Taylor Swift New Album

The Life of A Showgirl; everything you need to know to become a Swiftie

If you’re reading this, then you probably know who Taylor Swift is. If you don’t, you have been living under a rock! She’s a self-made billionaire pop star with millions of fans worldwide, and she just released her new album, The Life of a Showgirl. To understand the significance and popularity of these songs in our community, let us dive into the album! 

Her first track, “The Fate of Ophelia,” is a standout on the album. This song is an ode to Travis Kelce –her fiancé –that references Hamlet, a play by Shakespeare. Ophelia is the female lead in the play and is Hamlet’s love interest, though in the end, she ultimately goes mad and commits suicide, which is the “fate” Taylor references that Travis saves her from. The song, like Love Story (one of Taylor’s older songs) is a spin on the tragedy where the characters fall in love instead of dying.  (If you or someone you know is struggling or thinking about suicide, you are not alone. Help is available. Call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or chat via 988lifeline.org for free, confidential support 24/7.)

“Opalite,” her third track is about Travis and is also the second-most popular in our school. His birthstone is an Opal, which shows where the name comes from. Opalite means “man-made opal” and the song is about building yourself up from scratch.

Her second track, “Elizabeth Taylor,” is about an actress, Elizabeth Taylor, whose dramatic love life is the center of the song, along with how Taylor Swift relates to some of the feelings and struggles she talks about in the song. Elizabeth Taylor is also a favorite among the middle school community, at third place in popularity.

The ninth track on Taylor’s album is Wood. Taylor says it’s about superstitions and luck. There is some controversy about how appropriate the lyrics are, considering her primary audience. Wood is one of the most disliked songs at our school. 

CANCELLED! is a song about people who have been “cancelled” by social media, and how everyone goes through it. Fans have also rumored the song to be about Blake Lively, Sophie Turner, or Brittney Mahomes, for she makes references to each of them in the song. It’s the second-most disliked song on the album. 

The eleventh track, “Honey”,  is a sweet song about Travis. The song is pretty and soft; it has good lyrics that I think are really nice: “You can call me honey if you want because I'm the one you want.” This song is about how people can be condescending while sounding sweet, but when Travis does, she knows that he means it. Despite this, Honey is the most disliked song on the album at Lakeside. 

Of course, to end the album, we have “The Life of a Showgirl (feat. Sabrina Carpenter)."  This song really feels like a great song to end the album. It talks about all the hard work she puts in, and that her life is not always glamorous.

Personally, this may be my favorite Taylor Swift album, but from what I had heard, not everyone loves this album. We made a Google form, so here is a full overview of the responses and what others think about TLOASG. When asked what song was the best on the album, most people said “The Fate of Ophelia” was their favorite, which makes sense because it’s the only song on the album that has a music video and is the most upbeat song. When asked what their least favorite song was, the majority said “none of them,” which is not without reason.

Next, we asked if people thought the album was better or worse than other albums, and most people said that it was similar or worse. When asked if they had any last thoughts on Taylor Swift and TLOASG, 6th grader Stella Bourne mentioned the lyric flaws in some of the songs, and how they sound a little… odd. “Like a toy chihuahua barking at me from a tiny purse, that's how much it hurts.” I absolutely love this album, but some of these lyrics are just weird. In CANCELLED, she says, “You girl bossed too close to the sun.” I love Taylor, but what is this lyric? Further, the opening of "Eldest Daughter" is questionable -  “Everybody's so punk on the internet, Everyone's unbothered til they're not, Every joke's just trolling and memes."

Though some of the lyrics are questionable, she has good lyrics, too. "You want a fight? You found it/ I got the place surrounded/ You'll be sleeping with the fishes before you know you're drowning." These lyrics from Father Figure are tied for 1st lyric wise for me. Tied at the top with those lyrics is the Eldest Daughter bridge.

Overall, we love this album! Taylor Swift is one of the most accomplished artists of all time, and this album is a reminder of that. We can also expect to see more from her, as her new Eras Tour docuseries, which is coming out in December!

Below are some graphs from our form.