Taylor Swift is back with her latest offering, The Life Of A Showgirl, which documents her life and love with Travis Kelce and living in the spotlight – but there’s one thing missing
The pressure Taylor Swift must face every time she releases an album would honestly be enough to send me spiralling. Imagine millions of people all over the world, anticipating your every move.
Well I am one of those millions and I couldn’t wait to hear what Taylor had in store for us next. I’ve been a fan of Taylor since I was crying in my bedroom as a teenager over my own version of ‘Drew’ as I sobbed along to Teardrops On My Guitar.
Taylor’s songs have been there for me through my teenage crushes, my heartbreaks and tough times in school so I was excited to see how her new album, The Life of a Showgirl might magically mimic the thoughts I now have as a 32-year-old woman.
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Following on from the success of her previous album, The Tortured Poets Department, Taylor kicks things off with her lead single The Fate of Ophelia, which appears to be a sweet nod to her husband-to-be Travis.
In it, she sings: “It’s locked inside my memory and only you possess the key, no longer drowning and deceived all because you came for me,” as she seemingly details all the heartbreaks that have got her to where she is now.
In fact, love and hope is the theme of the whole album including Eldest Daughter, where she heartbreakingly sings about being portrayed as the “bad bitch” by “traitors” and even admits she wasn’t allowed to want marriage because she hadn’t found The One yet.
Then comes Ruin The Friendship, which is peak Taylor Swift. What starts as a jovial and fun romantic song about falling for a friend at the wrong time soon turns dark as she sings “I whispered at the grave / ‘Should’ve kissed you anyway'”.
The album features more nods to Travis in Wi$h Li$t and Wood before it segues into the final song, where she’s partnered with Sabrina Carpenter for the titular track, The Life of a Showgirl. The song documents the pair’s very similar struggles with fame and being in the spotlight before the track ends with a little nod to Sabrina’s appearance at The Eras Tour.
I just have one problem with the album – it’s definitely not long enough. Taylor is used to releasing long LPs, with even longer extended versions – and don’t forget all the Taylor’s Version of her albums (her re-records), where she dropped many vault tracks. So I’m hoping we might get an extended version of this very soon.
One thing, though, is clear. Taylor has been through hell in the last few years – fighting for the rights to her own tracks, dealing with the public’s scrutiny on her every move and struggling to find The One before finally getting engaged to Travis Kelce.
Every moment of heartache, disaster and battle has brought her to this point. It’s nothing like what’s come before it – but then isn’t that the point? If you were expecting the pop bangers of 1989 or the devastation of The Tortured Poets Department then you’ll definitely hate this.
Being in love suits you, Taylor.