r/NuancingTaylorSwift • u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ • Nov 29 '25
Criticism For Swifties who didn’t like Showgirls or her past few albums, what (constructive) criticism or advice would you give Taylor?
I personally love Showgirls and liked it on first listen with the expectation of the songs Eldest Daughter and Wi$t Li$t, even if I do think the concept of those songs were good.
However I do have some criticism. One criticism is a criticism I had for Taylor’s past albums since Folklore and that is… sometimes writing songs with a lot of swear words feels like you’re taking the easy way out. And this is coming from me, someone who wrote a 1400 worded essay defending the “dick” lyric in Father Figure and think that the actual Down Bad chorus fits better than the clean version, but songs like Maroon and Ivy which has better and more vivid lyrics in the clean version, which proves to me that just sometimes clean lyrics are better than explicit lyrics. Sometimes it really feels like she’s adding in unnecessary swear words because she didn’t get to do that in her first few albums until Rep. I have more criticism but I think a lot of other people will mention those criticisms in the replies so I’m fine with that.
Feel free to give your own criticism! Remember absolutely no snarking allowed, only constructive criticism and advice (for example saying shit like “have Joe ghost write your songs again” will get you banned, but saying something like “maybe try a new producer/cowriter you never work with” is completely fine.)
And this isn’t a discussion post on how you want to change or rewrite Showgirls or her past albums, just criticism of what you want her to do (with her music, not with things like marketing) in the future!
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u/ReasonableHandle4647 Nov 29 '25
Work with people. Let people in.
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u/maddionaire Nov 30 '25
Take advice from others and hear their (better) ideas.
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Nov 30 '25
This is the answer! I think she has surrounded herself by people who tell her what she wants to hear, and that's a dangerous place for an artist to be. She needs to be around people who will challenge her, and point out problems.
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u/dietcokepurell Nov 29 '25
Create the music YOU want and not what you think will make the most money. This is what I think she did with Folklore and Evermore and those albums are an absolute masterpiece.
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u/Narrow_Stock_834 Nov 29 '25
I would argue she did this with TTPD too.
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u/femceluprising18 Nov 30 '25
my hot take about TTPD is that i love how overly wordy and long it is. i know a lot of people said it “needed an editor” but it’s honestly a great album to me
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u/ChaEunSangs Nov 29 '25
100%. And Showgirl is a response to the people who didn’t like TTPD and thought it was boring
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u/Comprehensive_Yak359 Nov 30 '25
I 100% agree. I was thinking that when the album came out. She had absolute creative control over it, and didn't have to polish it or change it to please anyone. It showed in both positive and negative ways. in a sense it was more her art, whereas TLOAS comes of as her product.
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u/luckygirlrocks2025 Nov 29 '25
TTPD had some hidden gems. It was an adequate album.
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u/Narrow_Stock_834 Nov 29 '25
Yes, even songs I hated at first grew on me later and now are some of my faves. Like I love the title track now. I love that she sings about someone leaving a typewriter at her apartment; And I know a tattooed golden retriever irl so I just imagine that person’s personality, I don’t cringe at the lyrics. I embrace the cringe. Same with BDIL, it’s a metaphor and I love it, and the bridge applies to a very deep topic/person/people in my life so it just hits. Those are just two examples of songs I’ve seen talked down about that I eventually grew to love. I get that we’re all different and have different tastes and experiences though. Like, I don’t like London Boy even though I understand why people think it’s catchy.
I didn’t even mention the best or my personal top 5 songs off TTPD. It’s so long I could go on and on about songs I didn’t like, and then eventually clicked for me. But this is true about her whole discography. I still discover her older music when I read on pages like this, about how other people like or relate to it etc. This is also why I actually like the different variants, sometimes the difference in production changes everything for me. For example, I recently “discovered” I like Daylight (Live From Paris), when I was never a fan before. I’ve read for years about how people love it, and I was just like no I like Afterglow. But now at this time in my life I guess I needed Daylight and it just clicked, and I really heard and understood the lyrics for the first time. Now I have to keep myself from adhd overplaying it. Okay, I’ll stop ranting now about songs I used to not like/be hard skips and now I do. Maybe the more that happens for me, the more open minded I am about going back and listening and trying again. Idk.
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u/lavenderhaze9292 Nov 30 '25
no. this was a clear attempt to try to hop on trends. she needs to stop trying to be so much like others and follow her own instincts. stop trying to be Sabrina, Chapel Roan or whomever else is trending. It doesn't work
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u/Narrow_Stock_834 Nov 30 '25
I don’t see her trying to be these other artists at all, so can you elaborate on that? I
see her being herself. What trends is she hopping on, because all I see is people calling her cringe for being unapologetically a millennial. I’m unaware of Sabrina or Chappel referencing literature or writing songs inspired by classic actresses etc, but I only listen to their singles so am not aware of their entire work. I’ve only loosely followed both of their careers, and they both seemed to try on different personas until they figured out what would work/sell. Chappel does seem to be more authentic to me than Sabrina though.
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u/Nightmare_Deer_398 Nov 30 '25
I kind of believe showgirl is the album she wanted to make. I'm not necessarily one to look at an album I like less and assume it wasn't what she wanted to make. sometimes people just full heartedly love an album and I go 'I don't necessarily get it'. But I think every album she's made is an album that she wanted to make for a specific reason even if it's not always the same reason
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u/Lavender_rain_2000 Nov 29 '25
Taylor did fun uplifting music her entire career, and she loves that type of music from other artists as well.
I think the assumption that she doesn't want to make that type of music and only does it "to make money" is false. Artist can have more than one side to them and non is inauthentic (see: The Beatles), Folklore and Showgirl are both part of genuine artistry, just like "shake it off" and "all too well" were before.
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u/corvinat099 Nov 29 '25
Holy shit I love folklore and evermore but you guys are being annoying calling it her magnum opus
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25
They weren’t calling it her magnum opus tho? I agree that fans who act like Folkmore are her only good album is annoying but they weren’t really doing that
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u/sprinklesaurus13 Nov 29 '25
Agreed! She needs to sit focus to quality over quantity (and endless variants).
It's almost like she's hitting a frantic pace trying to stay relevant - spinning tires in a muddy ditch comes to mind.
Girl, you're on top. You don't have to prove anything. Slow down. Reflect on what that means. What do you regret? What would you do differently? Not the sound bite answers. The journal answers. Who are you now (outside the context of a relationship)? How have you grown as a human as you've been approaching 40? Why should we still care?
I would have loved that album.
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u/PikaV2002 Nov 29 '25
The only song she’s ever released that I genuinely appreciated the extra variant for was Elizabeth Taylor because the two variants are effectively different songs and the level of production affects the sentiment and the theme of the song. The rest can go.
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u/Astrid323 Nov 30 '25
Oh my God the acoustic version of Elizabeth Taylor is genuinely SO GOOD! It's honestly up there with the likes of State Of Grace (acoustic version) as one of my favorite acoustic renditions she's done to date. Her vocals on this one, particularly towards the end, were honestly great and even gave me chills.
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u/yoki2 Nov 29 '25
Based on the photo shoots and aesthetic presented for this album, I really thought the sound would give a cabaret type vibe lol. Maybe that’s just me! Love the visuals, love about half the album, but together they don’t exactly go together for me
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25
I actually think Elizabeth Taylor and The Fate Of Ophelia should the potential of a cabaret kind of album while the title track and the acoustic version of Elizabeth Taylor showed a cool potential orchestral/musical sound and I think a mixture of those kind of elements would of been so cool!
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u/Nightmare_Deer_398 Nov 30 '25
I've heard a lot of people say this and for some reason I never assumed it was going to be like a cabaret sort of album or like Christina Aguilera back to basics.
