Showgirl Is Actually A Really Fun Album If You Stop Projecting

The Life of a Showgirl is never simple. Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album has been met with a lot of strong feelings. Everyone has an opinion on the record — partially because nearly everyone has listened. In its first week, it reached 1.5 billion global streams. (Plus, it broke Billboard’s record for number of equivalent album units in a single week by hitting the 4 million mark.) And it seems like every single one of those listeners has a completely different take on the record.

Online, there is no consensus about Showgirl — there doesn’t even seem to be any neutral middle ground. Some Swifties have been sharing their instant love for the 12-song album, while other fans are loudly mourning the Tortured Poets era. Plenty of haters are also diving in *deep* with their critiques — accusing Swift of promoting outdated gender roles, abandoning her lyricism, and gunning for other artists.

To some degree, Swift herself has encouraged this kind of debate. “The rule of show business is if it's the first week of my album release and you are saying either my name or my album title, you're helping,” she said on Apple Music’s The Zane Lowe Show on Oct. 7. "I'm not the art police. Everybody is allowed to feel exactly how they want. And what our goal is as entertainers is to be a mirror.”

Having mixed feelings about the album is one thing, but are all the deep dives really necessary? Here, Elite Daily associate editor Hannah Kerns and Elite Daily associate entertainment editor Dylan Kickham discuss the album and whether The Life of a Showgirl is really that serious.

Hannah: I stayed up until midnight to listen. I remember thinking that it wasn’t what I was expecting at all. I went to bed and was like, "OK, not my fave but I have hope that tomorrow is a new day and I will like it more.”

Dylan: When I first heard it, I was not immediately into it. My exact reaction was like, "Oh, this is mid." It took a little bit to click into it. But after two or three listens, I became obsessed with 75% of it. What about you?

Hannah: I have been such a fan of her forever, so I trust that I will eventually like whatever she puts out. The next morning, I put it on and kept listening on repeat while I worked. By the second listen that morning, I was actually into it — not every song was my all-time favorite, but I already had a few that I absolutely loved. I honestly think “Honey” is one of the most romantic songs on the album.

This is a white wine drunk album, and I mean that in the best way possible.

Dylan: No, Hannah, literally same. When I first listened, that’s the song that I was like, "I don't care about this.” Now it’s my favorite lyrically. My favorite mode of Taylor Swift is when she's acting like an English teacher — where she's zoned in on this one word and looking at how it's changed over the course of her life.

Hannah: Exactly. I know people have been saying Showgirl makes them miss old Taylor, but I think that there are plenty of pieces of that version of her in this album.

The bridge in “Eldest Daughter” is a very quintessential Taylor bridge. There’s a lyric in “Father Figure,” too, that Taylor said was her favorite: “I pay the check before it kisses the mahogany grain.” That type of writing in such a poppy song is really rare, and that’s her trademark. So, even if every song isn't this insane masterpiece of Wordsworth references, there's still way more depth to it than your typical pop album.

Dylan: “Ruin the Friendship” is also such a great lyrical song. It could literally be straight from the Speak Now era. But when you listen to the whole album, the lyrics that stand out are the more shocking, less poetic ones in “Wood” or “The Fate of Ophelia” chorus. You do have to hunt a little bit more, but there are those moments of really intricate songwriting.

Hannah: Yeah, I am a Taylor Swift defender forever, but she has always had cringe lyrics. I think that's part of her charm. I remember when everyone was like “What the hell is this?” about that “sexy baby” line in “Anti-Hero.” Even looking back at songs like “Blank Space” and “Shake It Off” — all of these absolute hits that were so appreciated, especially during the Eras Tour when she was revisiting them — they have rogue lyrics thrown in. It’s just part of how she operates.

Dylan: Also, this is a Max Martin pop album; it's not going to be the same thing as her last four records.

Hannah: I keep saying this is a white wine drunk album, and I mean that in the best way possible.

