Opinion: Why Taylor Swift’s most recent album fell flat

Taylor Swift posing in a bathtub as seen on the cover for her new album, “The Life of a Showgirl.” Rather than water, the tub is filled with hundred-dollar bills. Art by Wes Mowry-Silverman.

On Oct. 3, 2025, Taylor Swift dropped her 12th studio album, the highly anticipated “The Life of a Showgirl.” Within moments of its release, the album and its subsequent discourse consumed the media ecosystem. Rolling Stone released a resounding endorsement, even changing the colors of their webpage to orange and mint, the promotional colors for the album. Other publications, like Pitchfork and The Guardian released far more critical reviews. Within minutes, the din of the discourse was louder than the album. Is Taylor Swift a feminist icon? A sellout? A misogynist? A savant? Was the album good? Does any of that even matter? 

In some ways, it matters for the same reason all pop culture matters. Pop culture is both a microcosm of larger socioeconomic trends and, in some cases, it is the spark from which the flames of cultural division grow. Taylor Swift is arguably the biggest pop star in the world right now, so the ideology promoted by her work and public persona will likely ripple throughout society. It’s not Swift’s responsibility to be a political figure, but to disregard her potential socioeconomic impact would be naïve.

While the current state of celebrity and Swift's position in the world make her music nearly impossible to divorce from its political and cultural implications, it seems reductive to discuss her art without analyzing the art itself. The album is unabashedly pop; it's upbeat and high energy, with a few enticing hooks and catchy choruses. Perhaps unfortunately for Swift, she is known for her lyricism, which is where this album truly falls flat. The album would be acceptable from a music teacher, but Taylor Swift is a self identified “English teacher.” Her public persona is built on some level of intellectualism. She’s been lauded for her conscientious engagement with literary allusions, metaphorical language and robust vocabulary. 

While all of these elements are still present in “The Life of a Showgirl,” her self-serious tone and her overuse of internet language detract from the quality of the writing. Lines like “Did you girlboss too close to the sun?” and “But I’m not a bad bitch / and this isn’t savage” ground her perspective not in the vintage glitz and glamor she seems so desperate to emulate, but in the mind of an internet-afflicted millennial. In her last few albums, Swift saw increased exposure, as her lyrics like “I’m so depressed, I act like it’s my birthday every day” became viral soundbites and sparked TikTok trends. The lyrics were the perfect kind of self-deprecating relatability to connect with a large audience, and their subsequent virality seemed to positively impact album promotion. Now, it feels as if she’s writing to cater to these algorithms. Her use of online buzzwords feel like a calculated attempt to give other chronically-online women something #relatable to post about. “Married to the hustle” is for the 6:00 a.m. grindset girls, “eldest daughter” is for perpetual victims, and “cancelled” is for people who still support J.K. Rowling. 

But despite her bids at relatability, Swift seems intent to distance herself from other women. Swift has long sung about her distaste for “the haters,” from mean girls, to misogynistic critics, to ex-lovers, but in “The Life of a Showgirl,” it feels less like she is lifting herself up and more like she is purely putting others down. This is particularly evident through her labeling of other women as “bitches” in “Honey” and throughout “Actually Romantic,” theorized to be a response to Charli xcx’s “Sympathy is a knife.” Swift makes digs about the singer's use of cocaine and implies xcx has an obsession with her, all while utilizing more graphic language than she could muster to describe her fiancé. Swift’s mean spirited critique of a biracial woman, in combination with the racial implications of distancing herself from “bad bitches,” a phrase popularized by Black women, has led many to call out the exclusivity of Swift’s white feminism. 

The final nail in the coffin was “CANCELLED!,” wherein Swift proudly proclaims she likes her friends “cancelled … cloaked in Gucci and scandal.” One can certainly critique the immediacy of backlash and the way puritanical expectations have replaced nuance online, especially in relation to women, who Swift astutely notes can get away with far less than their male counterparts. However, Swift’s mention of a designer brand immediately establishes the song as an anthem for the critique-resistant social elite. In combination with Swift’s public friendship with noted Trump supporter Brittany Mahomes, the song feels less like a critique of internet mobs and more like a defensive response to any criticism of Swift and her wealthy peers. 

This is the key theme of Swift’s work. More than the joys of love or the plight of fame, the album is about money. As of the time this article is being written, six days after the album’s release, Swift has released 28 different editions of the album. Some are limited edition, some have acoustic bonus tracks, some have varied promotional pictures or contain different colored vinyls — anything and everything for fans to purchase as much as they can. There appears to be more effort put into the promotion of the album than the music itself. 

It seems that not just her artistic integrity, but her morality has fallen victim to this all-consuming quest for profit. Swift previously criticized AI, as she was both a victim of AI-generated pornography and AI-generated content endorsing then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. Swift has never been a radical political figure, nor has she ever claimed to be such, but she offered a clear, articulate statement clarifying her allegiance to the Harris-Walz campaign while highlighting the dangers of AI misinformation. As a result, the seeming use of AI in her most recent promotional cycle has left fans confused and disappointed. Unfortunate as it may be, this comes as no real surprise, considering Swift has made it clear her primary loyalty lies with herself and her bank account. While she was making fun of Charli xcx for a potential cocaine addiction, she herself suffers from an addiction to something far more dangerous: exorbitant wealth. And until she seeks treatment, her music isn’t going to get any better.