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Taylor Swift Is A 30-Something Pretending To Be A Teen, And It Shows In Her Latest Album, ‘The Life of a Showgirl’
The Federalist ^ | 10/05/2025 | Kylee Griswold

Posted on 10/05/2025 8:56:40 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

As a former so-called Swiftie, it stinks to watch the once-precocious pop star devolve into musical drivel that’s at best banal and at worst agonizing.

I didn’t think the bar for Taylor Swift albums could get any lower than “Tortured Poets Department.” Then she released “The Life of a Showgirl,” and I can’t stop cringing.

I take no pleasure in hating the new album. I’m not one of those cantankerous Gen Xers who lives to tell the youths that music peaked in the ’80s and that there will never be talent like fill-in-the-blank artist who happened to hit the scene just as said critic was coming of age. How serendipitous. On the contrary, as a former so-called Swiftie whose adolescence consisted of belting out Taylor’s lyrics into my karaoke machine and hairbrush and any other vaguely mic-shaped prop I could find, it stinks to watch the once-precocious pop star devolve into musical drivel that’s at best banal and at worst agonizing.

Perhaps the most nagging problem with “Showgirl” is its lyrical trendiness. The whole album feels like a shameless effort to appeal to the growing Gen Z cohort of her fanbase — à la “How do you do, fellow kids?” — as the once-loyal millennials steadily jump ship. As a result, her lyrics have the shelf life of cold cuts. To wit: “We looked fire,” “I’m not a bad b-tch, and this isn’t savage,” “pledge allegiance to your … vibes,” “glad he ghosted me,” “spring break that was f-ckin’ lit” — you get the idea.

Pair that with the elementary rhyme scheme, and you get whatever this is:

Everybody’s so punk on the internet
Everyone’s unbothered ’til they’re not
Every joke’s just trolling and memes
Sad as it seems, apathy is hot
Everybody’s cutthroat in the comments
Every single hot take is cold as ice.


I’d say this is what happens when you start dating a boy with CTE, but Taylor’s writing was basic long before she met Travis Kelce. The problem is, it’s forgivable when you’re a precocious teen. It’s embarrassing when you’re 35 and writing increasingly cringe claptrap for zoomer applause. (Is it just me, or is Taylor’s knack for songwriting Benjamin Buttoning?)

The arrested development is especially problematic considering Taylor’s simultaneous swan dive into hypersexualization. Her “Showgirl” album cover shoot is just the tip of the iceberg. It felt forced when, in 2017, she wrote a song whose sole message was that she “only bought this dress so you could take it off.” Eight years later, it seems just as contrived, except instead of the sexualization creating just one uncomfy track, it pervades and perverts them all. “His love was thе key that opened my thighs” is just one of many such lines that evokes the same feeling as stumbling upon a sex scene while watching a movie with your parents. But it gets worse:

You think I’m tacky, baby
Stop talking dirty to me
It sounded nasty, but it
Feels like you’re flirting with me
I mind my business, God’s my witness that I don’t provoke it
It’s kind of making me wet (Oh)

It’s hard to explain why this comes off as especially disgusting, considering the better part of the pop culturescape makes this G-rated by comparison. But when Cardi B sings about a “WAP,” for instance, it’s gross in an impersonal kind of way. The Cardi B, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, et al. types made obscenity part of their brands from the get-go. When Taylor Swift sings about WAPs, it feels like walking in on your big sister “doing it.” No thanks. It’s a shame she traded naivety for vulgarity instead of maturity.

While we’re still on the topic, here’s a can’t-miss line from her fourth song, “Father Figure”: “I can make deals with the devil because my dick’s bigger.” I’m sorry, what? The song is an apparent reference to her early days in the biz and her bid to buy her long-lost masters back from Scooter Braun. That’s fine, whatever. But do we really need phallic references from the “Love Story” girl?

Maybe I’m also cranky because Taylor gave us this sorry excuse of a song just four months after singer-songwriter and producer Jon Bellion released an awesome album and title track of the same name — a collection of songs that, unlike Taylor’s ditty, ripped nothing off the George Michael hit, and was instead an ode to maturity, masculinity, and parenthood, and a rebuke of the kind of childishness Taylor continues to pursue. I know Taylor Swift isn’t actually reverse autogyniphilic, but somebody really should have told her after “The Man” music video that nobody thinks it’s badass to compete with boys or try to be them or transgressively sing about their, um, undercarriage.

The rest of the album is just tired, a rushed and unoriginal project that feels more like a PR ploy to keep the Kelce engagement buzz buzzing as long as possible. (And sadly, nobody ever taught Taylor the handy mnemonic device for our spelling of “canceled” on this side of the pond. Taylor, if you’re reading this, “Cancel the second ‘L.'” You’re American.)

So speaking for burned-out former Swifties everywhere, we’re sick of quantity. Give us quality. There’s a reason most artists don’t release six albums in six years. It takes time to make good art that lasts.

That’s why you’ll catch millions of us still jamming to “You Belong With Me” two decades later but giving up on “The Life of a Showgirl” after two minutes.


