17 months, 76 weeks, 532 days, 12,768 hours, 766080 minutes and 45964800 seconds after releasing “The Tortured Poets Department”, Taylor Swift is back with a new album, “The Life of a Showgirl”. This album has seen its fair share of mixed reviews and controversial takes, so let us go through an honest review of the album, track by track.
Taylor said on the New Heights podcast that this album was made on “The Era’s Tour.” On her off days, she would go to Sweden to record this album because she was on her international leg of the tour.
First, the movie, “The Official Release Party of a Showgirl”. This movie was so unbelievably good. The music video was absolutely great, and I enjoyed the behind the scenes. It was nice to have the meanings behind the songs. The lyric videos were great in my opinion. I did find it funny, however, that the videos were actually the clean versions, especially for the song “Wood.” My only complaints have nothing to do with the movie itself–just the theatre and my showing.
The first track, “The Fate of Ophelia”, is an absolute banger. I personally think it might be the best lead single she has ever released, as it was a great, catchy choice of a single for this album. There is just something about it, from lyrics “I swore my loyalty to me, myself, and I” to “Keep it 100 on the land, the sea, the sky” that make this song stick out from her other lead singles. I love this song,
The second track, “Elizabeth Taylor”, is a great song. It starts off like a ballad, until the beat drops with the lyric, “I’d cry my eyes violet, Elizabeth Taylor”. That is what makes it outstanding.
The third track, “Opalite”, is another banger. The beat is super boppy and the lyrics are kind of catchy. I would honestly say it might be one of my favorite pop songs right now. I love how she wrote about happiness being a man-made object.
The fourth track, “Father Figure, is a really good song, and one that I keep coming back to frequently. It took a couple of listens for it to grow on me, but it is becoming one of my favorite tracks. Some Swifties, including myself, have a theory that the line “I protect the family” is referring to Swift’s master recordings, videos, photos, everything from her first six albums (“Taylor Swift”-”Reputation”).
The fifth track, “Eldest Daughter”, is just what you would expect from a Taylor Swift track five. Emotional lyrics that tug at your heart strings, make you cry and make you feel things. I love this song,
The sixth track, “Ruin the Friendship”, shocked me. It was not what I was expecting. It was very sad. It was about her not going to a school dance, and not asking out in high school, because she was touring and she did not want to ruin the friendship. Then later in life, Abagail, her childhood best friend, called her with the news that he had committed suicide. I still love this song because of the emotion.
The seventh Track is “Actually Romantic,” which Swift said is a love letter to those that hate you- those that you live in their head rent free, and taking it, and taking and loving it. It definitely feels like it fits her personality. The line “You think I’m tacky, baby, stop talking dirty to me” is stuck in my head ,
The eighth track, “Wi$h Li$t”, is honestly a track that I do not give enough credit to. The beat is super good and this song is about something everyone has. A list of wishes that you want.
The Ninth track, “Wood”, is about superstitions. That is it–nothing more to say.
The 10th track, “CANCELLED!”, is one of my favorite songs from the album. The lyrics “it’s a good thing I like my friends cancelled” is stuck in not only my head, but also in the heads of over 100 million Spotify listeners.
The 11th track, “Honey”, is a good song. It details words that someone in the past has used to hurt you, now being used by someone in a good way.
The 12th track, “The Life of a Showgirl (featuring Sabrina Carpenter)”, is one that took a while to grow on me. It has a super catchy rythym that makes me want to get up, dance and clap along. The lyric “Thank you for the lovely bouquet, you don’t know the life of a showgirl, babe” is stuck in my head.
This album is a banger. It does its job of a less hearted, fun and boppy album. I think it should win Album of the Year at “The Grammys”. Absolutely a 10/10 album with no skips. And, in my honest opinion, this album keeps getting better and better with every listen.
