Taylor Swift Album Review

By: Josh Riedy '31

What does Taylor Swift bring to mind? Country hits? Pop anthems? Or even her creative shows? Taylor Swift’s new album has already received positive, negative, and mixed reviews. But I’ll try to get to the bottom of it all.

Fate of Ophelia

The album starts with a song called Fate of Ophelia, which has meanings from the character in the Shakespeare play, Hamlet. In the play Ophelia falls in love with Hamlet, but many people in the play, including Polonius, who is Ophelia’s father, forbid her from marrying Hamlet. They say that since Hamlet is the royal prince, and heir to the throne, may not be able to choose who he marries, and may “not be earnest”. But Polonius determines he was wrong and Hamlet must be lovesick over her. In one of the next scenes, Ophelia decides to confront Hamlet about her thoughts, and Claudius decides to eavesdrop on Ophelia. After a while of Ophelia and Hamlet talking, Hamlet realises he is being spied on and finishes the conversation with “I say we will have no more marriages.”. This leaves Ophelia with heartbreak as she tries to understand what happened. In the next scene with Ophelia, Hamlet sits next to her during a play, making Ophelia think that Hamlet loves him, but then Hamlet murders Ophelia’s father, Polonius. This sends Ophelia into what some describe as “grief driven madness” where she starts speaking in only riddles and rhymes. Eventually, Ophelia climbs up a willow tree, and eventually drowns in the lake below. The meaning of Fate of Ophelia for some is that Taylor Swift is asking Ophelia if she will end up like her, brutally rejected, then driven mad by grief and sorrow.

Elizabeth Taylor

The second song in the album is called Elizabeth Taylor, which is named after the American actress Elizabeth Taylor. The reason why Taylor Swift mentions Elizabeth Taylor is because Elizabeth Taylor famously had 8 marriages. But in this song, I believe the point of view switches between Elizabeth Taylor and Taylor Swift’s thoughts multiple times. Starting in verse one, where Taylor Swift describes a life where you get married, but then your spouse loses their interest after getting a taste of the show life, with her mentioning “All the right guys promised they stay” and “Under bright lights, they withered away”. Finally, Swift writes “But you bloom”. I think that Swift is now talking about Travis Kelce in this line, and no longer narrating Elizabeth Taylor's life. The reason I think this is because Travis Kelce did not “wither away” under bright lights, he started dating Swift in September of 2023, and dated Swift for almost a year and a half while she was touring. What Swift meant by the line is that she thinks that her past relationships would have not survived through her touring for almost two years, yet her relationship with Travis Kelce has. During the chorus of the song, Swift says “Tell me for real, do you think its forever?” Many people believe that this line is Swift asking Elizabeth Taylor if her relationship with Travis Kelce will last. In the second verse, taylor swift says in the  “Babe, I would trade the Cartier for someone to trust” Cartier is a french jewelry that is famous for its high end jewelry. This line suggests that Taylor Swift would trade her wealth and jewelry for real love.

In the one line Pre-Chorus Taylor Swift says “If you ever leave me high and dry”. In this line there are two plausible theories for its meaning, the first one is when boats get left “high and dry”, which is when the tide retreats, leaving the boats stranded. This meaning could entail that Taylor Swift is afraid or worried about being left stranded of love or affection. The second meaning is from the Radiohead song named “High and Dry” where Thom Yorke, the singer of that song, repeatedly says “Don’t leave me high and dry” which is also talking about him feeling helpless without his significant other. 

Opalite

The third song, Opalite, starts in verse one with the lyric “Eating out of the trash, It's never gonna last”. The term “eating out of the trash” means that you are returning to something after you have gotten rid of it. This could be talking about how Taylor has reportedly dated someone, broke up with them, and then gotten back together. In the chorus, Taylor mentions what her mother said, quoting “But my mama told me “its alright, you were dancing through the lightning strikes, sleepless in the onyx night, but now the sky is opalite” This quote shows what Taylor's mother, who often publicly supports Taylor and her music, says to her after a breakup to comfort her. Opalite is a gemstone commonly associated with calm and peace, so saying that the “sky was opalite” could mean that Taylor’s life is peaceful, even after a breakup. In verse two of Opalite, Taylor says “You couldn't understand it. Why you felt alone. You were in it for real. She was in her phone, and you were just a pose” This is most likely referring to Travis Kelce’s past relationship with Kayla Nicole, where Nicole was accused of Nicole using the relationship to gain popularity, which is shown in the line “You were in it for real, she was in her phone” which is implying that while Travis truly cared for his relationship, but Nicole did not. 