Dylan: It’s so true. That’s also why I had an initial issue with it, because, from the promo, I was expecting it to be a Las Vegas-feeling spectacle. But it’s more for relaxing, drinking white wine, and having it on the radio in the background. After resetting my expectations, I like it a lot more.

Hannah: There’s been a lot of discussion about Travis being a subpar muse — especially from people who don’t love the new album.

Assigning the album to her current partner takes away Taylor’s autonomy as a songwriter.

Dylan: When I first listened and wasn't really getting it, I thought that maybe Travis wasn’t a good muse because the songs weren’t hitting like Folklore, but thinking about it more, she’s writing happy songs because she’s happy. And assigning the album to her current partner takes away Taylor’s autonomy as a songwriter.

Hannah: I’ve seen so many tweets and comments about missing Joe Alwyn because they think he’s a better muse, but she put out Lover and Reputation when she was with him. Neither of those albums were well-received at the time. The whole muse conversation also limits her power over her own creative process. Regardless of how you feel about “Wood” or “Opalite,” they’re Taylor Swift songs, not Travis Kelce songs.

Dylan: This goes hand-in-hand with the tradwife discourse that’s taking over. People have just decided to project that image on her because of the line in “Wi$h Li$t” where she sings, “Have a couple kids, got the whole block looking like you.” It’s wild.

Hannah: It’s so funny because with “The Fate of Ophelia,” they’re criticizing her for not being literary enough in her analysis, but these same people have never heard of f*cking hyperbole? She’s clearly exaggerating in that line.

In general, I’ve also been very thrown by the tradwife discourse because she’s 35 and has spent the last 20ish years devoted to her career. She’s a self-made billionaire, she’s not married yet, she doesn’t have children, and she out-earns her partner. Expressing a wish for marriage and kids does not cancel out those things. It’s also f*cked up to assume she’d give up her career just because she’s engaged and wants kids.

Dylan: If anything, Travis is the one who's about to retire.

Hannah: Right! Where is his tradwife narrative?

Dylan: We have to discuss the other Showgirl conversation that’s taken over, too: Is “Actually Romantic” a diss track about Charli XCX?

Showgirl is such a fun album if you stop projecting your weird ideas about Taylor onto it.

Hannah: I don’t know what to think because after “Sympathy Is a Knife” came out, Taylor gave a glowing quote to Vulture about Charli and Brat’s success: “I’ve been blown away by Charli’s melodic sensibilities since I first heard ‘Stay Away’ in 2011. Her writing is surreal and inventive, always. She just takes a song to places you wouldn’t expect it to go, and she’s been doing it consistently for over a decade. I love to see hard work like that pay off.”

So I’m not sure if more stuff happened behind the scenes after that, but they're both benefiting from this discourse. Otherwise, why would Charli wear the Kansas City shirt on SNL?

Dylan: I think they both want to add fuel to this little feud, but if it’s about “Sympathy Is a Knife,” I think “Actually Romantic” is a little more intense of a response than it needed to be. I wouldn’t even say “Sympathy Is a Knife” is a diss track. I think it’s Charli saying that she sees Taylor in her sphere, and sees her level of fame and success as unattainable.

Plus, even though Charli is obviously a big pop star, it's always going to be punching down coming from Taylor. It's just a weird relationship, but I agree that it's probably not as serious as everyone is making it out to be. The conversation is also helping both of them. “Sympathy Is a Knife” started charting again after Showgirl came out.

Hannah: It’s definitely mutually beneficial. Maybe they could work it out on the remix.

Dylan: I hope they do.

Hannah: In the past, Charli herself has said, “mess is fun.” I just don't think it's that big of a deal. In general, I think we need to start taking things at face value. If you like the song, you like the song. If you don't, you don't.

Dylan: That applies to the rest of the songs, too. Really, Showgirl is such a fun album if you stop projecting your weird ideas about Taylor onto it.

Hannah: Yeah, everyone is getting a little too in the nitty-gritty about this album. I'm guilty of it too — obviously, we just spent 40 minutes talking about it. But I do think that at the end of the day, this is still a white wine drunk album. Take it as that, and you will probably have a better time.