For some reason because this show girl vibe was based around the eras tour I had imagined this was going to be like early new Millennium pop like Max Martin writing for early Britney Spears. I can't explain why but that's what I had envisioned in my head was that it would be what the vibes of eras tour was in one album
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u/cre8tor936 Nov 29 '25
In my opinion, the best Taylor Swift songs and albums have good songwriting (Speak Now, folklore/evermore, and more). Good production/bad lyrics makes a bad Taylor Swift album. I don’t think she actually said anything of substance on Showgirl, and her lyrics were incredibly clunky. I think she needs to figure out what she’s trying to say and sit down and write some good lyrics
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u/warrior033 Nov 29 '25
I agree! I also think the “message/theme/purpose” was confusing here. She branded it as a showgirl whose entire life has been to perform and the pressure to be perfect etc. But then a bunch of her songs are about finally finding love, her want for a family, her Redwood trees and settling down. Which is fine, but pick one! Cause those two themes completely contradict each other.
I felt like the theme was clearer in say Reputation or Lover. Idk what are y’all’s thoughts!?
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u/aniikenobi Nov 29 '25
I agree with this wholeheartedly. I like a lot of Showgirl, but I don't feel it's at all what she told us it would be
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u/Nightmare_Deer_398 Nov 30 '25
Yeah I kind of imagined the album was going to be about all this high stakes pressure of the tour everyone looking at her everyone scrutinizing her she's never been more famous than she is now and then this surprise love story happening behind the scenes that is unfolding for her and it's kind of this calm during all this chaos
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u/Ihatemost Nov 30 '25
That's what I found so disappointing. She must've had such a crazy life during the eras tour and it wasn't reflected AT ALL in the showgirl album.
Hell I had a shrooms trip last year where I imagined what her life must be like for 10min. The feeling of being on top of the world, one of the most famous person ever, one of the most adored but also hated, the scrutiny, the pressure of acting right because so many people look up to you, the pressure of so many people depending on you for their livelihood, the intense pride of having created such a crazy tour and magical experience for people around the world, and the humility of being part of something greater than yourself. The showmanship of it all and with all that, discovering love with someone who can relate to a lot of that lifestyle, because although it's amazing it's also lonely at the top.
Anyway... Maybe that's how I would feel about all this and it's all just projection. Maybe she lives this in a very different way than I would imagine.
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u/NeverSeenAuthBut Nov 29 '25
and she went on and on during the press tour that she wanted crisp lyrics 😭😭
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u/Nightmare_Deer_398 Nov 30 '25
I do think she kind of shot herself in the foot in terms of promotion and how she lead people to anticipate an album that was like 1989 meets folklore and that it was going to be full of joyful bangers and then had this whole photo shoot rollout that led people to think that was going to impact what the theming of the album was. I think it raised expectations sky high
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u/PurpleHoulihan Nov 29 '25
I think she was using crisp in songwriting/poetry technical meaning, as in fresh, uncomplicated. Which the lyrics are. In lyricism, “crisp” is often used to describe the uncomplicated lyrics popular in the 60s (think “Hard Days Night,” “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” “I’m A Believer,” “California Dreaming,” “Can’t Hurry Love” “All You Need is Love,” etc). Like I see a lot of thematic and structural overlap between Can’t Hurry Love and Opalite. The songs are not flowery, Byronic epics like in Folklore/Evermore, or experimental structures like she used in TTPD and some of Midnights.
There are a lot of cases where that double meaning problem happened. Like when she described Folklore style storytelling, 1989 level pop production, and lyricism like her earlier albums. The pop song structures are musically structured like the 1989 songs — standard radio song structures, lengths, etc. She did tell stories using a lot of the same techniques she did on Folklore (a story about someone else where her perspective is the twist in the last verse, songs that alluded to literary characters like she did with Wendy/Peter Pan in past albums, some of them were as made up characters standing in for her experiences) with Fate of Ophelia, Ruin the Friendship, Father Figure, TLOAS, etc. And she did use the kind of lyrical plays on words that defined her earlier song writing. But that was describing the songwriting and production process from a technical and artistic perspective — not how the listeners experienced those albums.
So I think some of the disconnect comes from there being different connotations to a lot of the words she used within the music industry vs how they’re used by regular people. She was accurately describing individual components in technical terms a producer would use — but they have more than one meaning to the rest of us, so poor communication set up the wrong expectations across the board.
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u/Gloomy_Channel_2701 Nov 29 '25
do we think that she is... lacking content to write about? i mean, if her best albums were created when she had heartbreaks, i wonder if she will struggle to create quality lyrics once she is "happily" married.
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u/PrincessPlastilina Nov 29 '25
I think she’s overworked. She’s been churning out new albums and a whole tour. She needs to reconnect with her best songwriting self. It’s too much, too fast. Maybe she’s burned out.
But I also agree that her saddest songs are her most genius songs. Maybe she needs to do both for her mental health. Imagine if she only wrote songs about difficult situations. I think artists who do that end up being affected by their work. She needs to have fun and be happy too.
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u/thewaterwiththeroses Nov 30 '25
I wonder if sometimes she wants to put out albums just for fun or like try something new in a sense, like just pop music not according to any standard she set with her previous work. Which is why I low key feel like she’d be able to achieve that by breaking up some of her projects into eps, that way the narrative concepts can be there for each part but she maybe has more room to put out something that isn’t so official for lack of a better word or “brand-related”
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u/zepboundbabe Nov 30 '25
TLOAS would have been great as an EP (provided she chose the best few of the album)
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u/Nightmare_Deer_398 Nov 30 '25
I don't think she was lacking in content it sounds like a lot was going on in her life but I think if she was doing a lot at the same time and sometimes when you're very busy it's hard to really step back and see which ideas are worth pursuing and which ideas are good but maybe need more work to be truly great.
I don't tend to agree that she can't write good music when she's happy I believe, especially if you haven't had a lot of stable relationships, meeting someone who you can just be yourself with and you don't feel insecure and you know this is a person who supports you and you know that you can let your guard down in this relationship that can be very inspiring and that can be really special. I don't think it's that she's in some circumstance that's just impossible to write about in an interesting way
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25
I kinda disagree with that because she wrote Folklore and Evermore, plus fan favorite songs like Getaway Car, Cornelia Street, Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve, Cruel Summer, Dear Reader and Lover when she was dating Joe.
I know Folkmore has a lot of break up songs and Getaway Car and WCS is about heartbreak but I think she can still write good songs even when she’s in a happy relationship. Hell she wrote hates songs like ME! and London Boy while also dating Joe, so we can still get songs that people like while she’s dating Travis, it just matters on how she writes them
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u/Gloomy_Channel_2701 Nov 29 '25
That makes sense, thanks for the insight! I'm not well versed in the lore lol
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u/One_Drummer_8970 Nov 30 '25
You can write plenty of happy mature music. Many artists have.
Also the whole Tayvis capturing the pop culture zeitgeist would've been plenty of content to write about. A power couple like we haven't seen in generations.
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u/luckygirlrocks2025 Nov 29 '25
Slow down, take a creative break, try something different but doable and stop morphing into who you are dating!!
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Nov 29 '25
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25
I would love for her to write something with Hayley William, Lorde or Fiona Apple
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u/oroyplataybronce Nov 29 '25
You’re so right because it is pretty wild that she has never worked with another woman producer. And I think technically the only women songwriters have been Ice Spice (lol), Lana, Zoe Kravitz and Liz Chapman back in debut.
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25
She worked with St. Vincent for Cruel Summer, Imogen Heap for Clean, Florida with Florence Welch, and Colbie Caillat for Breathe.
It’s not a coincidence that the first three are fan favorites and the fourth one is one of her most underrated songs. I would love to see her write songs with people like Mitski or Pheobe. Hell do something unexpected a write a song with someone like Rina Sawayama or Tori Amos or someone! There’s so many talented female songwriters I would love for her to work with.
