Taylor Swift, the mastermind behind 11 beloved albums, has just released her twelfth studio album, “The Life of A Showgirl”.
Swift’s new studio album was recently released Oct. 3 at midnight EST and has been highly anticipated by fans around the world. Her pop album features 12 tracks all of which have a deep meaning connecting to some part of her life.
Since the release of the album, I have listened to the whole thing three times, analyzed the different tracks and have rated them myself out of five.
“The Fate of Ophelia”, her first track on the album, could be described as a catchy pop-rock song. The song references Shakespeare’s Hamlet, where a young woman drowned in a suspected suicide because of her love for Hamlet, who rejected her. In the song, Swift sings about being rescued from ‘drowning,’ which can be believed to be her fiancé, Travis Kelce, who ‘rescued’ her. “And if you’d never come for me/ I might’ve drowned in the melancholy,” depicts how she is grateful to have met Kelce and that if she hadn’t she felt she would be in a hopeless and depressed state like Ophelia.
Overall, I would rate the song a 4.5/5
“Elizabeth Taylor”, the second track, is decidedly about the actress Elizabeth Taylor. A child star in Hollywood 1940s, her fame increased as she got older, becoming very well known in the 1950s. She was famous not only for her acting but her own love life. Elizabeth Taylor married seven different men in her life, and Swift draws a connection to her own self due to many poking fun at the number of boyfriends she has had in the past.
3.5/5
“Opalite,” the next track, is one of my favorites on the album. It’s a very catchy pop song that has very poetic lyrics and a double meaning embedded into it. The chorus, “dancing through the lightning strikes,” can be seen as Swift singing about her tumultuous time as a music artist, but she has pushed on regardless of what others said about her. It is also about how she went through numerous relationships that had a negative impact; however, when she sings, “But now the sky is opalite” she is referencing how she found Travis Kelce, whose birthstone is an opal.
4.5/5
“Father Figure”, the fourth track, gets its name from George Michael’s 1987 hit, “Father Figure.” However, unlike George Michael’s sweet and romantic song, hers is about betrayal. In the song, she is referencing her relationship with her old music executive, Scott Borchetta. He was first seen as a father figure to her when she was younger and innocent, but then when she realized he wouldn’t give her the rights to her own music, she felt betrayed. Swift now owns her own music and has made her songs her own by rerecording past albums.
4/5
“Eldest Daughter”, the track I most anticipated, did not disappoint. The song tells the story about the experience the older daughter has in life. This track was very relatable to me, and I’m sure it will resonate with other eldest daughters. In my opinion, the best lyrics were in the chorus, “But I’m not a bad b***/and this isn’t savage/But I’m never gonna let you down/I’m never gonna leave you out.”
4.5/5
“Ruin the Friendship” track is about regret and missing someone; it’s a very heartfelt and emotional song. There is speculation that the track is possibly about Jeff Lang, a high school friend of Swift, who passed away in 2010. In this song she sings about how she wished she had just kissed him and ruined the friendship instead of living with the regret of having not.
3.5/5
“Actually Romantic”, the seventh song on the album, is very upbeat. Swift sings about Travis Kelce and how he puts in a lot of effort into their relationship compared to her past experiences. Overall, it wasn’t one of my favorites, but I thought the lyrics were very well written and had a lot of emotion.
3.5/5
“Wi$h Li$t”, my favorite song of the entire album, has Swift singing about how people want material things and money, but all she wants is to be left alone with Travis Kelce and enjoy their future life together. It’s a very catchy pop song and the lyrics are very vividly descriptive, giving the listeners a deeper understanding of what Swift imagines her future to be like.
5/5
“Wood”, the next track on the album, is another catchy and very well lyrically written song. The song immediately starts off upbeat and she doesn’t start singing until about 12 seconds in, letting the listener get into the groove. Swift sings about how she doesn’t need to wish for anyone anymore or “knock on wood” because she is now engaged to Travis Kelce.
4/5
“CANCELLED!”, the tenth track has Swift singing about knowing who her true friends are. She also mentions how the industry judges you for so much, “Yeah, it’s a good thing I like my friends cancelled (Cancelled)/I salute you if you’re much too much to handle/Like my whiskey sour (I like it)/And poison thorny flowers (I love it)/ Can’t you see my infamy loves company?”
4.5/5
“Honey” has Swift singing about how people who called her honey in the past did it with negative connotations. As the song continues, she sings about how she has found someone who has redefined the word for her into something positive and filled with love. Overall, it was a very catchy upbeat song that is among my favorites of this album.
4.5/5
“The Life of A Showgirl” ft. Sabrina Carpenter, the title track of the album has not only Swift, but another huge female pop star, Sabrina Carpenter, singing on the track. I felt it was a very smart move on Swift’s part to include Carpenter since a showgirl is a female who is the center of attention, and that attention can be both bad and good. This song wasn’t my favorite, but lyrically it is very emotional and told the story about how her life feels like one of a showgirl. I feel like this was the perfect track to end the album
4/5
In the highly promoted and anticipated album, “The Life of A Showgirl”, I believe it was successful and well worth the wait. I can’t wait to see what this lyrical genius comes up with next.
