is constantly controlled by the men in her life, though they themselves cannot come to an agreement regarding who she is supposed to be. After Hamlet, her love interest, murders her father, she falls into a state of madness, and drowns offstage. Many have argued whether or not the suspicious circumstances regarding her death hint to suicide. Taylor uses Ophelia’s tragic story to describe her romantic interest, presumably fiance Travis Kelce, “saving” her from “the fate of Ophelia.” The narrative of a man saving Swift is argued to be a misrepresentation of Ophelia’s story, considering the men in her life are the ones who stole her independence. Others argue that Swift is only saying that she is being saved from Ophelia’s fate of drowning itself, which just supports the thought that the reference likely shouldn’t have been made at all. 

Opalite, the third track on the album has faced criticism for making reference to Kelce’s ex-girlfriend, but that’s not where the critiques end. Swift uses imagery to portray a time of darkness, presumably when Kelce was with the aforementioned ex-girlfriend, specifically mentioning “onyx.” Then, to portray the lightness of the time spent with Swift, she references “opalite.” The song makes specific references toward an ex-girlfriend, which fans presume to be Kayla Nicole. The references to “onyx” have been labelled potential microaggressions, seeing as Nicole is a woman of color. 

Debatably the song with the most potential is track number five, entitled Eldest Daughter. This track could’ve been one to target the expectations placed on older siblings, and similarly the ones on daughters vs sons. It could’ve highlighted society’s expectations for women, or reached an audience of eldest daughters who feel as though they carry the world on their shoulders, and brought their feelings to life. Instead, Swift provided a song with the lyrics “so we all dressed up as wolves and we looked fire.” The track also includes other slang, like “savage.” The gripe with this fact is that not only is it lazy lyricism, the terms and the slang that Swift chose to abuse in this song is extremely dated in the current day. Using slang in and of itself will date a song, but using slang from several years prior to the release creates a sense of secondhand embarrassment for the listener. Going back to the immature lyricism, however, brings us to the lyric “I have been afflicted by a terminal uniqueness.” This lyric specifically highlights Swift’s tendency, specifically within this album, to produce lyrics that are very millennial, or feel that way. Her need to be different, or portray herself in a way where she is, comes across awkwardly with these lyrics. This is not the only song on this album to contain lyrics with this same sentiment either, but I digress. 

The intro to track number seven is one that sounds very recognizable, specifically like the intro to 1998 hit “Where is My Mind?” by Pixies. Besides the recognizability, the track has also faced negative commentary for potential homophobia within the lyrics. Many have interpreted the intent to shame the artist the song is directed towards. Many believe that, based on specific lyrics in the song as well as the title, Actually Romantic is about pop star, Charli xcx. The lyrics say that it is “actually romantic” how much said artist is known to think about or talk about Swift herself. However, if the song being about Charli xcx is accurate, then the lyrics are much more harmful. This response would have been stemming from a song from the aforementioned, Sympathy is a knife, which is a song about the artist’s insecurity when in comparison to another. The other person that she is singing about is thought to be Swift. The lyrics to Actually Romantic, when put in context with the song by Charli xcx feel unnecessarily harsh. Additionally, the song has faced backlash for the tones under the lyrics to Actually Romantic. The song has been believed to perpetuate the idea that someone who doesn’t necessarily like you must be in love with you. When taking this angle into consideration, the lyrics feel homophobic. Swift takes the direction of the song to focus on the relationship between the two to feel “flirty,” and almost poke fun at the idea, while flirting back with the person at which she is singing. 