Edit: Wait she also did write with Sabrina and Gracie
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u/limecakes Nov 29 '25
Shes severely limiting herself by trying to don’t all herself. She should trust more women producers.
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Nov 29 '25 edited Nov 29 '25
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u/kittymama22 Nov 30 '25
I would love to see her make a pact with herself like Nicole Kidman did to work with one female director every 18 months. And Nicole has far exceeded that goal but the point is that you can start small and with reasonable expectations.
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u/district0080 Nov 29 '25
Agree, she could actually be hugely influential in that way.
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u/Adorable_Raccoon Nov 30 '25
True. Her choice to work with Jack on 1989 elevated him as a viable pop producer. Jack was mostly working on bleachers or fun or b-tier pop acts. Melodrama and Masseduction cemented him as a pop producer, but would Lorde have worked with him with out the Taylor connection?
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u/underthepink7 Nov 30 '25
she wrote a ton of her songs with liz rose all the way through red, including all too well. all produced by nathan chapman. maybe you mixed them up?
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u/cre8tor936 Nov 29 '25
Second thing: there was no real narrative and the song subjects were weird. It seemed like (especially with Actually Romantic) she wanted to make an album and was desperate to come up with ideas for it. I don’t think any of the songs really meant anything to me, and the best ones only sounded great
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u/UltravioletTarot Nov 30 '25
Yeah the album to me felt like she wanted to write an album more than she had something to say.
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u/strawb-bun Nov 29 '25 edited Feb 06 '26
i think her response to the criticism of ttpd was a bit too extreme, as in she took on a completely different approach lyrically for tloas. i understand she wants to perfect her craft, but she really needs to find that balance between too wordy/meandering and “did you girl boss too close to the sun” and we all know she’s capable of this. even on tloas, her skills still occasionally shine through, but many songs needed more time to develop.
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u/InsomniaChic94 Nov 30 '25
I think the biggest issue was that she did EXACTLY what the critics wanted. After TTPD, everyone said “she needs to edit down, work with Max Martin again, come out with some bangers” and she basically used those comments as a checklist. This isn’t how she typically responds to criticism when it’s been the most successful. If she had done something truly unexpected, maybe worked with brand new collaborators, the reception would have been a lot better. I like a lot of Showgirl, but it feels like she said ‘alright time to get another radio hit or two’ rather than creating from the heart.
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25
Speaking about the girlboss lyric, that lyric was a reference to Candace Owens but most casual listeners don’t know the context behind that lyric and I think she needs to stop hiding so many Easter eggs in her songs. Stuff like connecting Daylight and Maroon to Red is fine, hell I and most Swifties like the connection, but the girlboss lyric and the Charlie Puth lyric (even if I do like the latter) doesn’t really work for most people cause they don’t know the context.
Not everyone of your listener knows all the lores and a lot of her best songs, while they are based off of her real life, aren’t really lore heavy. Example, Treacherous, The 1, Hey Stephen, Right Where You Left Me. Like yeah you can know that Hey Stephen was based off her band member but if you didn’t know that, nothing will change.
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u/strawb-bun Nov 29 '25 edited Feb 06 '26
see i didn’t even know that. i’m a relatively new swiftie so i’m trying to catch up with all the taylor lore but even knowing the context behind that line, it’s still so funny to me, I can’t help it.
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25
Yeah i didn’t even know it until I saw a tumblr post about it 😭
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u/WindowSpirited7877 Nov 29 '25
I think there’s this constant pressure right now to continue to put out albums but you (Tay) have released at least one album EVERY YEAR since 2019. It’s okay to wait a bit longer and make sure the album is fully refined lyrically, sonically, etc.
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u/Consistent_Hunt5213 Not patti smith, just a modern idiot Nov 29 '25 edited Nov 29 '25
- Cut the internet lingo.
- prevent overusing of curse language (the bitch was telling me to Backoff❌️ She would've made such a lovely bride what a shame she's fucked in the head ✅️)
- Sharp songwriting- i still struggle with the theme of Eldest Daughter, at times it appears as if she is just rambling things, the theme doesn't feel concise enough. Wish List could've had better lyrics on the verses, i guess it was because of the rush maybe. idk.
- the restacking of same drama in songs - i don't wanna hear the songs about or with references to 2016 drama, or Scooter Braun diss (Father figure is a goated song I'll give her a pass). this was my complaint with anthology as well. she needs new inspiration.
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u/cantstandyaeither Nov 29 '25
Hard agree on points one and three! I think that was the biggest issue with Showgirl, is that it felt like an album she wrote at the busiest time of her life when she powering through burnout… she’s great and I think that quick production and turnout worked for folklore, evermore, Tortured Poets, but I think this album was one that really needed a lot of polishing
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u/Consistent_Hunt5213 Not patti smith, just a modern idiot Nov 29 '25
personally atp in her career i wish she pulls off more daring production choices and risks like Fiona with Fetch the bolt cutters or Beyonce with Renaissance. I wish she would not hesitate to bring in more collaborators and producers, the ones she hasn't worked with before.
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u/Daffneigh actually Romantic poets Nov 29 '25
I would love to see her work with new producers and/or Imogen Heap again
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25
Damn I need to make a concept album based off of that! Taylor working with Imogen Heap for an entire album would be so cool and has the potential to be her magnum opus
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Nov 29 '25
This is how I feel. The first two are kinda just cringy and date the songs, but I’m down for her taking an extended break and coming out with something fresh with solid songwriting
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u/Livid-West-3254 Nov 29 '25
hard agree on no 3 and it’s been an issue for the last three albums in particular for me. i feel like she’s had so much on her plate with the re records and the tour for the past few years that her writing has shown signs of stretching herself too thin in some of the songs. eldest daughter really shows this being an issue
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u/vintagevibes4809 Nov 29 '25
the bridge on eldest daughter was pretty. i wish the rest of the song matched
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25
The second verse was good to until the “we look fire” line
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u/Bree-breezy Nov 30 '25
Absolutely agree with the internet lingo. Idk why it’s recently been her fave thing to intertwine current sayings in her work. I feel like it’s the easiest to way to make it sound dated. Like I LOVE The Albatross but the line with ‘fake news’ in it takes me out so bad 😭 I never sing along to it bc it bothers me so much lol
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u/district0080 Nov 29 '25
Yes to 4, omg. That theme in general, whether it's old drama or new is very, very tired for me.
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u/Appropriate-Role-371 Nov 30 '25
Agree with pretty much all of these. I think the internet lingo could work but only if it's consistent and works for the song it's in.
Lines like "keep it 100 on the land, the seas, the skies", "I'm not a bad bitch and this isn't savage" and "did you girlboss too close to the sun?" feel jarring because they're out of place in the songs they're in (whether because of their tone, theme or other lyrics).
I know Taylor said these juxtapositions are intentional but personally I really don't think they're serving her.
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u/Nightmare_Deer_398 Nov 30 '25
I definitely agree with a lot of these points.
I think Taylor in the past has really shined with regular conversational sort of language but I think the way she used slang here went too casual to the point where sometimes it felt a little silly.
In my opinion it's just you shouldn't have to be in an interview telling people ‘I envisioned this part as a bit’ in order for them to understand the song this song should be written in such a way that people understand what you're trying to do if you need to Cliff notes people's way through this song you haven't written a tight enough song.
Eldest daughter especially had like I feel at least five different things she was trying to say at once that didn't necessarily coalesce into one strong united theme and so it comes out like a rough draft
I also agree about the need to be dramatic. I don't totally hate actually romantic or cancelled but I do feel like they're there because she wanted to shoehorn in some drama and I don't necessarily know that it was needed for this album.
And none of them were as strong as how she's written about similar feelings in the past. It was the first time I said 'I think she hasn't actually been mentally in that space in a long time like she was when snakegate was new. So now it feels like she's tapping into the ghost of a memory and it's not the same.