Eldest Daughter

The fourth song, entitled Eldest Daughter, starts with the line “Everybody's so punk on the internet, Everyone's unbothered 'til they're not, Every joke's just trolling and memes” This could be alluding to how much hate Taylor has gotten on the internet in the recent years, having her music be called bland, boring, and “millenial music”. This line has gotten mixed reviews, with some saying that it sounds like Taylor is almost complaining about internet trolls, and some saying that it's “cringey” to be complaining about anonymous haters when you are worth billions of dollars and seemingly have no real problems in the world. But if you skip to the chorus, you will see the lyric “But I'm never gonna let you down, I'm never gonna leave you out” This line means that Taylor swift is saying that she will always deliver with her music, and never “let you down”. But this could also mean that Taylor will never let down their siblings, since this song is called Eldest Daughter. The bridge of this song references feelings of nostalgia and childhood happiness. 

Father Figure

The fifth song, Father Figure, is thought to be about Scott Borchetta. Now if you are a swiftie, this name could ring bells, Scott Borchetta is the CEO of Big Machine Records. But he is portrayed as the villain of this song, as Taylor claims that Scott gave her a too-good-to-be-true record deal and then sold her music rights away. With that context, we will get into the song.

Verse one starts in Scott’s point of view,  saying “When I found you, you were young, wayward, lost in the cold” This means that Scott “found” Taylor when she was a young artist, trying to make it big, but not knowing how. This portrays Scott as well, a father figure, with him helping Taylor into the music industry. During the chorus of the song, Taylor writes “I’Il be your father figure….This love is pure profit, just step into my office.” This is also in Scott’s POV, with him saying that he will help her into her office, but the second part of the chorus, saying “This love is pure profit, just step into my office” implies that Scott’s kindness to Swift is reliant on how much profit Swift makes for him. The post chorus states “Leave it with me, I protect the family” This states that Scott will take on whatever burden Taylor has. After the post-chorus, in the second verse, Taylor states “I showed you all the tricks of the trade, All I asked for is your loyalty, my dear protégé” This is also from Scott's POV, with him saying that he would help her, but she would have to be loyal to her. During the bridge of the song, Taylor states “I saw a change in you, my dear boy.” This is in Taylor’s point of view now, with her stating that she saw a change in Scott over the years, from being a warm and caring person, to more of a greedy person who wanted to get as much profit out of Taylor as possible. Then Taylor writes “They don't make loyalty like they used to.” This is a sarcastic jab at Scott, making fun of how he started trying to milk her for profit as soon as she made it big, and how he only cares about himself. The final chorus, which is in Taylor’s point of view says “You want a fight, well you found it, I got the place surrounded” This is saying that since she became famous and adored by millions of people, she can win a “fight” over her music rights. Then she says “Whose portrait’s on the mantle?” This line further talks about the family dynamic of this song, because if Taylor is the “Father figure” now that she's made it big, she can dispute Scott’s wrongdoings. Finally, Swift says “This empire belongs to me” This is Taylor saying that her “music empire” now belongs to her, instead of Scott, and she is right, because when Taylor released her “Taylor’s Version”, her fans flocked to only listen to it, devalueing the original recordings.

