taylor swift is done being humble

a showgirl all her life, TS is sick of performing

I didn’t know what to expect going into The Life of a Showgirl (henceforth known as TLOAS for efficiency purposes); I’m not a huge fan of “glitter gel pen songs,” as the Swiftie fandom likes to refer to her pop ballads. The Tortured Poets Department was, in some ways, peak songwriting for my tastes, appealing to my inner literary nerd while also getting to see Taylor at her most vulnerable, open, and raw.

Swifties get mad when I constructively criticize Taylor, whether it’s for her lack of activism or some songs that are personally not my cup of tea. With TLOAS, she has a clear message: she couldn’t care less.

I expected a lot of these songs, based on their titles, to be about her romance with Travis Kelce - Actually Romantic, Ruin the Friendship, etc. I was pleasantly surprised that so much of this is a love letter to herself, and rightfully so. Taylor has worked overtime for her success, her fanbase, and for her right to be who she is through her music. That really shines through on TLOAS in a way it never has before in her music. On previous albums, when she tried to sound self-righteous and bold and scary - Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?, for example - you could tell she was hiding behind the fear of being perceived and holding herself back. On this album, however, she steps fully into her power, shedding any and all fears of people seeing her as “smug.”

In Opalite, she literally tells us that she has created her own magic, her own success, and her own name.

My mama told me:

“It’s alright

You were dancing through the lightning strikes

Sleepless in the onyx night

But now the sky is opalite

Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh my Lord

Never made no one likе you before

You had to make your own sunshine”

If you’re a hardcore Swiftie, like I am, you know how superstitious Taylor is, from revering the number 13 to wearing spiritually protective braids in her hair. Opalite and Wood shed this fear: she makes her own luck, and she has fun and looks good while doing it. She is the harbinger, quite literally, of everything she has ever acquired.

In Father Figure, she steps into her power by instating herself as having “owned” her foe (Scooter Braun, if the lyrics weren’t obvious enough), in a way that must be so satisfying for her. The appendage reference is one that firmly strips her opponent of his masculinity. She reverses the power dynamic, threatens him, infantilizes him, and flexes her songwriting, financial, and personal prowess:

I was your father figure

We drank that brown liquor

You made a deal with this devil

Turns out my ****’s bigger

You want a fight, you found it

I got the place surrounded

You’ll be sleeping with the fishes

Before you know you’re drowning

Here, she is both a mother and father, queen and king. She bought back her masters, and with it, her name, her confidence, and her inner strength:

I was your father figure

You pulled the wrong trigger

This empire belongs to me

In “Actually Romantic,” Taylor addresses another long-standing beef: the one she has with Charli XCX (anyone who thinks this song is about Gabriette couldn’t be more wrong). Instead of adopting the same wounded position she had with previous tracks about her feuds, such as “thanK you aIMee,” (the capital letters spell out Kim, in reference to Kim Kardashian, a nice touch), she doesn’t care about appearing forgiving, mature, or wise. Instead, she uses this song as a way of “feeling herself” - her haters must be so in love with her to devote this much time to her. She also doesn’t hide behind anything. From the title (a nod to Charli’s own song, “Everything is Romantic”), to the lyrics, she is attacking Charli, Gabriette, Matty Healy, and anyone else who looks down on her.

I feel like female competition in the music industry is so nuanced and is the product of patriarchy and misogyny in and of itself, and I wish that Taylor Swift used this song to touch on that. But she would not, because she is on her high horse, and she is steadfast and firm about that. She doesn’t want to be the bigger person. She doesn’t want to be intellectual or thoughtful. She wants to laugh at all the people who have laughed at her:

I heard you call me “Boring Barbie” when the coke’s got you brave

High-fived my ex and then you said you’re glad he ghosted me

Wrote me a song saying it makes you sick to see my face

Some people might be offended

But it’s actually sweet

All the time you’ve spent on me

It’s honestly wild

All the effort you’ve put in

It’s actually romantic

I really got to hand it to you

No man has ever loved me like you do

In “CANCELLED!,” Taylor gives us another shocking revelation about her personal power: she is still friends with Blake Lively, and she doesn’t care what you think. For someone who has always shied away from overt scandals (and probably still does, to an extent, given that her and Blake have not been seen together in forever), it is rare for her to come out with an admission so bold and IDGAF-coded. She also doesn’t care if you cancel her, and actually “likes her friends canceled.” This is interesting given the fact that her previous posturing in her music has been more along the lines of: you can cancel me, but what did I do wrong? She is, in a way, done playing the victim, and done explaining herself. It’s actually pretty satisfying to watch.

Despite the plethora of love songs on this album, it doesn’t feel romantic. It feels like a pop star’s love letter to herself and her alone. Her confidence shines through in her lyrics, and even in her delivery and tone. Although not all of the songs on this album are my cup of tea, this is probably the thing I appreciate the most about it as a whole body of work. Taylor Swift has been a show girl all her life, and she’s sick of performing.