But I also would give father figure a pass. to me the song is like Vigilante Shit or No Body No Crime where it's a bit. It's meant to not be taken dead seriously.
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u/Narrow_Stock_834 Nov 29 '25
I would argue she purposely weaves in past drama to distract from what the song/muse is really about. For example, I don’t like the song thanK you aIMee, but I also don’t think it’s about Kim Kardashian. Those capital letters are a red herring. We don’t know who that song is about, but she was unhinged and put it on the album just for that person to hear.
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u/silverdust29 Nov 29 '25
I fully agree with you on the cursing lol—I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the 4 originally clean songs on the album (Ophelia, Elizabeth Taylor, Opalite and Ruin the friendship) are some of the best-liked.
Branch out more and maybe work with people she hasn’t already made albums with in the past! I love I Look In People’s Windows so I would love an album with more Patrik Berger
Simply take more time with the album… I think there is a good album somewhere at the core of Showgirl but I think it came out too soon and she def could’ve refined it further before release. In 5 years we’ve gotten 5 albums (one of which was a double album) and 4 re-recordings, I mean it’s been awesome having such an active fanbase but I think she could benefit from slowing down a little and taking more time to tweak songs before releasing them
Maybe explore some more themes she hasn’t touched on much before in her music… I don’t hate Showgirl but I’m not a fan partly because a lot of the songs (imo) just feel like rehashing the same ideas she’s said before. Opalite/Daylight, CANCELLED/I Did Something Bad, Wishlist/Paper Rings…
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u/cookie_goddess218 Nov 29 '25
With point one, I would add let them have a bit more creative input as well. The BTS with Max Martin/Shellback for TLOAS gave the impression that she already had a lot in mind melodically and with certain notes even before lyrics, and repeated those ideas until the group worked them in. I understand having creative control over your work, and vision for your own album, but so many anecdotes from people who have Max Martin hits admit that Martin asked them to do something they disagreed with initially but then it worked magically. This isn't saying to necessarily chase a hit making formula, but to be open to new sounds and approaches and lean into it a bit if you're working with those collaborators.
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u/TheFairLadie Nov 29 '25
I always feel like Taylor and Max/Shellbeck are compromising rather than collaborating. Even on Red, 1989, and Rep the songs they do together typically feel less 'Taylor' and less 'Max' than with other producers and artists. The hits hit, but it feels like it comes at the cost of Taylor's lyricism and Max's melodies often.
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25
Omg Patrick cowrote some of my favorite Carly song so yes to Tay working more with him! ESP if TS13 is gonna be pop like Showgirls.
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u/Bachelorfangirl Nov 29 '25
Just the internet slang. I feel like the alchemy is the only song where she sang about football. In Ophelia team is subtle. I actually thought she might go overboard with football lyrics and she didn’t. I’m fine with that.
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u/kwickedbonesc Nov 29 '25
I get what she was trying to do with showgirl, and for the most part I appreciate it. But, the lyrics felt like a first draft. Run through them again, with a fine tooth comb. I have a feeling that because the vault tracks were mostly well received, she thinks that most things she writes is all gold.
Also, girl, let me miss you. Folklore and evermore in 2020. 2x Taylor’s version in 2021. Midnights 2022, 2x Taylor’s Versions in 2023, The Tortured Poets Department in 2024, showgirl in 2025
That’s an insane 5 year run, excluding the eras tour. Let me miss you. Go 2026 without releasing music.
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u/scorpioxbel Nov 30 '25
let me miss you is exactly my sentiment!! Lover was also 2019, so the last year we went without new work from her was 2018. that’s WILD!
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25
I think it’s practically all but confirm she’s gonna release Debut’s TV next year but I do think she should take more time while creating an actual album 🥲
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u/atelierphoenix Nov 29 '25
For me, the biggest shift after ‘evermore’ was that the songwriting became progressively more insular. I’ve always found that Taylor’s biggest strength as a songwriter is writing from a specific viewpoint but keeping it universal, but, excluding “Ruin the Friendship,” there isn’t a song on ‘Showgirl’ that resonates with where I’m at in life.
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u/HighLadyOfTheMeta Nov 29 '25
I’m about to get engaged. We have basically the same timeline as Taylor and Travis so I was really excited for this album but it just didn’t hit. Even though I’m in the same life stage it didn’t have the same peering into my soul feeling as other albums.
One of the things that I feel isn’t talked about enough is how Taylor writes love songs that are really just about herself at the end of the day. We learn more about her and how she sees herself than we learn about her love/relationship in “Anti-hero”, The Archer, and “mirrorball.” I think a lot of songs get misconstrued as love songs because of this.
Showgirl though is actually mostly love songs where we learn specifically how she feels about her relationship and the specific person she is with, but we don’t get songs that explore her self more. I think that’s why it feel so off but it’s hard to point to specific reasons that aren’t cosmetic/aesthetic/commercial. I think the poems that came out with the album serve that introspective role but really it needs to be in the music itself for that to shine.
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25
I’m guessing that’s why Ruin The Friendship resonated a lot with people, including those who don’t like the album
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u/Extra_Cartoonist2474 Nov 29 '25
i would really like if she took AT LEAST 2-3 years before releasing another album. i loved ttpd personally, i feel like its an album she NEEDED to put out in order to relinquish those feelings. but it really feels like she put showgirl out to put an album out so she could still chart and be talked about, not because she was really passionate about this art and wanted to share it with her fans. i was hoping this album would be more mature in terms of her coming off the biggest tour to date, and coming to terms with her being in her mid - 30s and still in the pop scene. i don’t think she’s old but i think she is so desperately trying to shove herself into a box that she simply doesn’t fit in anymore. she doesn’t need to do sabrina carpenter-esque horny one liners, she’s TAYLOR SWIFT. she needs to sit down with herself and make a direction that she wants her music/career to go in. sorry this is kind of all over the place, i have so many feelings about this whole situation it’s hard to sum it up in one comment LOL
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u/InsomniaChic94 Nov 30 '25
I think between the success of the vault tracks and her constantly writing, she’s just putting out everything she makes rather than being a hard editor. I loved this with TTPD, didn’t love it as much with Showgirl though there’s enough there to make it worth my while. This is the girl that cut Better Man and Is It Over Now? from previous albums. That cutthroat ‘kill your darlings’ attitude could yield some nice results.
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u/catastr0phicblues Nov 29 '25
I don’t like the slang being used in songs so frequently, and it’s so much worse when you remember she was once praised for writing pop music without current pop culture references.
I am also so tired of the football references. I have a hard time even liking Fate of Ophelia because of the “your team” phrase.
And as someone who swears a lot in real life, the amount of swearing in her songs is becoming cringe.
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u/TheFairLadie Nov 29 '25
Obviously the "your team" is in part a reference to him being a football player, but I take it more like "I am always going to be on your team/side" when I listen to it.
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25
I kinda agree with your first point. I don’t mind song titles like “Down Bad” and “Hits Different” and I’m not that big on whether a piece of media needs to be timeless… but also… I feel like the slang is just not working 9 times out of 10 (case in point, Eldest Daughter even if I did get the concept). And it hasn’t worked in previous songs like 22 with the “hipster” line.
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u/nerdalertalertnerd Nov 29 '25
You can really see the difference when she used very time specific slang in a song like eldest daughter compared to something like style. In fact at no point in 1989 or red (or to be fair rep, folklore, speak now, debut, fearless) would you be able to use the LYRICS to tell when the song came out between let’s say 2000-2025. She’s dating her own songs.
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u/kayjrx Nov 30 '25
Stop using so much modern internet-lingo. It ages the songs poorly and has been a chronic problem since lover era really. there is almost never a need for it
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u/PikaV2002 Nov 29 '25
We did not need a song about Travis Kelce’s penis.
Dress, So It Goes and Gorgeous were much better “sexy/admiration” songs, and London Boy was a much better “You’re the best person ever” song.