Ruin The Friendship

The sixth song, titled Ruin the Friendship, starts by showing a beautiful image being set, describing “Glistening grass from September rain” and watching a school sports game in a Jeep. During the chorus, Swift mentions feelings of regret, stating “And it was not an invitation

Should've kissed you anyway” This shows that Taylor Swift has feelings towards this unknown figure also watching the game with her, and also how she had feelings, but did not pursue them. As later revealed in the song, a possible reason why she didn't pursue it is because both her and Taylor’s crush are currently occupied. In the second verse, Taylor talks about her experiences at prom, with her dancing with her date, and seeing her crush who was talked about in the chorus staring at her. During the second chorus, Taylor talks about how a 50 Cent song played during prom, and how she wishes she kissed her crush, even if it would have made her current date mad. This is shown in the lyrics “But as the 50 Cent song played….Should've kissed you anyway”. In the bridge of the song, Taylor mentions how awkward it would be if Taylor confronted her crush, but he didn't like her back stating “Don't make it awkward in the second period”. But in the fourth verse, tragedy strikes, with Taylor writing “When I left school, I lost track of you Abigail called me with the bad news. Goodbye.”. This verse is rumored to be about Swift’s own high school classmate, Jeff Lang, who died. This line could be leading to the idea that Jeff Lang is the crush that Taylor is talking about in this song. The final chorus of this song ends on a very somber note, with Taylor writing “It was not an invitation, But I flew home anyway, With so much left to say, It was not convenient, no, But I whispered at the grave "Should've kissed you anyway,". This somewhat confirms my suspicions that Jeff may be Taylor’s crush, but we may never know, because Jeff passed away before Taylor could confess to him.

I managed to be able to get a senior of music theory at Moravian University to give their thoughts on the album, so here it is “My area of specialization is more within classical music, so I can’t comment on elements that would make the music distinctive for pop music, but my overall impression was one of a pretty middling album. There are some pretty fine tracks–The Fate of Ophelia’s unique five measure structure plays well to the rhythmic structure of the text, and the way the A minor harmony is used in Opalite’s refrain is pleasant and somewhat uncommon in this genre–but a lot of the music is pretty unmemorable. This isn’t helped by many of the lyrics being centered around topics which feel specific to Swift and not terribly relatable to a broader audience (I’m thinking tracks like CANCELLED! And the opening of Eldest Daughter). Even in tracks where the text is more generally relatable, like Elizabeth Taylor, the music often fails to bring out the latent emotionality in the words, lending the whole work a flat, homogeneous texture. Is it broadly palatable? Sure. But is it musically unique, expressive or inspiring? I don't think so.”

Actually Romantic

The song seven is a diss track, which many people say is directed towards Charlie XCX, who is a rising pop star. The song is called Actually Romantic, with Taylor starting the song saying “High-fived my ex and then said that your glad he ghosted me” Many say that this line is about Charlie XCX, who implied that she wanted Taylor Swift and Matt Healy to break up, who was Taylor’s previous partner before Travis Kelce. In the chorus, Taylor talks about how she feels that it's “romantic” that people spend so much time criticizing her. This is shown in lines like “But it's actually sweet, all the time you've spent on me” and “All the effort you've put in, it's actually romantic”. In the second verse, Taylor starts talking about Kim Kardashian, whom she has had a negative relationship with for a while. The line states “Hadn't thought of you in a long time, but you keep sending me funny valentines” This line is talking about an Instagram post that Kim posted in 2018 which stated that Kim would mail out valentines to all her haters. In the next line, Taylor says “And I know you think it comes off vicious, but it's precious, adorable. Like a toy chihuahua barking at me from a tiny purse, that's how much it hurts.” This is poking fun at haters who make insulting comments at her, thinking it will deeply affect her, when it really doesn't bother her. Now onto the criticism of this song. Many say that this song appears like she does actually care, considering that she wrote a whole song about how she didn't care about criticism against her. And also people point out that this song is brushing off real and valid complaints about her. Some of these include her effect on climate change, since she emits 8300 tonnes of carbon per year, which is about 1,800 times more than the average person, and 1000 times more than the average American.

Wish List

The eighth song, Wish List, is about people's wishes in life, whether it be “yacht life” or a “contract with Real Madrid”. In the Track by Track version of Life of a Showgirl, Taylor talks about the song saying “Wish List" is a song about all the different dreams people have. You know, we live in such a sort of visually curated moment where you get to see everybody's lives play out online and what vacations they have and what things they want and what items they want to buy. And it feels like everybody has different priorities. And it's kind of about exploring all those different lives that people want and all those different aspirations that people have, but knowing that you havе your own set of wishes. and it doesn't havе to be like everybody else's and theirs doesn’t have to be like yours and everybody, you just hope everybody gets their wishes but these are yours.”