Debatably the most cringe-worthy song on the album is track number ten, CANCELLED!. Resorting back to using dated slang, Taylor opens the pre-chorus with “did you girlboss too close to the sun?” This specific statement was something that could have been found in a comment section on a social media site, but like the rest of the slang Swift references, doesn’t apply to the present day. The rest of the lyrics for the song have been labelled to be giving listeners second hand embarrassment. This is because they feel as though Swift is trying to appear dark, sinister, and powerful, but in order to do so she is using cliche lines that are used by middle schoolers. However, despite the horrible lyrics themselves, it’s interesting for a song with this message to come from someone so powerful. The idea that a name as recognizable as Taylor Swift is tied to a song about so-called “cancel culture” feels entirely useless. Cancel culture has never worked, but especially when in regards to Swift, even after the years of negativity and criticism she’s faced. 

Regarding the songwriting of the album as a whole, there is so much that feels out of place on the album, especially for the artist that Swift has been known to be. The album contains a lot of cursing, which is something that Swift uses as a tool in her lyricism for emphasis, while maintaining her reputation with music that isn’t entirely explicit. In the past, there has been a sense of sophistication for the ways in which she uses these words, and makes them sound musically. This album entirely lacks that, and it feels as though Swift has just entered the sixth grade and learned to curse from her peers. Additionally, it seems as though to make up for the poor lyricism and story telling, Swift has abused randomly expansive vocabulary and just plain rhyming. Making the last word of every line rhyme and throwing in a random “dollar word” does not make a good song.

A big part of the disappointment for the album comes from the fact that it is a known fact that Swift can and has released much better in the past. She is capable of producing music that isn’t recycled from former artists, and lyrics that don’t rely on weak references, random sophisticated words, cursing, and old slang. Some of Swift’s most lyrically impressive releases are sister-albums, Folklore and Evermore. Compared to the songwriting within these tracks, The Life of a Showgirl pales. It can be argued that the most recent addition to Swift’s long list of releases was not intended to be a masterpiece full of her strongest lyricism. However, it is fair to say that when they are put side by side, this release doesn’t even feel like a work by Swift. 

Have no fear, for the comparison lies right here. 

Starting with her eighth studio album, Folklore, is track number nine this is me trying. This track is what Eldest Daughter should have been, speaking lyrically. Understandably, the track could not have matched this is me trying lyrically on this specific album. Swift sings, throughout the song, lyrics with connecting ideas to support her feelings. She starts with “I had the shiniest wheels, now they’re rusting.” She is singing about herself, which can be told by the listener later into the song, when she sings, “so I got wasted like all my potential.” Then, with the line, “I was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere,” the listener understands that Swift is singing about herself, where she started, and where she remains now. The idea is furthered with the last connecting line, “fell behind all my classmates, and I ended up here.” This is a song where she accepts her faults, but it is one of reflection, acceptance, and growth. In this way, with this messaging, Eldest Daughter could have been similar. Swift could’ve used a similar style to portray societal pressure, and feeling failure. 

Also released in 2020, on Folklore’s sister album, Evermore, is tolerate it. The song is about Swift’s relationship with someone older, which is apparent from the end of the first verse when Swift sings “you’re so much older and wiser and I.” This fact is later supported with imagery like, “I wait by the door like I’m just a kid.” The aforementioned lines are very direct with their message, however the following lyrics are less apparent. Swift sings, “use my best colors for your portrait,” which can be interpreted as Swift coloring like a child, and that regression makes itself a little bit more clear with the next line. “Lay the table with the fancy..” supports the sophistication that Swift seems to lack in comparison to the lover she is singing to. The song holds the general theme of said lover tolerating things about Swift, similarly to the references to her implied regression. However, there are other things that Swift’s partner tolerates. She sings, “I know my love should be celebrated, but you tolerate it.” Overall, Swift uses her words to tell the story of a partner who makes her feel less than, and through the song you can feel her coming to terms with that fact and in the end, considering how realistic it would be to free herself from the shackles that were the relationship. 

Considering The Life of a Showgirl is Swift’s twelfth album and her years of experience, it is completely fair to have expected more. In comparison to her prior works, the album feels lazy, immature, and like a cash grab. It doesn’t have the same heart as the other albums, nor the talent and lyricism.