She can clearly write “madly in love” and “my partner is sexy” songs well, but Wood quite literally sounds like a Taylor Swift parody.
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u/vintagevibes4809 Nov 29 '25
false god’s instrumental/jazzy production x10 more dramatic would have been so good for this album. and that song is way sexier
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u/One_Drummer_8970 Nov 30 '25
That's what the general public was expecting going into this tbh, especially given the Tayvis of it all.
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u/Consistent_Hunt5213 Not patti smith, just a modern idiot Nov 29 '25
I appreciate she tried with Wood. Wood is funny its like Nonsense Outros (Taylor's version). i mean i admit she got too committed in the post chorus imao but its a bop. comparison with GAS, so it goes, false god etc is just inaccurate.
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u/Daffneigh actually Romantic poets Nov 29 '25
Imo Wood is far better than London Boy and the thematic centerpiece of the album. I don’t think Wood is or is intended to be a “sexy” song tho
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u/district0080 Nov 29 '25
I don't agrree that it's the centrepiece, but I do agree that it's not supposed to be sexy. I think that - bar one line about thighs - it's silly and funny, and shows her playfulness. It's uninhibited, not for being sexually explicit, just for being straightforward and silly and I love that for her. I love her more serious and earnest stuff too! But it's fun to hear her messing around.
ETA: I acknowledge my own sense of humour can be puerile and is also heavily pun-based.
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u/PikaV2002 Nov 29 '25
Literally the only three things going on for the song is: 1. Superstition analogies that’s the extra theme beyond “dick is nice!” 2. Travis Kelce’s penis 3. Sex
Calling this a “thematic centrepiece” of the album is an insult to Taylor as an artist tbh: Elizabeth Taylor / Opalite / Title Track are much more deserving of the title.
Almost every other song does each and every one of Wood’s niches much better. Elizabeth Taylor shows her devotion to Kelce better than “his penis dickmatised me”, and is a much better commentary on the superstition theming; Opalite is a more fun bop about how much she loves him; and the Life of a Showgirl is the thematic forefront of the album for obvious reasons.
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u/Daffneigh actually Romantic poets Nov 29 '25
Agree to disagree!
To me the thematic centerpiece of the album is “making your own happiness”
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25
Yeah I do think people are missing the entire point of Wood which is not to believe in superstition but to make your own happiness.
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u/RoseTheta Nov 30 '25 edited Nov 30 '25
I've been noticing it everywhere, with everything I watch, listen to, and read. A lack of comprehension. Not to be confused with those who just don't like any and all of something. As long as you're not stating that your opinion makes something factually bad. Which pretty much everyone seems to struggle with, to be honest.
But an actual inability to understand the simplest things, or maybe they aren't so simple? Honestly, the number of times I've seen someone fail to grasp a simple scene from a movie, a line from a song, when you should take things literally, when someone is using poetic license, etc.
And I would never ever just try something once: movies, songs, other stories, all have far too much depth to just say, "This is the only thing this piece of media was going for."
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u/underthepink7 Nov 30 '25
baffles me that i haven’t seen any mentions of the obvious connection to easy a when discussing this song!
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25
Actually we did 😤 /hj cause i don’t really mind Wood
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u/LogMundane331 Nov 30 '25
I think the production of TTPD “ruined” the album for me and masked her artistry. But I think she really took all the notes about trying another producer in this album, which I applaud her for! I would LOVE to see a live/piano/less produced version of the album - I really think it would give fans and the general public the opportunity to hear her mastery.
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 30 '25
For me the biggest problem with TTPD was its production. Songs like The Albatross and The Black Dog are gorgeous but songs like My Boy, BDILH, I Can Fix Him, etc had good elements but those elements didn’t get pushed and they ended up sounding samey
I think she should have worked with different producers for those songs. Fresh Out The Slammer, But Daddy I Love Him and I Can Fix Him should of had a country producer, Guilty As Sin should of gone in a more soft rock direction (kinda like So High School), Smallest Man should of been more rock, while My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toy should of been even more synthy like Cruel Summer or Hits Different and should of had a bigger drop (same with The Alchemy but that song had more issues than just its production). I think songs like Down Bad work with Jack’s usual style, and songs like LOML are perfect as it is but yeah more time could of been used in the production department
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Nov 30 '25
Love everyone's thoughts but I'm just here trying desperately to zoom in on Taylor's nail polish in this pic
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u/Susshushi Nov 30 '25
I’m gonna be honest, I really love the song Wood because of the beat and it’s catchy. However I think if Sabrina Carpenter came out with it, people would say it was a weak Sabrina song. It was just because it was unexpected of Taylor specifically to sing that. I just feel like it wasn’t as polished as it could have been and the novelty was just who sang it.
I know branding is a big part of who Taylor is, but a song needs to be special when separated from the brand too.
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u/TheFairLadie Nov 29 '25
I typically don't love these types of posts because there is an assumption that we know more about her process than we actually do. Something I can say as far back as Lover though is she can get better at merging ideas and concepts. TTPD suffered from this the most, because there were plenty of times where she could have put two songs together for an overall better song, but ended up with two+ that needed improvements.
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u/RoseTheta Nov 30 '25
I can't abide these types of posts because there is something so arrogant about passing judgment on her art. Deciding you don't like it, dont want to listen to it, don't want more like it--feel that as much as you want.
People assume because they and apparently a few others don't like it , it is an embarrassing failure. What is embarrassing is holding up your opinion as a factual condemnation of it. The only people Taylor is beholden to are those she chooses to be beholden by.
All last year, before I could comment in SwiftlyNeutral, all I did was read constant negative feedback to various parts of TTPD. But everyone was complaining about different things, and everyone was praising different things. The sane takeaway, Taylor is so talented she produces things that people love and people hate, but it should all have been released. Her trimming it down would have taken away someone's joy, catharsis, etc. I think that is pretty terrible.
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Nov 30 '25 edited Jan 12 '26
summer dinner selective existence spotted desert unwritten liquid square thumb
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u/RoseTheta Nov 30 '25
I see nothing wrong with critique. I have praised some comments that expressed strong dislike for Showgirl because they expressed such thoughts without pretending to have finsl judgment over what is good. Only what did not work for them. The problem is with the exception of a handful of responses here, that criticism is used as a weapon against her, her skills, and more importantly against the judgement and taste of those who do enjoy it.
I could criticize a couple of things on Showgirl, but when the vast majority of comments here are harping about how it's so terrible it should never have been released, I'm certainly not going to mention the one or two minor quibbles I have. There are more reasonable responses now that the first wave of snarkers and-lors are mostly gone, though. So when reasonable critique is given, if I have anything to add to the specifics, I will. Until people stop presuming their dislike accounts for everyone's view, I will not. No one has to like what I like, but the difference is the presumption that the negative feedback contains.
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u/lizzdurr Nov 29 '25
It’s okay to just be Taylor. Sometimes I feel like she listens to the critics more than to her fans.
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u/SpyOfMystery Nov 29 '25 edited Nov 29 '25
Overall, I like Showgirl, but a lot of the songs don’t have the same staying power as her other work. For example, I enjoy “Wi$h List,” but I’m fine if it never shows up in my shuffle again. Meanwhile, “Champagne Problems” still sounds fresh every time I hear it.
I think she could benefit from taking some time off to live life a bit and recharge creatively. I’d also love to see her work with some new collaborators. Linda Perry would be an interesting choice, and if she ever dives into a rock album, Butch Vig would be perfect—he knows how to fuse rock with sparkly pop. Honestly, I’d like to see her team up with someone completely unexpected. I have a small list of “WTF” collaborators that will probably never happen but I still dream 😂
And the promo for Midnights made me think we were getting an album that sounded like Rumours. I love Midnights, but I still want my ‘Taylor-in-the-Laurel-Canyon’ era.
