Taylor Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl” is pop perfection

Taylor Swift dropped her highly anticipated 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” on Oct. 3, and I haven’t been the same since.

Full of cheeky double entendres, glitter-gel-pen pop and high-profile interpolations, this album is a sharp departure from her more melancholy previous release, "The Tortured Poets Department.”

It’s also everything I could want out of an album, especially one Swift said came from an “infectiously joyful, wild, dramatic place.”

We start with “The Fate of Ophelia,” a song that I thought would be slow but ended up being delightfully upbeat. Since the music video was released, my roommate and I have not stopped singing and dancing to the chorus.

Next is “Elizabeth Taylor,” which serves stronger beat drops and confident lyrics that lend the song an almost "reputation"-like vibe. I was gagged, to say the least.

This is followed by “Opalite,” which is allegedly Travis Kelce’s favorite of the batch, and is my current frontrunner as well for its catchy lyrics and infectious hook.

“Father Figure” interpolates George Michael’s song of the same name and gives us the iconic imagery of Swift's d--- being bigger than the devil’s — no notes.

“Eldest Daughter” is a swerve into more familiar Swiftie territory, with vulnerable lyrics relatable to any “thought daughter,” eldest or otherwise. If you think the lyrics are cringe, I encourage you to look up the word “irony.”

“Ruin The Friendship” has a twangy base, giving it an almost pop-country vibe, but so far, it feels unremarkable compared to the stronger opening lineup.

“Actually Romantic” is a hilarious (and classic) Swift call-out song, and is rumoured to be about Charli XCX. The pair's rumoured feud involves Charli’s song “Sympathy is a knife,” which is allegedly about Swift. A close acquaintance of mine said that Swift, 35, “was too old to be writing these types of songs,” which is funny considering he didn’t think Kendrick Lamar or Drake, both 38, were too old to be writing diss tracks.

“Wi$h Li$t,” the last song to be written, is a love song that acknowledges the absurdity of her and Kelce’s relationship, and can best be described as sweet.

“Wood” is the song currently being dragged since the primary metaphor is about Kelce’s penis. God forbid a 35-year-old woman has a sex life! The song is funny, horny and catchy… what more do you people want?

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“CANCELLED!” might be the closest we get to "reputation" in this album, and I love it. Swift being confident is one thing you will never catch me hating on.

“Honey” is one of my mom’s favorites, and has a refrain that scratches my brain just right.

And finally, there’s the title track: “Life of a Showgirl,” featuring Sabrina Carpenter. I was expecting it to be a bigger, more showy number, but I’m not mad with the direction it took. Carpenter was amazing, per usual.

My final thoughts are this: as a die-hard Swiftie, it’s hard to find an album of hers that I don’t like. This is no exception, and I don’t understand the massive quantities of hate.

People are allowed to not like things; I’m never going to fault anyone for not enjoying the same type of music as me. However, I feel like this album is receiving an undue amount of criticism simply because people want to hate. If you think Swift peaked with “folklore,” just listen to that. If you want "reputation," listen to that. No one is forcing you to stream this album, and other people enjoying it is not an affront to your preferences.

I love this album because I love pop music and Swift’s writing style. This album feels like a delicious mashup between “Midnights,” “reputation” and “Lover,” and I think we’ll all be surprised by its longevity. It’s not a serious or sad album, but it was never set up to be one.

“The Life of a Showgirl” is exactly what it was promised to be. It’s Swift's triumphant return to upbeat pop, completely unique from any other album she has produced. It’s perfect.

10/10

greenpt@miamioh.edu