Recently, on Friday, October 3, Taylor Swift’s new album titled The Life of a Showgirl came out. This album has 12 tracks and one new music video for the song “The Fate of Ophelia.” Additionally, Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl was out in theaters for a limited three days. This movie showed the behind-the-scenes of the new music video, as well as each song and the meaning behind it.
This album has received a lot of criticism due to its significant difference from her past albums. Personally, I like most of the songs, even though some of them weren’t what I was expecting and not as lyrical as I was hoping, like folklore, evermore, or The Tortured Poets Department. However, I’m really happy for her because now she is happily engaged and can finally reflect that happiness in her songs (I guess even if that means we can’t get her really good, lyrical, masterpiece, gut-wrenching sad songs anymore). All things considered, my top three favorite songs were The Fate of Ophelia, Elizabeth Taylor, and The Life of a Showgirl ft. Sabrina Carpenter.
#3: The Life of a Showgirl ft. Sabrina Carpenter
This song is in my top three because it really ties the entire album together as the last track, as it is upbeat but explains the struggles of being a performer, which is what the whole album is about. I also really love all of the songs where she narrates a fictional story. In this case, she goes through the story of a fictional showgirl, Kitty, who explains how being a showgirl is not what it seems. Then, at the end of the song, Swift explains how she took Kitty’s advice and is now a showgirl herself. Featuring Sabrina Carpenter in the song was very smart because she is also a showgirl, and I feel like the song fits her very well. My favorite detail of the song is that it ends with a real audio clip of Swift and Carpenter saying goodbye to the crowd on the final night of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Vancouver.
#2: Elizabeth Taylor
My second favorite song is also one of the songs on the album that is definitely all about being a showgirl. In this song, Swift uses the famous actress Elizabeth Taylor as a parallel to her own life. There are numerous very specific allusions to Elizabeth Taylor, such as “I’d cry my eyes violet” because Elizabeth Taylor’s eyes were known to appear a violet color, and the locations, Portofino and Plaza Athénée, which are associated with Elizabeth Taylor and her own relationships. One of the reasons that I like this song so much is that it is about Travis Kelce and is essentially a love song, but that doesn’t prevent it from having a lot of beautifully written lyrics and allusions, and not being “only” about Kelce because it’s also a lot about her fame.
#1: The Fate of Ophelia
My number one favorite song on the entire album, and my new favorite music video ever, is The Fate of Ophelia. This is the first track on the album, so it was the first I listened to, and I immediately loved the album because of this one song. This song is a reference to the character Ophelia in the Shakespeare play Hamlet. In the play, Ophelia faces terrible actions from men and the patriarchy and dies by drowning. In The Fate of Ophelia, Swift explains how Kelce’s love has essentially “saved her” from this fate. Similar to Elizabeth Taylor, I like this song because it’s a love song about her fiancé, but it isn’t “only” about that; it has a very interesting and unique meaning. Along with the song having a deep meaning and a super catchy, melodic flow, the music video is also amazing. Seeing the behind-the-scenes in the Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl movie showed me how much work and dedication were truly put into this, and the outcome was unbelievable. I definitely recommend watching this music video.
Overall, this album was not exactly what I expected it to be, but numerous songs still have great, deep meanings, like The Fate of Ophelia and Elizabeth Taylor, and there are some fun, upbeat songs, such as The Life of a Showgirl. Nevertheless, this album has beaten many records already, and I would certainly recommend giving it a listen.