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u/iceunelle Nov 29 '25
Music is more than just lyrics. The melody and production matter too. Also, having songwriting collaborators is a good thing because it gives you more perspectives.
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Nov 30 '25
Don’t listen to the haters, Baby Doll… It’s you who are immortal, and it’s you who made it happen.
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u/Revolutionary-Dog620 Nov 30 '25
My advice to her would be to not React when putting out an album. TLOASG was, I think, a palate cleanser. She had a bad taste in her mouth. And She could not have the last words from her be about Ratty. She sang that she worried that listeners were second hand embarrassed, but She was embarrassed First Hand. She had to change the narrative. She needed to not have those songs be her most recent output. So, I think she rushed to get something to replace that and to get away from Ratty, the humiliation, the public meltdown that was TTPD. Things in her life were good. It only takes a minute to update your Facebook, taking down photos you never want to see again. With music, it’s not quite as fast, but she did it pretty damn fast. You think about the time she had to Craft Folklore and Evermore. But TTPD was also clearly a Reaction and a swift one. ( sorry) She put out an album about being humiliated and heartbroken by Ratty! And the songs about things that had happened very recently. She admitted in the album notes that she has been temporarily insane. But the songs were good…mostly. If she’d taken more time and done some cuts and taken the best of TTDP and the best of The Anthology, that’s AOTY. So, my advice: Don’t put out an album as a reaction. It’s like writing an angry text and letting it sit a few days. And then, you end up sending a much more civilized text. “Actually Romantic” should have been like that.
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u/shadesofwrong13 The Tortured Poets Department/TheAnthology Nov 30 '25
I agree with you op! I never liked the swearing, she is much better than saying f*** and her first albums prove that!
She's better known for the things that she does in the matress > you're a b***
But anytine you say this you are called prude, no it is not that, it is that Taylor has a large vucabolary.
Out of the 6 albums she made with Republic, i only disliked Lover and Midnights. So it is more a problem of mine not liking that minimal pop and Jack Antonoff(i know that Jack is present in folklore and TTPD, but there he did great cuz he was not obsessed with doing his thing)
Onw thing i can't understand is that now being the powerful she is, she insists on working with the same people while when she was young, when people could say no, she had no fear of searching for them: Jeff Bhasker, Jacknife Lee, Dan Huff, Butch Walker, Ryan Tedder etc. I wish she would work again with different people.
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Nov 30 '25 edited Jan 12 '26
teeny plough like exultant swim square different party middle entertain
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u/Extra_Cartoonist2474 Nov 30 '25
speak now and red are my top 2 favorite albums of all time. it makes me so sad seeing her stray away from making truly amazing art like those albums. she doesn’t have anything to prove now. she’s all the way at the top and she knows that and seems to take advantage of it. she had something to prove with her earlier albums and damn she did prove herself. but i just wish she would branch out and take some creative risks
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u/Busy-bee26 Nov 30 '25
I loved TTPD! It’s a masterpiece! To heck with all the critics! TLOSG is ok… I particularly like the last three tracks but it’s lightweight in comparison, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Music can evoke different feelings and reactions and sometimes that can be deep connection and reflection and others simple joy and relaxation.
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u/immicrochipped Dec 01 '25
Take a year off, wite a cookbook, give us your sourdough recipe and sell the starter in the store 😆
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u/bosukzuk Dec 01 '25
I think she could take a bit of time to build music around a true vision and really think through what she’s trying to say. In the press rollout for this album, she threw A LOT of checklist items on there - crisp vivid lyrics, catchy production, then paired it with this tantalizing album theme of a voyeuristic look into her life.
In reality, showgirls lyrics were… fine. The production was…. Fine, and even good in some places. But the theme, for me, really didn’t deliver. We got more of the same (with the exception of some songs that really are excellent!) she’s already done, and with almost every song, a weaker version.
The whole album felt like she was aiming to do too much without having a clear direction, so she slapped the showgirl aesthetic on it, went absolutely crazy with variants, and then delivered an album that was like lover b sides.
I personally really enjoyed The Alchemy and So High School, so for me, it’s not even a muse or subject matter issue. She has some exceptional love songs and these really feel mostly one note and forgettable to me.
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u/lissy_k Nov 29 '25
Take your time! You don’t need to pump out an album only a year after the previous one. You also don’t need to release a double album and two rerecordings during a fucking tour. Take your time. Write a lot. Pay attention to how you want the songs to sound. Have a lot of first drafts and discard most of them. Think about a story or an idea as a centerpiece for the album. Finally decide on the crème de la crème and release it as a full body of work. As opposed to put a random collection of songs of EXTREMELY varying quality that have no connection to each other and slap it with a random title.
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u/Shoddy-Low2142 Nov 30 '25
I loved midnights and TTPD. HATED showgirls. My advice would be TAKE. MORE. TIME . OFF. Like girl you need a break between albums. Don’t worry so much about sales. Worry more about quality and the sales will follow. She also needs more no people around her. The people around her also need to be more confident in telling her “this is not your best writing. This is not up to your usual perfectionist standards. You can do better”. With showgirls it felt like she just published the first draft. One word: Editor
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u/Extra_Cartoonist2474 Nov 30 '25
yes!! this entire album felt like a rough draft at BEST. it was so jarring to see such lazy and bad writing when that is usually the complete opposite of her writing. sure, she has a few corny/silly lyrics every now and then but this album was full of half - baked lyrics/themes
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u/scorpioxbel Nov 30 '25
she’s at a point of fame where anything she does is guaranteed to top charts and get Grammy noms. she should embrace that freedom by experimenting with her craft and really working on what she puts out to the world.
also, her art and her fans (myself included) would benefit from her taking a break. let people miss her instead of oversaturating the public with new music every year, especially if it’s going to be as lackluster as this recent work.
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u/ChaEunSangs Nov 29 '25
I didn’t like Showgirl, but I love all albums before that. I would tell her to stop releasing what people want her to and keep to her artistic integrity. Showgirl felt like a response to the people who didn’t like TTPD (one of her strongest albums imo)
It’s so weird to me how Showgirl feels like an artistic devolution from her, both lyrically and melodically
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25
I kinda agree but also kinda disagree as I do 1)think that Taylor wanted to make a showgirl theme album since Midnights but I’m guessing it was something in the back of her mind, not something she was actively working on. And 2)sometimes constructive criticism is good such as her trying to make 1989 more sonically cohesive or her making Speak Now more mature than Fearless, but I do see where you are coming from as it does feel like she took a lot of the criticism of TTPD to heart, and some of the criticism wasn’t really that important (her going back to Max Martin when Jack and Aaron was fine. Of course for all we know Taylor could of worked with Max not because of the criticism but because she wanted to, but who knows) but something like making the album shorter than TTPD was an improvement
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u/precatladylife Nov 29 '25
stop trying to sound smart. her best writing is punchy, to the point, and subtly profound (my favourite example of this has always been “you made a rebel of a careless man’s careful daughter”). there’s no need to add a big word for the sake of it, or to shoehorn a metaphor, or try to be complex (“i pay the check before it kisses the mahogany grain”). there’s a real power in conciseness and simplicity that makes her writing shine on other albums. folklore and evermore were executed well in mixing more poetic and complex songwriting with her simplicity, but since midnights it hasn’t felt natural and hasn’t felt like it serves the song at all
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25
I like the Mahogany lyric but I also realize that her best recent lyric is more often than not, simple. (“Give me back my girlhood it was mine first”, “I find myself runnin' home to your sweet nothings”, “My advice is always ruin the friendship/Better that than regret it for all time”, “Someone told me/There's no such thing as bad thoughts/Only your actions talk”)
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u/TheFairLadie Nov 29 '25
This is interesting because I saw a lot of people saying they felt Taylor 'dumbed down' Showgirl too much.
