Music Review Saturday: Taylor Swift - The Life of a Showgirl

On October 3^rd, 2025, Taylor Swift released her twelfth studio album titled The Life of a Showgirl. Moving on from the more melancholy and slower album that was The Tortured Poets Department, this album is much more fast paced and that glitter gel pen vibe that Taylor has normally been known for. In total, the album consists of twelve tracks and is forty-two minutes long. Each song providing new lyrics and new beats to dance or cry to. Now, with out further adieu, lets dive in to “The Life of a Showgirl.”  

Track #1 “The Fate of Ophelia” 

The opening track starts off with a slower beat that quickly builds up to a quicker one that makes you want to get up and dance. Taylor sings of how someone has saved her from “The fate of Ophelia,” referencing the Shakespearean play Hamlet, and the female lead Ophelia, who died tragically after falling from a willow tree and drowning in a river after her love Hamlet killed her Father. Ophelia was singing as all of this occurred, which we learn from Queen Gertrude as she retells the events of her tragic ending. Whether or not this was intentional, or an accident is still disputed by many readers and play viewers. Tying into this, Taylor sings of how she was on the brink of the same fate of the Ophelia, had it not been for the person who saved her, which we can assume is her now fiancé Travis Kelce. In one lyric she states that “Late one night, you dug me out of my grave and saved my heart from the fate of Ophelia.” This shows that Travis saved her from “her tragic ending,” or simply that he brought a spark back into her life and took her out of her “Tortured Poet” era. This song sets the tone of the album and makes it clear that it will be much happier than the last. 

Track #2 “Elizabeth Taylor” 

Elizabeth Taylor was an actor in the 1940s and 1950s. Many saw the actress as controversial for the things she stood for, some hated her and some loved her. Much like Taylor Swift herself. Yet despite all of this, she will always have Travis. “They say I’m bad news, and I just say, ‘Thanks’ / And you look at me like you’re hypnotized.” This lyric talks about how even though she may be hated by the public, Travis will always love her. She does address that she is scared to lose him but believes that she will always have him. She relates to Elizabeth Taylor in the fact that they have many outstanding awards, but many still do not like their skill or what they have produced. This track is not as much of a dancing vibe but still has a unique beat that is more bass heavy.   

Track #3 “Opalite” 

We switch from the heavier bass back to the fun dance type of song. It leans into past where Taylor did not know where her love life was going, or that she was just unsure where her life was going. But the song switches the vibe and tells of how her mom told her how everything was going to be okay and that she got through it and life is better now. The song switches perspectives and it seems that Taylor is talking to someone, Travis perhaps. Telling him that he got through his hard times as well and that everyone makes mistakes. She tells him the same thing her mother told her, “It’s alright, you were dancing through the lighting strikes / Sleepless through the onyx night / But now the sky is opalite.” She goes on tell him that now that they have each other life will continue to get better and that if they make mistakes they will get through it by each other’s sides. They are no longer alone and are now a team. This song is a love song but does not outrightly say so. Which to me is very unique and can lift any bad mood because of its positive reminders. That the storm may be happening right now, but the sun will shine again.  

Track #4 “Father Figure”    

This track is much slower than the one before it, which fits the heavier message. “Father Figure,” is all about Taylor being a role model to someone just starting out in the industry. Stating that she saw potential and is willing to help build from that. “I’ll be your father figure,” she claims to the younger artist. It is a way of reassuring the young artist she will help them find their footing and not get tricked by companies like she did when she was first starting out in the show business. Yet despite all of this, the track shifts and the young protégé leaves Taylor to fulfill their dreams because that is what the field told them to do. Taylor warns against this but it still happens.  

Track #5 “Eldest Daughter” 

We are in the heavier part of the album now so the slower vibe has carried over to this track as well. Taylor’s track fives have been known to be the saddest tracks of her albums. Songs like “Dear John” on her album Speak Now, “All Too Well” on Red, and “The Archer” on Lover are considered to be the heaviest hitting songs on their albums, so going into this track we expected nothing less and Ms. Swift delivered. This, easily, is the saddest song on the album. She is singing from her perspective as an eldest daughter. Being the longest track on the album, it is the most emotional one as she is warning her younger sibling of all the things that could happen in his life and how mean the world could be. Being the first one that goes through it and relaying that information even though she is not taken seriously. Despite this she says “I’m never gonna break that vow / I’m never gonna leave you now,” meaning that she will always be next to him and let him go through the things that she went through. Many women who are eldest daughters are relating to this song and are saying that Taylor completely captured the essence of what it is like to be an eldest daughter and fulfilling her promise of an emotional track five.  

