Swift sparks debate

2–3 minutes

A review of Taylor Swift’s new album The Life of a Showgirl

After months of waiting, on October 3 when the clock struck midnight, Swifties everywhere reached for their phones and listened to the album they had been eagerly anticipating. But was it worth the wait? Taylor Swift’s new album, The Life of a Showgirl, was released on October 3, 2025, but despite her increasingly popular influence, this album created a divide among Swifties, sparking a debate over the quality of her work and the evolution of her music.

One of the main controversies around the new album was Swift’s songwriting. As Avanti Ghate (11) said, “The lyrics were jarring. I thought I would get used to it because I usually do, but I didn’t really.” By using language such as “my d*ck’s bigger” and “girlbossed too close to the sun,” Swift makes it seem as though she is trying to stay relatable to newer generations, but these lyrics have almost the exact opposite effect. They scream TikTok and make it hard to take her seriously, greatly deviating from the well-written songs of her past.

One of the main factors that contributed to Swift’s rise to fame was that she always felt relatable to young women, singing about the romantic and emotional struggles that they could see themselves in. However, with this new album, she shifts her perspective, declaring that “I like my friends cancelled” and disparaging adults who “call their [dogs] kids.” These lyrics go beyond talking about her personal life and dream; they directly attack some of her fans, shifting her vibe from that of a relatable pop star to more of a rich bully. Avanti expanded on this, saying, “Her album reeked of inauthenticity and punching other people down for no reason.”

On the other hand, some fans looked beyond some of the lyrics and thought her new album was fun to listen to. As Abigail Ye (11) said, “It’s really different because there’s only 12 tracks, so each track is unique, making the album more interesting.”

While this album may be shorter, it has no unifying theme. As Ghate pointed out, “It doesn’t have a continuous and compelling narrative. Albums are supposed to be a story, but this is just a bunch of different stories that never connect with each other at all.” This album pushes Swift into a new and uncharted direction. As Ghate explained, “I’m literally praying for a better album [next time].”