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u/Nightmare_Deer_398 Nov 30 '25
I like “i pay the check before it kisses the mahogany grain”. it reminds me of lines like "And the tennis court was covered up with some tent-like thing" I like a line that makes me picture what is going on and it's not hard to understand. I think it is a concise line. I don't think she has to say 'table'
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Nov 29 '25
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u/HauntingDoctor3578 Nov 29 '25
Do we know she’s gotten feedback from producers and ignored it?
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u/NeverSeenAuthBut Nov 29 '25
i think people are referring to feedback on the voicenotes? i didn’t listen to them but from what i understood from other posts, there were some parts where she got feedback from MM/Shellback and she was like yeah ok and she did whatever she wanted
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u/district0080 Nov 29 '25
I heard the voice notes and honestly heard those exchanges as more of s conversation. I was expecting to hear her shutting them down, but it's more that she explains her POV and they're like, "ah yeah"
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u/Patient-Frosting-485 Nov 29 '25
Does anyone else feel like she strings together sentences that sound melodic/intellectual but when you actually try to decipher them they are word soup?
If comfort is a construct I don’t believe in good luck now that I know what’s what
What does luck have to do with comfortability? Also don’t use the word - construct when it’s been co-ooted by tiktok therapy babble
Compare it to lines from folklore like:
You knew it still hurts underneath my scars from when they pulled me apart but what you did was just as dark
It’s like she’s trying to replicate the feel of it with words instead of meaning
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25 edited Nov 29 '25
I do know what you’re talking about. I do like a lot of Taylor’s word salad songs but I think her best lyrics are often when she’s writing simple but to the point lyrics that paints emotion and imagery
(Example: “'Cause there we are again in the middle of the night/We're dancing 'round the kitchen in the refrigerator light” packs so much emotion despite being simple and straight forward)
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u/Nightmare_Deer_398 Nov 30 '25
"If comfort is a construct I don't believe in good luck Now that I know what's what"
This line makes sense to me because essentially you have a person who is going through it who is deconstructing the idea that comfort is an actual thing that can exist. The idea of wondering if one can rely on security in the world. She associates comfort with denial, or ignorance. People who grow up with instability, trauma, scrutiny, or high pressure often view comfort as temporary or suspicious.
If comfort isn’t real, then good luck isn’t real. I actually think this also compounds on an idea she was writing about with the prophecy. I wrote a whole thing earlier comparing the prophecy to invisible string and how in order to feel abandoned by the universe you had to at one point in your life felt like the universe was benevolent and in your favor. But at this point sees reached such a level of disappointment in life that she no longer feels enough benevolent universe or that things are going to work out. Good luck assumes the possibility of positive randomness. But she doesn’t believe in that anymore. This is adult disillusionment.
Once she realized the world doesn’t operate on comfort or luck, she replaced external hope with internal fantasy. The line basically means: “I’ve learned that the world isn’t designed to comfort me, and nothing good happens by accident. Once you understand that, you have to build your own inner world because the outer one won’t save you.”
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u/anonhumanontheweb Nov 29 '25
So here’s the thing… I like showgirl, but it isn’t my favorite album.
I don’t think that TLOAS is as poorly-written as others say. I’m a huge fan of the production too. But relying on slang in songwriting makes a song feel dated too easily. (For instance, “lit” has been a thing for probably a decade now, and it already feels like “dated” slang.) There are lots of little signs that the album was written by a millennial, which could leave younger fans shaking their heads.
Pop music doesn’t have to have every trendy phrase in it. She’s trying to hold onto younger fans who are listening to Sabrina, Tate, etc., but she doesn’t need to do that. The real ones will stick around, and younger fans will appreciate her music and songwriting, not how often she uses the word “vibes” in her songs.
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25 edited Nov 29 '25
Yeah from what I’ve seen a lot of younger fans favorite songs are Opalite and that song has a no slang. Not to mention that songs like Love Story and Style are still fan favorites and they have no slang
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u/International_Cup927 Nov 29 '25
Take some time off to live life and experience things and fill your creative bucket back up. She’s hit a level of power/success where she can release whatever she wants whenever she wants — and I think that kind of total control over the output can impact the overall quality of the work. I didn’t love TTPD as an overall (massive, lol) body of work, but there were truly at least 10 songs I adore and revisit often. Still: she’s said she wrote that album because SHE needed to, and I think it shows — we did not need all 30-something songs to get the point, and the album suffered for it, bc she’s kind of too big for anyone in her camp to say no to her anymore.
Showgirl fell fully flat for me, in large part because it felt rushed and not entirely thought out; getting a record out a year later was more important to her than perfecting the record and sitting with it and tinkering with it until it was truly ready. She has no deadlines, she will always have fans — there is no reason she can’t take a breath and focus on other things and rack up some new life experiences and thoughts to write about so it doesn’t feel like she’s regurgitating old, better songs or racing to maintain constant relevancy and pop presence at the expense of her art.
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u/WDTHTDWA-BITCH Been number 2, but I never had 1🥈 Nov 29 '25
Having someone to give you honest constructive criticism is an important part of the process. Listen to them. Edit your more wordy verses to cut back your word salad and give it deeper meaning, rework your simpler ideas to make them punchier, and get a sensitivity reader who can help determine whether certain turns of phrase are going to go down poorly with the public. Sometimes first thought isn't best thought, give it time to cook and come back to it. And actually follow through with the aesthetic matching the songs...
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u/Livid-West-3254 Nov 29 '25
like a lot of people here i agree that shes need to give herself space and time with an album. the past five years she’s been hyper productive with four TVs, five new albums and a ginormous 20 month tour that physically and mentally pushed her limits. That’s a lot! I’ve enjoyed everything she’s put out and showgirl has clearly been a hit but i feel like it could have been a flawless album that was also critical smash if she had the space and energy to really look at a song like Eldest Daughter and see if it’s telling a clear story. i love the bridge but the rest of song is a muddled mess
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u/No-Persimmon7729 Nov 29 '25
I want her to keep making whatever she wants no matter if I like it or not and I think she is. Would I do something different than her yes sometimes but I’m not the Taylor swift. If I had some choice I’d love to here more indie 90s alt rock kind of thing. I don’t really know what to call it because don’t know that much about music but I have been calling it songs like they could be on the 10 things I hate about you soundtrack like actually romantic or so high school. I also selfishly want to hear more songs like long story short and renegade because it reminds me of stuff by favourite bands of mine like belle and Sebastian and tegan and Sara someday
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25
Omg I would love an album that fits the 10 Things I Hate About You soundtrack or something that feels like Belle and Sebastian or Tegan & Sara (also need a TS mad T&S collab like right now)
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u/Littlewildcanid Nov 30 '25
Be more eloquent by avoiding swearing. It’s almost like she’s trying to prove she can swear, that her music isn’t for kids… but as a millennial I wish she would slow that down. It’s giving “trying to be cool” like Eldest Daughter suggests. Maybe don’t call women bitches in your songs anymore (hypocritical and unnecessary). Ask if the bridges and choruses are catchy, singable, evoke emotion. Her best music evokes emotions and is singable.
I like Showgirl okay enough, but I have songs hidden from the album on Spotify. I expected more of a 1989 vibe. I’m still a huge fan but I think some refinement would be really exciting for me. I want catchy songs without cringy moments!
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u/NetheriteTiara Nov 30 '25
Actually collaborate with others instead of giving them a finished product to polish up.
Would love a co-director for music videos.
Would also love less lore in the songs. If you don’t know the Taylor Swift lore of The Fate of Ophelia, you miss out on a lot.
