{"id":188092,"date":"2025-10-03T20:47:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T20:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/188092\/"},"modified":"2025-10-03T20:47:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T20:47:07","slug":"is-taylor-swift-better-off-as-a-showgirl-or-tortured-poet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/188092\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Taylor Swift Better Off as a Showgirl or Tortured Poet?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taylor Swift<\/a> has unveiled her next musical era \u2014 and like many things she does, it\u2019s become a huge topic of conversation.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

On Oct. 3, the singer, 35, released her anticipated 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl<\/a>, which sees her team up with music producers Max Martin and Shellback<\/a> for the first time since Reputation.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

While The Tortured Poets Department<\/a> saw the singer get into her feelings with heartwrenching breakup tracks<\/a> like \u201cloml\u201d and \u201cThe Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,\u201d her latest release is a full return to her pop princess glory with upbeat tracks and glitter gel pen lyrics, no doubt a nod to her current state of life right now.\n<\/p>\n

Following a widely successful Eras Tour<\/a>, where she celebrated her musical journey as an artist, and later gaining ownership of her masters<\/a>, Swift is also flourishing in her relationship<\/a> with Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce<\/a>, announcing their engagement<\/a> in August.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

As she described on the New Heights<\/a> podcast back in August, this album (and its orange theme) is all about this loud stage of her life right now.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like kind of energetically how my life has felt,\u201d she explained. \u201cAnd this album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this [Eras] Tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

While many theorized the album would be an introspective look at her life in the limelight as a \u201cshowgirl,\u201d since its release there has been much debate about the cohesiveness of the album as a whole, from next-level raunchy lyrics to recycled themes and narratives.\n<\/p>\n

As Swifties know from past experience, their pop queen is never going to do what they think she will \u2014 which is exactly why, love or hate it, her music remains the most-talked about in the industry.\n<\/p>\n

From the tracklist to the general vibes, two PEOPLE staffers share their Pop Take<\/a> on Swift\u2019s The Life of a Showgirl and whether it lives up to their \u201cWi$h Li$t.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

The Return of Glitter Gel Pen Lyrics\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Taylor Swift performs at Eras Tour.<\/p>\n

\u00a0TAS2023\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Meredith Wilshere: In addition to her vocal strength and performance, Swift has always been known for her songwriting. On Lover, her fans were willing to look past her most cringe song \u201cME!\u201d (real ones remember the lyric change) because it meant that we got more thoughtful and developed songs like \u201cThe Archer\u201d and \u201cCruel Summer.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

I had anticipated at least one cringe song per album: Midnights had \u201cVigilante S\u2014,\u201d The Tortured Poets Department had \u201cDown Bad,\u201d but I didn\u2019t realize how many of them we would be getting on The Life of a Showgirl. There are a lot of \u201csticky\u201d lyrics that make your ears perk up and question if this is the same woman who wrote, \u201cYour integrity makes me seem small \/ you paint dreamscapes on the wall.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

The one that stopped me in my tracks was, \u201cI can make deals with the devil because my dick’s bigger.\u201d It felt so out of place for what we\u2019re used to, while still also mentioning that she\u2019s made references to being \u201cthe man\u201d before. I also never thought that Swift would mention \u201cmemes\u201d and \u201ctrolling. (\u201cEverybody’s so punk on the internet \/ Everyone’s unbothered ’til they’re not \/ Every joke’s just trolling and memes..\u201d) For someone who claims to be offline, she feels very tapped into the cultural zeitgeist.\n<\/p>\n

Kelsie Gibson: I will be the first to admit, some of the lyrics on The Life of a Showgirl made me cringe in real time (having lyrics like \u201cbad b—-\u201d and \u201csavage\u201d in a track 5 song should be illegal), but at her heart, Swift is a millennial girlie.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Remember how the internet cringed when they first heard the \u201cKarma is a cat\u201d lyric? Then we all screamed the lyrics at the Eras Tour! That\u2019s the duality of Taylor. She knows Aristotle, but she can \u201ckeep it 100<\/a>\u201d at the same time.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Even Swift has explained that her lyrics are written by three different pens<\/a>: quill, fountain and glitter gel. She gave us four albums of the former two; we can\u2019t fault her for wanting to get back into her girlie pop, glitter gel pen era. She\u2019s allowed to experiment, and as we saw following her Lover era, she always comes \u201cback stronger than a \u201890s trend.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

