OPINION — As a long-term Taylor Swift fan I can say with true sincerity that Showgirl could maybe be the most meaningful album she’s ever released.
Yes. Taylor is a massive pop star with a fat bank account, and the inner workings of her life really should have no bearing on how I live mine.
But right now I’m so happy. And it’s because of one simple reason. Because Taylor Swift is happy.
Ever since her first album in 2006, Taylor has laid her heart bare in her lyrics for everyone to hear. We’ve been alongside her for the highs and lows, and she’s given us a window into her elation and heartache through her music.
From getting stuck on back roads at night with her high school boyfriend, to begging on her knees for someone to want her company, we have been here for it all.
But with Showgirl, it seems like she is finally happy.
I think this is the first time that we have been graced with an entire Taylor album where every song about her love, or about a relationship, is positive.
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Debut, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, and 1989 were, for the most part, loaded with breakup songs.
Folklore and Evermore were sad as hell, Midnights was wistful, Tortured Poets was depressing.
On the surface, Lover was her first album about her being in a truly happy place, after finally finding her person.
But, as they say, hindsight is 20/20. Looking back, even the most swoon-worthy, lustful, upbeat pop songs were filled with anxiety or insecurity.
Cornelia Street anticipated a breakup; Afterglow was about walking on eggshells; False God acknowledged their issues.
Even Cruel Summer, the bop to end all bops, is about what was meant to be a fling.
All these songs that defined her relationship were actually low-key depressing.
The closest we get to actual Taylor love songs came on Reputation, but they were about the beginning of a relationship – wishing and hoping everything would go well.
Delicate is laden with anxiety. In Gorgeous, they both still have partners.
The theme of the album is that her relationship is a “secret she’s hoping, wishing, dying to keep”; they’re dancing with their hands tied.
The Life of a Showgirl, on the other hand, is FUN. Every song is written with her glitter gel pen. It oozes upbeat energy and positive vibes, and is the kind of album I want to blast through the car speakers on a warm sunny day.
Taylor is HAPPY. And it comes through on every song. You can hear it in her voice. Just listen to Honey and tell me you can’t hear her smiling through the lyrics.
Sure, not every song is a love song. Eldest Daughter had me sobbing on first listen. Actually Romantic is a fantastic take-down, Ruin the Friendship is a look back at high school, Wood is… really something else.
But the songs about Travis? You can hear in her voice, just how happy she truly is. Not because she feels like she should be, but because she’s finally found the love she knows she deserves.
Honey, Opalite, the end of Eldest Daughter… the true affection and loyalty she feels toward him comes out so strong.
In Honey, she says that he’s redefined all her blues – anyone who’s listened to her last five albums knows just how many ‘blue’ references there are in her Joe love songs.
Maybe nothing captures the story better than The Fate of Ophelia. With its Hamlet reference, it’s the perfect bridging song between Tortured Poets and this new era.
Her happiness is also evident in the promo she’s doing for this album – so far, she’s done a slew of radio interviews and has appearances on late-night talk shows.
The last time we’ve seen a press cycle like this was for Lover back in 2019.
Tortured Poets felt like an album she needed to make, get out of her system, and never talk about again. But Showgirl, and its accompanying cinema release, is a celebration of where she is now.
She wants to talk about her life, her relationship, her music, her future plans.
On Wi$h Li$t, she lays it all out. All she wants, all she really wants, is to “have a couple kids” and “tell the world to leave us the f*** alone”.
It’s what she’s hinted at back in 2012 with The Lucky One, on Midnights with Dear Reader, and again last year in Clara Bow.
She even acknowledges it: she thought she had found the one, not once but twice – it turns out, she was wrong.
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Say what you want about the album. I know there are already negative reviews out there, people who don’t like this departure from the more grown-up sounds of Tortured Poets and Folklore.
But she’s finally found the love she’s been singing about and wishing for all these years. So personally, I couldn’t be happier.