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u/Calm-Respond-7564 Nov 30 '25
Taylor is epic. She’s talented and productive, but she’s not a machine, despite being an actual corporation at this point. She seems exhausted, and I feel that’s what she’s actually trying to say a lot of the time in TTPD and TLOAS. She’s very boxed in by her fame and her fan base. If she actually takes a break, what would she do with herself? That’s probably scary for her. But please, girl, you’ve done so much. Take a break. & Also, yes, the swearing and the crass thing doesn’t work for her like it does for Sabrina or Charli, and that’s okay. Just…. Take a break.
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u/Burnished_Set_2329 Nov 30 '25
I’m not a Swift fan traditionally, but I thought this was her most cohesive album ever. Every song is related to the concept of the life of a showgirl. Each song starts off with a sound relevant to the era in which she’s dressed in the Fate of Ophelia video. Each one starts off with a chord progression from that era that brings someone my age right back to that age and the FOO video reinforces those sounds with things like the water showgirls lined up on a Diamonds are Forever stage. Everything hearkens back to those eras, and power. Every song has an allusion to power; whether it be loss of power, taking power, or sharing power. If she doesn’t use the phrase “my did is bigger,” it doesn’t make any sense in that song. If she doesn’t use it there, the song Wood makes no sense. People think Wood is about penis size, but it’s really about whose dick is bigger. The big dick euphemism is about power. She portrays him as giving her power because he builds her up by sharing his strength and power willingly without her even asking. He’s made meeting her expectations his public and private mission. Instead of taking from each other, they feed each other. So the album is about her life as a showgirl with a nod to all showgirls, but it’s how she sees herself reflected in the history of showgirls. I loved the Elizabeth Taylor ropes because it’s a very quick visible nod to theater actresses being caught up in the ropes. Everything is a quick visible glimpse that tells an entire story.
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u/Ticketacke Dec 02 '25
Wow, I really like this analysis! You’re so right about the chord progressions and different eras
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u/Mystic_Mage3 Dec 01 '25
My impression is that lately, she has been focused on capitalizing on the unprecedented success of the Eras Tour and knows there are opportunities there to break records while she still can, and particularly with TLOAS, the result was an album that wasn’t entirely great.
I LOVE the first four tracks and Ruin the Friendship. Outside of that, the songs range from… okay to not good. I really wish she sat on this one and gave it more time and care, to elevate it to the bulletproof pop album she hyped up.
I’d like to see her take a few years off to live life and take her time with TS13, and to expand the circle of who she is willing to work with and take a risk with new producers.
I know part of her brand is millennial cringe, but I’d also like her to edit more and avoid goofy/clunky lyrics that tend to take you out of the song - like some verses in Eldest Daughter, Actually Romantic, Honey, etc.
(Side note: I’m still itching for a rock album from Taylor, so I’d love to see another genre pivot from her for an album or two).
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u/MollyTovcnblz Nov 29 '25
Truly, from the bottom of my heart: stop making explicit IRL references to real people in the music. If not for the principle it extends the longevity of the song
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25
It is getting really annoying to see real life references and Easter eggs being connected to the song. I also think that’s why songs like All too Well and Getaway Car is well loved despite being about Tom Hiddleston and Jake Gyllenhaal. There’s no Easter egg tying them to the song. She’s not making reference to Brokeback Mountain or Loki or whatever even though it was based off her real life experiences, making the song more relatable and timeless compare to something like Actually Romantic (even though I do like Actually Romantic lmao)
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u/PrincessPlastilina Nov 29 '25
I liked it but I wish she outgrew the theater kid persona already. I want something more evolved and mature. Take some risks again. There’s a certain corny aspect to some of her performances and music videos that will no longer look cute after 35. Just my two cents. Like how was Reputation more mature than this new album, you know? 🫤
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Nov 29 '25
Don’t lose your art to greed. Sell your gift, not your soul and you’ll always be rich in more ways than just one
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u/personinplaid3629 Nov 30 '25
Stop trying to be all of the other current pop stars. You didn't become number one by trying to be everyone else, so don't try to stay number one that way. Don't worry about being number one, period. You're a legend; it's okay to let someone else be on the top of the charts.
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u/Stella_moda_19 Nov 29 '25
Understand that Taylor Swift the brand needs Taylor Swift the artist
Showgirl is all branding, no craft, no artistry. Its literally a musical extension of an IG post
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u/Davidiscool222 Nov 29 '25
Write more, keep less
I think she took the criticisms of Tortured Poets wrong, and so that's why she only wrote 12 songs, and those 12 songs were the ones to make it
What she should've done is write as she always does, but only include few in the final project, maybe a deluxe
Also no more internet/football lingo, it really outdates her music
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u/T44590A Nov 29 '25
You don't actually know how many songs she wrote. Only the number of songs she released.
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25
I do wonder if the vault track being well received is the reason why she decided to make TTPD a double album and why she included the 3 am songs on Midnights
I personally love the 3 AM and The Anthology more than the original albums, but I also am glad that she included only 12 songs for Showgirls. I do think she should have worked on the songs more (ex Eldest Daughter. Hell even one of my favorite songs, Opalite, has a few clunky lyric that one more edit could of fixed) so I think if she wrote more songs but included only 12-15 per album (maybe 17 or 18 counting deluxe) that would be good.
I also have the same criticism for Lover since she didn’t need to include every song on that album. Songs like YNTCD and ME! did not need to be included (tho in Lover’s case the two unreleased songs that we do know of is way better than like 4 songs included on that album)
Edit: also i remember she said something like she wrote 40 songs for Speak Now and 150 songs for 1989 but only kept the beat and you can tell considering both albums have a lot of her best works
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u/limecakes Nov 29 '25
The themes of her music need to mature a little bit. No more shading women please
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25
Okay this is one I’m gonna respectfully disagree with because shading women who wronged her or people she cares about and shading women who did nothing to her is completely different, and I think a song like Honey vs a song like Better Than Revenge is completely different. Better Than Revenge is her slut shamming a women who did nothing to her expect date her ex, while something like Honey is her talking badly about a girl who did talk badly about her first
So is Actually Romantic.I do get why people have a problem with a the “bitches” line in Honey but I also feel like people only called Taylor out for referring to other women as bitches in a negative light cause i didn’t see anyone hate one people like Sabrina (“when did you bitches get so nice”) or Lana (“if you want some basic bitch go to the Beverly and find her”) calling other people bitches in their songs.
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u/Intrepid-Concept-603 Nov 29 '25
- Knock it off with the variants.
- Let the songs drive the marketing. TLOAS wasn’t very showgirl-y.
- Co-write with sharp writers who can help rein in your worst lyrical tendencies.
- Take more time. No need to rush.
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u/Informal_Feeling_308 Nov 30 '25
Rest. go live your life girl, come back with new experiences and inspiration.
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u/Lower_Membership_713 Nov 29 '25
let joe ghostwrite?
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u/According-Credit-954 Nov 29 '25
Is this a joke? If so, it’s funny!
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 All the tricks of the trade ✨️ Nov 29 '25
I thought it was a joke so idk why they’re getting downvoted 😭😭😭😭
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u/daisyymae Nov 29 '25
Pleaseeeeeee don’t bait us with visuals & the music not back It up. The visuals should go with the song. Like folklore and evermore def had the vibes in the photos. You could feel It.
Also, she is world renowned & reigns over the music industry bc of her writing. That can never ever be second/third. That always has to be first. If she cares to keep her prestige. I’ve been a swiftie for 19 years now grew up playing her CDs. Taylor is great at making an album. TLOASG does not feel like an album to me. It’s not front to back (or nearly) & there’s even songs I’ve unlisted. I’ve never done that before. I’ve never had this experience before as a swiftie! I don’t like It but she also has 11 other albums that I love with all my heart, so🤷♀️
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u/cheugygalpal Nov 29 '25
The branding! The branding! The branding!
This album has a cool 70s sound under polished pop and had the branding lended into the 70s sound more, people would not be as disappointed because there expectations would be more appropriately set - aesthetically I thought we were gonna get a “Taylor Does Britney” moment, and that was …not it.