CANCELLED!

The song CANCELLED! is most likely the worst reviewed song on the album, many people say that it has “corny lyrics” or Taylor seems “out of touch”, but we will get into it. The song’s first verse is most likely in the point of view of a celebrity, coming under fire for something they didn't do or was blown out of proportion, with Taylor writing “You thought that it would be okay, at first, the situation could be saved, of course” This is talking about how an artist could think that their criticism could run under the radar, and their career would be saved. But this is shown to not be the case in the rest of the song, with Taylor writing “But they’d already picked out your grave and hearse” If you do not know a hearse is a vehicle made to transport a coffin to a burial or cremation site, and is first in the funeral procession. This means that the people “cancelling” Taylor have already picked out her fate, and will not go back, even if their claims are untrue. This has happened before, since one of Taylor’s major attempts at de-platforming her was based on an edited phone call between her and Kanye West. During the pre-chorus, Taylor says “Did you girlboss too close to the sun?” This is one of the more scrutinized quotes in the album, with many saying it's overly “corny”. But the line is talking about the term girlboss which means to “be an ambitious and successful woman (especially a businesswoman or entrepreneur)” which is a great example of Taylor Swift, but the second part of the line is a reference to the myth of Icarus, where he gets wings, but flies too close to the sun. The wings then melt, which causes him to freefall down into the ocean below him. During the chorus, Taylor states “At least you know who your friends are” This is referring to when Taylor got “cancelled” some of her friends didn't stay with her, but her true friends such as Ed Sheeran and Selena Gomez stayed with her through the weeds. During the second verse, Taylor talks about how when you are new and popular, everyone loves you, but as soon as you make one mistake you can get thrown out. This is shown when Taylor says “It's easy to love you when you're popular, the optics click, everyone prospers, but one single drop, you're off the roster. The bridge of this song talks about how some of her friends stood by her while she was getting falsely cancelled, with them believing they were innocent. After the bridge, during the third verse, Taylor talks about how everyone has their mistakes, but some are better at covering them up. This is shown in the line “Everyone’s got bodies in the attic”. During the final chorus, Taylor talks about how she seeks out people who have also been cancelled to befriend them. This is shown with the lines “It's a good thing I like my friends cancelled” and “Can't you see my infamy loves company?”.

Honey

The next song, titled Honey is about how many things people say can be taken two ways, Taylor points this out in the “Track by Track” version of Honey. If you want to learn more about the meanings of each of the songs, the Track by Track versions are a great way to learn about them, because Taylor herself writes it to explain the meanings. But in the Track by Track version she states “'Honey is a song about how words that have been meant to hurt you in the past can be repurposed by someone who loves you in a way that feels totally different. You know, if the only time you were called honey was when someone was like, that look is not working for you, honey. Like, that is very different than when somebody calls you honey in a sweet way, in a sincere way, in a lovely way.”. With that aside, we will get into the lyrics of the song. In the chorus, which is at the start of the song right after the intro, Taylor says “When anyone called me "sweetheart", it was passive-aggressive at the bar” This is talking about how people use common complements in a sarcastic way, turning it into a insult. You will see these lyrics in a lot of this song, for example, at the end of the chorus, Taylor says “If anyone called me "honey", it was standing in the bathroom, white teeth, they were saying that skirt doesn't fit me”. During the post-chorus, Taylor says “Redefined all of those blues when you say "honey ". This is most likely referring to Travis Kelce, and when he says “honey” he means it in a caring manner. The first verse is also most likely about Travis Kelce, with Taylor saying things like “You can call me "honey" if you want because I'm the one you want.” This is about how Taylor is ok with Travis calling her “honey” when she knows it’s in a caring way. In the second verse, Taylor says “You give it a different meaning ‘cause you mean it when you talk”. This is also about how Travis and others say “honey” or “sweetheart” in a loving way. During the last pre-chorus, Taylor says “And when anyone called me "lovely", they were finding ways not to praise me”. This line somewhat offputs me, since in "Actually Romantic", Taylor says “It’s honestly lovely, all the effort you’ve put in.” This seemed a little hypocritical to me, since she is writing about how she hates it when people call her “lovely” in a sarcastic and hateful way, yet she does it too.

