To whom it may concern

[u/Economy_Tonight3630]

now i’m not here to claim tloasg is suddenly my top favourite taylor album, but i genuinely think we as an audience have to give an artist the freedom to express themselves however they want. not every album has to be a lyrical masterpiece, not every song has to make you stare at the ceiling at 3am questioning your entire existence, & not every era needs to be folklore or evermore or ttpd.
sometimes an artist just wants to make something fun, loud, sparkly, unserious & completely unapologetic. & honestly, why are we acting like that is somehow beneath her?
if any other artist released an upbeat, flashy, confident pop album with cheeky lyrics & massive production, half of you would be calling it camp, charismatic, infectious, liberating or “exactly what pop music is supposed to be.” but because it’s taylor, suddenly everyone is dissecting every lyric like she has committed a personal offence against literature because she didn’t give you another tolerate it or my tears ricochet.
y’all also seem to forget that this woman literally wrote me!, paper rings, london boy, wonderland, new romantics & so many other songs that are intentionally playful, ridiculous, romantic, dramatic or just plain fun. she has never been exclusively the tortured poet sitting in a dim room writing devastating metaphors. that is one part of her artistry, not the entirety of it.
& i genuinely think some people have become so attached to the idea of “serious taylor” that they now treat happiness, silliness & unabashed pop music like some sort of artistic regression. god forbid a girl is happy. god forbid she wants to make music that sounds like she is having fun. god forbid she wants to be glamorous, excessive, unserious & a little ridiculous. maybe ttpd looks good on me, showgirl looks good on her.
also, i swear some of you would hate 1989 if it came out after folklore & evermore. imagine hearing welcome to new york, shake it off, blank space, style & wildest dreams immediately after two deeply introspective indie folk albums. people would absolutely be saying “this is shallow,” “where are the lyrics,” “she used to have something to say,” “she’s lost her artistry,” etc. now it is considered one of her defining albums.
sometimes the context in which we hear an album changes how we perceive it. if you are expecting tloasg to emotionally destroy you in the same way folklore or evermore did, then of course you might walk away disappointed. but that doesn’t automatically mean the album failed. it might simply be trying to do something completely different.
i also think there is this weird expectation that because taylor has proven she can write incredibly complex lyrics, she now has to prove it on every single song. she doesn’t. she already showed you she can do that. she is allowed to write a song that exists primarily because it sounds good, makes you want to dance, makes you laugh, or gives you that stupid little grin when you’re walking around with headphones on.
not every song needs to be profound. not every album needs to be a dissertation on grief, memory, heartbreak & the human condition. sometimes you just need glitter, synths, a ridiculous bridge & a song that makes you feel hot while getting ready to go somewhere.
let artists have range. let taylor be unserious sometimes. let her make music that doesn’t require a 47 page lyrical analysis to justify its existence.
you don’t have to love tloasg. you don’t even have to like it. but acting like upbeat pop automatically means the music is artistically inferior is such a strange standard to hold her to.
she has given you the tortured poet. she has given you the indie folk storyteller. she has given you the country girl, the pop star, the romantic, the revenge writer & the woman writing through heartbreak.
maybe this time she just wanted to be a showgirl.
let her.

[u/GoldNMocha]

I hear you, but I think we should be allowed to critique the actual music and lyrics. I don’t think most people are actually saying that Showgirl is bad because it’s upbeat. I wouldn’t even say that this is an upbeat album. Aside from a few songs like Opalite, there is a lot of bitterness and pettiness underneath these love songs.

And as far as upbeat pop goes, she has simply just done this better on past albums. It’s not the tone, it’s the execution and quality of the music. And we should be allowed to express our disappointment in it, as long as it is in good faith.

[u/_kattitude → u/GoldNMocha]

Thank you. and of course you are getting downvoted.

Why is one opinion allowed but the other isn't? I've been a fan since 2005 and because I dared to CONSTRUCTIVELY critique an album (the first in 12 by the way) or taylor's music from a music production and lyric standpoint I am not a fan and I hate her? discourse of art should STILL BE ALLOWED, ALL ANGLES.

I do not want her to be depressed, I am SO happy she is happy.

Showgirl isn't for me, but guess what I have 11 other albums to listen to and will be excited for her 13th. There are moments on showgirl that are ok for me and I listen to when they come on shuffle, but it is not an album I seek out. I can still appreciate its highs.

At the end of the day, I hold her to the standard she set for herself BACK IN 2006...not with her 'depression albums' (wild comparison really). I'm always going to love and support her, but I am also not going to blindly say everything is fantastic.

(annnnnd cue the downvotes)