Swift, Taylor (October 3, 2025). "The Life of a Showgirl". United States: Apple Music. Archived from the original on August 19, 2025. Retrieved August 19, 2025.
For nearly two decades, Taylor Swift has been reinventing herself with every album and taking the music industry by storm, shocking fans, like me, every time. As a life-long Swiftie, I have been counting down the days to album releases since “Red”(2012) came out when I was four, and her newest album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” (2025) was no exception.
When her 12th album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” was announced, it was speculated that it would be a long album with deep lyricism and an extensive deluxe tracklist, similar to her last album, “The Tortured Poets Department” (2024). Instead, it is very upbeat and filled with love songs, most of them about her fiancé, Travis Kelce.
In an interview with BBC 1, Swift said, “I used to have this dark fear that, that if I ever were truly happy and free, being myself and nurtured by a relationship, what happens if the writing just dries up?” Unfortunately, now that she’s in this new era of happiness in her life, her worst fear may be true as some of her tracks struggle lyrically, which is uncharacteristic of her past songwriting.
Here is a breakdown of how each track stacks up according to this Swiftie:
12. Wood, 1/5
This song, about luck, superstitions and her sex life, was the most disappointing on the album. The intro sounded like “I Want You Back” by the Jackson Five, a song Swift covered during her Speak Now World Tour, which led me to get my hopes up for the song, but with lines like “Redwood tree, it ain’t hard to see, his love was the key, that opened my thighs,” the song felt immature. The beginning of the song is very fun to listen to, but towards the end, the lyrics feel lazy, boring and overly sexual to the point of awkwardness.
11. CANCELLED!, 1/5
Most of the lyrics are very cheesy and feel like she is trying too hard to be ‘bad.’ The line, “at least you know exactly who your friends are, they’re the ones with matching scars,” really stuck out to me, but she has many friends who have been in scandals recently, and she is encouraging their inappropriate behaviors and equating herself to that, which can come off as a bad look.
10. Honey, 1.5/5
“Honey” jumped out to me as a Lover-esque song, specifically a slower version of her song “London Boy.” Some lyrics feel like references to childhood games and young love, but then some lyrics are very mature and sexual, which makes it confusing emotionally. The song is about the names people call you when they’re being sarcastic, and how different the same names feel when someone says them endearingly.
09. Wi$h Li$t, 2/5
This song is about wanting to settle down and have a family instead of fame, which is ironic given the amount of money she has capitalized through this album, making $3.2 million and coming out with 11 CD variants alone. No lyrics stuck out to me in this song, and the more I listened to it, the less I desired to listen to it again.
08. Father Figure, 3/5
What this song lacks in musical appeal, it really makes up for in lyricism. The line that stuck out the most to me was, “Your thoughtless ambition sparked the ignition of foolish decisions which led to misguided visions,” but “You’ll be sleeping with the fishes before you know you’re drowning” is a close second. Some listeners might recognize the title or the chorus, which is because singer-songwriter George Michael is credited on Swift’s song for his 1987 hit of the same name. This connection had me very excited to hear Swift’s take, but unfortunately, she only used his song as a writing prompt, and the title and chorus are the only things they have in common.
07. Elizabeth Taylor, 3.5/5
I can’t find much special about this song, but it is more fun to listen to than some of the other songs. It is not a bad song, but it also isn’t exceptional either. Something about it really has me liking it more, but I can’t pinpoint what it is.
06. The Fate of Ophelia, 4/5
This song reminds me of the “1989” Vault tracks released in 2023, and the instrumentals feel very familiar. I really like the references to stereotypical fairytale princesses. The concept of being saved from what Ophelia went through in Hamlet is a truly beautiful dedication to Kelce, because Ophelia died due to a descent into madness.
05. The Life of a Showgirl (feat. Sabrina Carpenter), 4/5
I had very high hopes for this song as the title track. I did stumble upon some leaked lyrics before the album was released, but I ignored them, thinking they were fake. Unfortunately, they were real, which disappointed me because the surprise of a new album is always the best part. The chorus and bridge really stuck out, but the outro is what really won me over. It is the outro she used during “The Eras Tour,” and the sentimental ties and nostalgia were very bittersweet.
04. Opalite, 4/5
This song definitely fits the ‘dancing around my bedroom’ vibe I was expecting for an album about being a showgirl. It reminds me of summer and has a fun beat, but some parts feel poorly written compared to others. The deepest lyric is, “This is just a temporary speed bump, but failure brings you freedom.”
03. Ruin the Friendship, 4.5/5
I was shocked the first time I heard this song. I expected it to be about losing a friend due to a fight or drama, but it is about falling in love with a friend and not wanting to sabotage yourself. It sounds like the “Fearless” album, a familiar vibe that has been missed. It seems like this is the more upbeat version of her song “Forever Winter,” both songs being about her high school crush who passed away.
02. Eldest Daughter, 4.5/5
Right when the tracklist came out, I knew I would love and relate to this song as an eldest daughter myself. It is the fifth track on the album, and her fifth track songs, such as “You’re On Your Own, Kid” and “White Horse”, are notoriously vulnerable. Some lyrics are cheesy, but most of them are very deep. The lyric, “Every eldest daughter was the first lamb to the slaughter,” really hit close to home and added the emotional depth the song needed.
01. Actually Romantic, 4.5/5
This song was not originally this high up on my ranking, but after a few listens, it has grown on me a lot. I expected a love song, but instead it is a diss at jealous people and their obsession with talking about her. While I don’t relate to it too much, I found it really fun to listen to, and it had me on the edge of my seat the whole time.
Overall, the average rating for the songs was a 3.12/5, but I feel that is too low, and that this album deserves a 4/5. A lot of the songs disappointed me and felt eerily similar to other pre-existing songs or other songs on the album. The jump between “The Tortured Poets Department” was very drastic, but I think she executed it properly. I don’t find myself trying to skip any of the songs when they come on, but I certainly gravitate towards some more than others.