What Is the Life of a Showgirl, Really? <\/p>\n

The Life of a Showgirl, Taylor Swift.<\/p>\n

Mert Alas & Marcus Piggot<\/p>\n

MW: When I think The Life of a Showgirl, I think about Moulin Rouge, Chicago, Burlesque, leaving room for pop songs that invoke feelings of having to perform for an audience (loss of sense of self), aging in an industry that demands something fresh and new every year, and even questioning why one performs in the first place. It\u2019s something that \u201cI Can Do It With A Broken Heart\u201d plays on well that should have been expanded upon in an album that promised Folklore-level storytelling. Instead, we got surface-level readings and reflections on fame, money and power.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

KG: I agree that the album feels a bit like a mish-mash of themes. Many fans, myself included, expected that the album would be an introspective look at her life in the spotlight and the ups and downs that come with it, almost like a mirror version of Reputation. While certain tracks are loud and flashy like a showgirl, when strung together, the album topples like a Rockettes Wooden Soldier Fall<\/a>.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Ironically, it\u2019s the album\u2019s final and titular song that feels the most cohesive. It has all the makings of a classic Taylor Swift hit, from its personal storytelling, \u201ccountry music twist\u201d at the end, and, of course, a sweet feature from her pal and former Eras Tour opener Sabrina Carpenter<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

The end truly felt like Swift was metaphorically walking through that orange door on stage (if you know, you know), saying goodbye to the Lover house once and for all and stepping into the unknown. It was the perfect bow on her widely successful last few years, but also left me wanting even more. Seriously, where is the deluxe version and bonus tracks?\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

One thing I will add, however, is that the beauty of Swift is that she never does what you think she will. Remember when we thought Reputation would be a scathing album against her haters? Sure, she fully embraced her snake era at the time, but when the album shed its skin, it was actually a romantic love letter. Similarly to Midnights, the imagery released beforehand had everyone convinced we were getting a Stevie Nicks \u201870s rock album, and then the result was further from it with Jack Antonoff synths and techno beats.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

MW: That being said, it feels like there is artistry and a central thesis that is missing from the album that would make this a cohesive project as a whole. We wanted a peek into the life of a showgirl, and we only got a wink and shoulder shimmy.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

She Buries Hatchets but Keeps Maps of Where She Put Them <\/p>\n

Charli XCX, Taylor Swift, and Camila Cabello.<\/p>\n

Kevin Mazur\/TAS18\/Getty<\/p>\n

MW: The theme of this album spans from befriending people who are canceled, to her romantic hopes and wishes, to reflections on how people think and feel about her. If it is to be believed that \u201cActually Romantic<\/a>\u201d is a Charli xcx diss track, then it comes off as a misreading of Charli’s \u201cSympathy Is a Knife<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

In that song, Charli talks about how she doesn\u2019t want to see Swift \u201cbackstage at my boyfriend\u2019s show\u201d during the time when Swift was dating Matty Healy and Charli was dating, but not yet married to George Daniel<\/a>. Charli sings about her insecurity being around Swift, and she \u201ccouldn\u2019t even be her if I tried.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

In \u201cActually Romantic,\u201d Swift seemingly \u201cclaps back\u201d at Charli, mentioning that once she called her \u201cBoring Barbie\u201d and saying that it’s \u201cromantic\u201d that Charli thinks about her. The potential feud aside, why is Swift choosing to publicly address this now? She never reacted to \u201cSympathy Is a Knife\u201d when it came out, because her fans know that her responses come in the form of songs. Even in The Tortured Poets Department, Swift mentions her feud with Kim Kardashian in not one but two different tracks.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

KG: While we know that there\u2019s nothing Swift does \u201cbetter than revenge,\u201d some fans would argue, why dredge up the past now? Well, my argument to that would be: it\u2019s what Swift does best. She\u2019s a writer at heart, and that means her music often becomes her personal diary. Of course, she\u2019s more than capable of writing about things other than heartbreak (and has proven so time and time again), but it\u2019s also what she\u2019s made her entire brand about.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

As she\u2019s in this honeymoon phase with Kelce, of course, she\u2019s going to pull from past experiences to inspire new material. And you know what, it\u2019s created some of her best work! As she rerecorded albums like Speak Now and Reputation, it clearly inspired a whole new catalog of music featured on Midnights and The Tortured Poets Department as she looked back on past heartbreaks with a new perspective.\n<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clearly cathartic for her as a songwriter, but it\u2019s also nostalgic for Swifties who went through similar experiences and now get to relive them all themselves.\n<\/p>\n