The Life of a Showgirl

The final song, The Life of a Showgirl is based around a showgirl named Kitty. In the Track by Track version, Taylor describes the opening of scene of the song by saying “It is the story of a fictional showgirl name Kitty and how my character in the song goes to see her perform and is completely inspired by her but rather than responding with like fakeness, she tells it like it is and she kind of warns me off this lifestyle because it’s much more than just the glitter and the glamour. There's a lot else that comes with it.” The song starts with a scene describing a girl who bought tickets to see her local showgirl and is inspired by her. But the pre-chorus is where Taylor talks about how she waited outside the stage to see her. But Taylor also is surrounded by paparazzi, who are “barking her name” trying to get to Kitty. During the pre-chorus, the girl going to the show, meets Kitty for the first time saying "You're living my drеam" This marks the end of the pre-chorus, with Kitty’s response being the chorus. During the chorus, Kitty responded by saying "Hеy, thank you for the lovely bouquet, you're sweeter than a peach, but you don't know the life of a showgirl, babe, and you're never, ever gonna, wait, the more you play, the more that you pay, you're softer than a kitten, so you don't know the life of a showgirl, babe. And you're never gonna wanna" In this response, Kitty tells the girl that the life of a showgirl isn't all that it's made out to be, that you have to be tough. Kitty thinks that the girl isn't tough enough for the life of a showgirl, calling her “softer than a kitten” and “sweeter than a peach”. The second verse, which is sung by Sabrina Carpenter, talks about Kitty’s upbringing in a town called Lenox. Lenox is a town in Massachusetts that is known for its artistic prowess. In the verse, Sabrina says that her family upbringing is rougher than it seems, since her dad isn't faithful to her mother, and her mother has an addiction. During the pre-chorus, which is sung by both Sabrina and Taylor, the girl says to the club promoter  “I'd sell my soul to have a taste of a magnificent life that's all mine" This is saying that the girl would do anything to be a showgirl, and doesn't care about any ramifications of doing it. The second chorus is the same as the first, talking about how Kitty doesn't want the girl to become a showgirl, because she doesn't think the girl will be able to handle it. The bridge seems to be in the girl’s point of view after she becomes a showgirl, talking about how she was prepared for the life because of Kitty, and now she's a showgirl. The final chorus of the song is also in the girls point of view, with Taylor writing I'm married to the hustle, 

and now I know the life of a showgirl, babe, and I'll never know another.” This is showing that the girl that Kitty was warning off at the start of the song is now a fully fledged showgirl, and she likes the life, even though it has its downsides. In the post chorus, Taylor is talking to Kitty saying “Hey Kitty….Now I make my money from being pretty and witty, thank you for the lovely bouquet” This is showing that now the girl is talking to her idol, Kitty. The end of the song, and the album, is Taylor and Sabrina “thanking the audience”.

Conclusion

Overall, I think the album had many ups and downs. My favorite song was “Life of a Showgirl” since I like how the lyrics and story almost come full circle. I also liked the instrumental in “Life of a Showgirl”. Personally, I'm not a huge pop listener, but I can see how many people like this album, although I don't fully like it. I wouldn't say the album is bad, but I can see how people don't like it. I found some of the lyrics corny or out of touch, but also some of the lyrics were really meaningful. One of the things that seem interesting is the divide between popular music critics and people on social media, with The Rolling Stone giving this album a perfect five star review which seems a bit overinflated, considering all time albums like Thriller and OK Computer didn't score a perfect five stars. But many on Social media and certain other critics have scored this album very poorly. To wrap it up, this album is full of catchy melodies, and good lyricism, but some of the songs do seem a bit overproduced.