Music review
The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore
She gave us an encore. But did we really need this encore?
Taylor Swift had the chance to redeem âThe Life of a Showgirl,â arguably one of her weaker albums in her prolific discography, with her four-track âEncoreâ edition, released Friday.
Instead, the songs arguably gave the album even more of an identity crisis.
Sure, not every âShowgirlâ track can be a bop like âOpaliteâ or âThe Fate of Ophelia.â However, the songs should at least feel like theyâre on the right stage.
âPatient Zeroâ sounds like it belongs on âThe Tortured Poets Department,â while âBabylonâ and âPink Cloudingâ would have felt more at home on âFolkloreâ and âMidnights,â respectively.
At least âCleveland!â gives some âShowgirlâ vibes â but thatâs not entirely a compliment. Swiftâs blatant Travis Kelce love song is far too on the nose, complete with too many cringey lyrics to count.
âHe already took me to Cleveland / And he showed me The Heights / so hate all you like (Uh-huh) / This is the love of my life,â she sings.
Then thereâs the raunchy line, âThe taste of me is acquired, but itâs his favorite dish.â
And to think we bashed âMe!â seven years ago.
We do have to give Swift some credit, though, as the rest of the âEncoreâ songs arenât as bad. âBabylonâ is probably the best of the bunch â though it takes lots of brain power to figure out exactly what sheâs saying.
âPatient Zero,â a confirmed girlâs girl anthem, and âPink Clouding,â an apparent apology to her ex Tom Hiddleston, are solid entries in her music catalog. But will we be dancing, or crying, to them five years from now? I doubt it.
The internet, where âSwiftiesâ are crawling everywhere, isnât giving a standing ovation to her âEncoreâ edition, either.
âShowgirl really her weakest work not even the encore could save this,â one disappointed fan wrote on X.
Another fan shaded Swift, âDoes she know itâs ok to keep songs in the vault?â
âSometimes u listen to a song and thank god u have free will and never have to hear it again,â read a different brutal comment.
Now letâs clarify one thing: Swift is still a music mastermind. Some of the greatest artists in the world have highs and lows. And this is, sadly, her low.
Sheâs also not the same girl she was when she wrote âTeardrops on My Guitarâ and âAll Too Well.â Sheâs happier now. And maybe thatâs what happens when you fall in true love (with her now-husband, NFL star Travis Kelce).
Since she was 16 years old, Swift has never stopped putting on a show for us. Thatâs why, bad album or not, sheâll never be knocked off the stage.
But she shouldâve sat this show out.
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