Track #6 “Ruin the Friendship” 

Keeping with the slower theme, this track does pick up slightly but not where we were. This song starts off as a what seems like an unrequited love story between two best friends. It takes place back in high school where Taylor is debating telling him or not. It seems at one pint in the story that she ill but decides against it. Years past and her best friend Abigail calls and tells her that he has passed away. Taylor instantly regrets not telling him how she felt all of those years ago and wished that he was still alive. “My advice is always ruin the friendship / Better hat than regret it or all time,” is the advice she leaves the listeners with because you will never know what happens in this life. This track is also one of the heavier tracks and flows off of the emotions that were raised in “Eldest Daughter.”  

Track #7 “Actually Romantic”  

We are back to the fast-paced tracks of before with track seven. This one, however, is targeted at the people who have doubted Taylor throughout her career. Saying how “It’s actually sweet all the time you’ve spent on me / It’s actually wild all the effort you put in.” She then goes on to say how none of her past relationships have loved her in the way this specific person does, even though that person hates her. Claiming that the subject of the song spends more time hating her than any of her boyfriends have spent loving her. Calling the person out and putting them on the spot for all the things they have done to her. This is the most sarcastic song of the album and has listeners shocked but here for it all at the same time. Taylor’s great lyric play allows her to express her feelings without ever dropping a name. This track is the pickup from the heavier songs, and that feeds into the rest of the album. 

Track #8 “Wi$h Li$t”  

Going from the sarcasm that was track eight to a lover’s song is a dramatic switch that only Taylor could pull off. Saying that all she wants now is a family and a life with Travis. That she is done with what the world thinks of her. She is ready to live a more modern life and she would be completely okay with that. “Wow, got me dreaming ‘bout a driveway with a basketball hoop,” she has never thought this way about a relationship and has never mentioned having kids or settling down with someone. This let us know that she is very serious about her relationship with Travis and is excited to see what is in store.  

Track #9 “Wood” 

Feeding on from the feeling that she has finally found true love track nine expresses that emotion. “New Heights of manhood,” references that fact that no man has ever been this good to her and the podcast that she released the name of the album on. Which happens to be hosted by the Kelce brothers. And while releasing this album she sat next to Travis and he smiled and supported the album drop, the first of Taylor’s boyfriends to do so. This was especially important to her, and she was seen laughing during the entire podcast. This song fully brings back the dance vibes and happier feeling like the ones before tracks four, five, and six did.  

Track #10 “CANCELLED!” 

Taylor Swift has been canceled many times by the public, yet she could care less. She says in the song that she likes her friends cancelled and that she welcomes them to her world and is used to all of the backlash. “Now they’ve broken you like they’ve broken me / But a shattered glass is a lot more sharp,” this lyric shows that even though Taylor and her friends have been broken down by society they can still defend themselves and say things that cut back at the people that have listed them as “canceled.” The song itself has a darker feel than those before it but still has a faster beat then some of the slower songs on the album making it an amazing song to listen to. 

Track #11 “Honey” 

With a sweeter rhythm and a piano melody, this song tells all about how Taylor is allowing herself to be more vulnerable in this relationship. The main theme being that all of the pet names that Taylor has been called in the past have been condescending. But now that she has Travis words like “honey” and “sweetheart’ have a whole new meaning to her. “You give it different meaning ‘cause you mean it when you talk,” is showing just how much Travis has changed her mindset about love and how ready she is for this new life. Which is beautiful to see after everything she has been through. It allows hope for her and fellow Swifties that she has finally found the one.  

Track #12 “The Life of a Showgirl” 

The last track of the album is also the title track and wraps up the album beautifully. Accompanied by Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor sings about life in show businesses as a woman and how hard it can be. “But you don’t know the life of a showgirl, babe / And you’re never, ever gonna,” this states that the life of a showgirl is one that fans, or just everyday people will never understand. They would love to do it, but they would not be able to deal with the stress or pressure that comes with it. But if they go through with it anyways despite the warnings it is worth all of it and the showgirls would do it all again. With this final track Taylor raps up her twelfth album in a fun and upbeat way. Thanking her fans at the end of it all.  

In my opinion, all of the songs were great, but this was not her best work, yet it was far from her worst as well. My favorite song and the one that has the best lyrics to me happens to be track one, “The Fate of Ophelia.” It is a great way to open the album. It turns tragedy into hope and tells Taylor’s own love story. To me this track is beautiful throughout in ways that only Taylor could do. Overall “The Life of a Showgirl,” Taylor’s twelfth album was a fun journey of emotions, and I highly recommend it to all music lovers.