"I know there’s something interesting to say about world domination, and I know it’s not driveways with basketball hoops and being “cancelled” and being dripped in Gucci and making Redwood tree euphemisms" This is the best review I've seen of this album so far. The way you critically analysed the album and instead of just saying that the lyrics and songs are lame, i loved it. I hope one day i can write articles like you.
Excellent essay! One thought about this album and all that has been said about it is that the mean-spiritedness and grudge settling that is reflected in some of its worst tracks is perfectly situated to the 2025 political and cultural zeitgeist. This album is a sonic reminder that extreme wealth does not elevate mindset and viewpoint as one might expect - if anything, it seems to foster a sense of resentment and a willingness to engage in petty feuds. If there is a meta-analysis about the life of a showgirl to be had here, it is that success breeds discontent, even while ostentatiously messaging satisfaction with the fruits of that success. The showgirl has striven so hard to become dominant and achieves the throne, only to seethe in fury at potential rivals and slights. That is totally on brand for 2025, a year in which power is nakedly pursued for its own sake yet seems to give no joy to those who hold it.
This is such a great point. It’s wild that this kind of meta-meaning exists, seemingly, entirely under Swift’s nose. She’s pulled back the curtain on the life of a showgirl, but not the one she meant to,
Agreed, although perhaps one way of looking at it is this album rides the zeitgeist no less or no more than Lover did in 2019. One idea that I haven’t really seen explored in the discourse (perhaps due to me not reading enough) is that there is a certain category of Taylor album that is geared towards virtue-signaling to a particular cultural moment, and other Taylor albums that are more introspective and literary. If you take the proposition of Taylor as a business enterprise more than an individual artist, then you can see how Taylor Inc might arrive at the conclusion of many businesses that they want to align themselves with a certain political and cultural context at this time. Attacking Charli, mocking dog moms, and celebrating cliched notions of masculinity is throwing red meat to a certain audience. If that thesis holds, then Life of a Showgirl falls cleanly into the category of Taylor album as cultural barometer and can be viewed as a minor work in the canon.
Oh wow you put it so well. I think you've hit the nail on the head. One of Taylor's biggest strengths was that fans could always see themselves in the lyrics and in her stories, but Showgirl really lacked that relatability bc Taylor's life is becoming increasingly unrelatable.
Thank you, Caroline! Beyond relatability, I think Showgirl is missing the mark for me because it feels more rooted in profit/surface-level palatability than common humanity
I look forward to Cafe Hysteria every week and once again you deliver! This is probably my favorite review of the album I’ve read. Now I need to relisten to all the Joe love songs and relive the magic of those albums.
"I know there’s something interesting to say about world domination, and I know it’s not driveways with basketball hoops and being “cancelled” and being dripped in Gucci and making Redwood tree euphemisms" This is the best review I've seen of this album so far. The way you critically analysed the album and instead of just saying that the lyrics and songs are lame, i loved it. I hope one day i can write articles like you.
Aw thank you so much! :)
Excellent essay! One thought about this album and all that has been said about it is that the mean-spiritedness and grudge settling that is reflected in some of its worst tracks is perfectly situated to the 2025 political and cultural zeitgeist. This album is a sonic reminder that extreme wealth does not elevate mindset and viewpoint as one might expect - if anything, it seems to foster a sense of resentment and a willingness to engage in petty feuds. If there is a meta-analysis about the life of a showgirl to be had here, it is that success breeds discontent, even while ostentatiously messaging satisfaction with the fruits of that success. The showgirl has striven so hard to become dominant and achieves the throne, only to seethe in fury at potential rivals and slights. That is totally on brand for 2025, a year in which power is nakedly pursued for its own sake yet seems to give no joy to those who hold it.
This is such a great point. It’s wild that this kind of meta-meaning exists, seemingly, entirely under Swift’s nose. She’s pulled back the curtain on the life of a showgirl, but not the one she meant to,
Agreed, although perhaps one way of looking at it is this album rides the zeitgeist no less or no more than Lover did in 2019. One idea that I haven’t really seen explored in the discourse (perhaps due to me not reading enough) is that there is a certain category of Taylor album that is geared towards virtue-signaling to a particular cultural moment, and other Taylor albums that are more introspective and literary. If you take the proposition of Taylor as a business enterprise more than an individual artist, then you can see how Taylor Inc might arrive at the conclusion of many businesses that they want to align themselves with a certain political and cultural context at this time. Attacking Charli, mocking dog moms, and celebrating cliched notions of masculinity is throwing red meat to a certain audience. If that thesis holds, then Life of a Showgirl falls cleanly into the category of Taylor album as cultural barometer and can be viewed as a minor work in the canon.
Incredibly well written!!
Thank you :)!
Oh wow you put it so well. I think you've hit the nail on the head. One of Taylor's biggest strengths was that fans could always see themselves in the lyrics and in her stories, but Showgirl really lacked that relatability bc Taylor's life is becoming increasingly unrelatable.
Thank you, Caroline! Beyond relatability, I think Showgirl is missing the mark for me because it feels more rooted in profit/surface-level palatability than common humanity
yes definitely
I look forward to Cafe Hysteria every week and once again you deliver! This is probably my favorite review of the album I’ve read. Now I need to relisten to all the Joe love songs and relive the magic of those albums.
Aw thank you Kelsey :) I've been relistening to folklore and relishing the magic of that album, still forever one of my favorites