Of course, there are always two sides to every story, and while each artist expressed their own narrative in their respective tracks, we clearly don\u2019t know what happened behind the scenes between the two singers. And you know what? It\u2019s not really any of our business. All we can do is take the music for what it is \u2014 and that\u2019s show business for you!\n<\/p>\n

Pop Princess vs. Tortured Poet <\/p>\n

The Life of a Showgirl, Taylor Swift performs at Eras Tour.<\/p>\n

Kevin Mazur\/TAS24\/Getty\u00a0<\/p>\n

MW: Bubblegum pop is good! I\u2019ll always defend a campy pop song so long as the lyrics are saying something. I think one of the strengths of The Tortured Poets Department is the balance between her energetic pop songs and the melancholy that came along with her personal reflections and confessions. The balance between the two has always been her strength, from sweeping ballads to bass-driven bridges. Without the deeply reflective songs that we\u2019re used to breaking up the album, we get surface-level pop songs that don\u2019t tell us how she feels about her life, as a showgirl, as a heartbroken lover, as a soon-to-be wife.\n<\/p>\n

KG: For me, I\u2019ve always been a sucker for Swift\u2019s bubblegum pop songs. While there was much discourse around Swift\u2019s upbeat Lover album, especially following the release of her experimental Reputation album, it easily became my No. 2 Swift album upon first listen. Of course, following moodier albums like Folklore, Evermore and The Tortured Poets Department, I can understand how the dramatic shift back to pop princess can feel jarring. But that\u2019s the fun of her music, isn\u2019t it? She\u2019s multifaceted and can give us a gutwrenching track like \u201cCornelia Street\u201d in the same breath as \u201cME!\u201d\n<\/p>\n

KillaTrav or Killed the Vibe?\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift engaged.<\/p>\n

Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce<\/p>\n

MW: While it\u2019s refreshing to hear songs about how in love Swift is with Kelce, to me, the songs about the football star fell flat. We know how capable she is when it comes to writing love and heartbreak songs \u2014 \u201cAnd you call me up again just to break me like a promise \/ So casually cruel in the name of being honest\u201d is just one of over 100 examples I could pull from. The artistry and lyricism that we\u2019ve grown accustomed to seemingly fades with the Kelce tracks.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

She writes more about the intimacy of their relationship, but in a more straightforward and on-the-nose way. And we know that Swift is capable of so much more than that.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

From Folklore and Evermore, Taylor curated a vibe of a woman who went to the lake where the poets went to die. She\u2019s built herself up as a literary legend who knows Aristotle and the classics. Her references to classic literature used to feel fresh and shed light on literary themes that felt lost to time. As an English major, I feel like her literary prowess and \u201cEnglish teacher\u201d vibe now feels like stolen valor. As a side note, why hasn\u2019t she started a book club like Dua Lipa? Her reading of the point of Ophelia falls flat, and it\u2019s hard to concede that she, as a pop star, has a similar fate as a literary heroine or even an English teacher.\u00a0\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

KG: I agree, I would have also loved to see more introspective lyrics about Kelce on this album. Their romance is light and airy, but that doesn\u2019t mean her lyrics about their relationship have to be surface-level. \u201cSo High School\u201d on The Tortured Poets Department felt like the perfect combination of that. It\u2019s sweet to its core, but also tugs at your heartstrings.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Swift said it best on the New Heights podcast when she recalled the beginnings of their romance<\/a> and how Kelce publicly declared he wanted to date her to the world. She noted that Kelce’s grand gesture “felt more like I was in an ’80s John Hughes movie, and he was standing outside of my window with a boombox,\u201d referencing the movie Say Anything.\n<\/p>\n

The singer-songwriter then quipped, “I was like, ‘If this guy’s not crazy, which is a big if, but if he’s not crazy, then this is basically every song I’ve ever written since I was a teenager come to life.”\n<\/p>\n

After finding love at last with her soon-to-be-forever partner, I would have loved lyrics that dived deeper into that narrative of undoing \u201cthe prophecy\u201d she once believed to be true about herself. Of course, there\u2019s always lucky number album 13 for all of that!\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taylor Swift has unveiled her next musical era \u2014 and like many things she does, it\u2019s become a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":188093,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-188092","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}