Kylee Griswold is the managing editor of The Federalist and a contributor to IW Features. She previously worked as the copy editor for the Washington Examiner magazine and as an editor and producer at National Geographic. She holds a B.S. in communication arts/speech and an A.S. in criminal justice and writes on topics including feminism and gender issues, religion, and the media.


TOPICS: Music/Entertainment; Society
KEYWORDS: music; taylorswift; taytay

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1 posted on 10/05/2025 8:56:40 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

35. Shes 35. Not a young 30ish. 36 in a couple months.


2 posted on 10/05/2025 9:01:47 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; not averse to Going Bronson.)
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Comment #3 Removed by Moderator

To: SeekAndFind

That’s her audience. Of course she’s going to appeal to them.


4 posted on 10/05/2025 9:10:23 PM PDT by x
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To: SeekAndFind

Everything sure changed for her recently, no media seems to like her all of a sudden.


5 posted on 10/05/2025 9:11:50 PM PDT by ansel12 ((NATO warrior under Reagan, and RA under Nixon, bemoaning the pro-Russians from Vietnam to Ukraine.))
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To: SeekAndFind

Whatever I love her new music video and the homage she pays to art, old Hollywood, Shakespeare, opera etc…

https://youtu.be/ko70cExuzZM?si=4LTdUuKe11RI0aci


6 posted on 10/05/2025 9:19:59 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
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To: SeekAndFind
Swift is bound for the same career track as Madonna. Unable to grow and adapt and CHANGE as she gets older. There is nothing wrong with aging. With evolving as an artist and embracing that.

The best musical artists out there are the ones who grew as they aged. They stayed fresh and relevant. They never forgot where they came from but they also didn't let that hold them back from becoming increasingly better.

Taylor Swift isn't becoming better. She's becoming stagnant.

7 posted on 10/05/2025 9:21:41 PM PDT by Ciaphas Cain
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To: SeekAndFind

I don’t fault her for trying to keep her gig as long as she can. She’s made hundreds of millions from her work so far, as long as people buy it, she’s free to perform it.


8 posted on 10/05/2025 9:24:31 PM PDT by Attention Surplus Disorder (The Democrat breadlines will be gluten-free. )
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To: ansel12
Everything sure changed for her recently, no media seems to like her all of a sudden.

Because she’s happy and engaged to be married to an all-American?

9 posted on 10/05/2025 9:25:55 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
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To: SeekAndFind

If a kid comes to a parent and says they need money to go to a Taylor Swift concert you are just going to be so relieved they aren’t going to a rap concert where they could get raped or stabbed. You’ll just throw money at them. As far as I know, no one has ever been shot at a taylor Swift concert???


10 posted on 10/05/2025 9:28:39 PM PDT by MarlonRando
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

I don’t know much about her but I have been wondering if what you described is part of it, it seems to be something that is turning off liberals.


11 posted on 10/05/2025 9:29:30 PM PDT by ansel12 ((NATO warrior under Reagan, and RA under Nixon, bemoaning the pro-Russians from Vietnam to Ukraine.))
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To: Ciaphas Cain

Taylor has had the benefit of *LEARNING* from the mistakes of megastars before her…as well at what worked.

She has curated and cultivated a personal relationship with her fans in a manner that is unprecedented.

She also has a far more stable family structure providing the basis for both her business AND personal life — which keeps her from teetering off into the abyss…

Finally she has her hand in all aspects of the industry not just singing/music. She already has a studio deal to direct a movie (she wrote) soon.


12 posted on 10/05/2025 9:31:28 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
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To: ansel12

Yes it’s that. And regardless of what his actual views are, Travis comes off as very “MAGA” coded or “MAGA” adjacent based on much of the company he keeps according to these liberal observers.

Swift also said her favorite song she wrote for the new album is “Wish List” which includes the line:

“I just want you / Have a couple kids / Got the whole block looking like you... you got me dreaming about a driveway with a basketball hoop.”


13 posted on 10/05/2025 9:39:00 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
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To: ansel12
Everything sure changed for her recently, no media seems to like her all of a sudden.

Up until now she was correctly promiscuous and childless. Now she's getting married to an actual man and has expressed the desire to have a baby. Need we wonder why the MSM would dump her for a fresh face?

14 posted on 10/05/2025 9:39:31 PM PDT by Carry_Okie (The tree of liberty needs a rope.)
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To: Carry_Okie

Prior to Travis, Swift was in a serious relationship for six years…She had boyfriends before that too but hardly was leading some reckless and wild lifestyle. Better to settle down with the right person later, than with the wrong person at 22 and end in divorce.


15 posted on 10/05/2025 10:29:06 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
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To: SeekAndFind

Meh... let her have her heyday. Let hwr milk it as long as she can. Some day soon enough it wont work anymore, and that will be a hard acceptance for her. Not easy for women to get older.


16 posted on 10/05/2025 10:48:13 PM PDT by Bob434 (Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana)
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To: SeekAndFind

She’s laughing all the way to the bank.


17 posted on 10/05/2025 10:50:02 PM PDT by peggybac (“You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality.” - Ayn Rand)
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To: SeekAndFind

If you go on the internet or have a television, you cannot avoid hearing about TS new album. And here I thought albums were dead. That Spotify etc. means that you listen to an artist one tune at time, from any of their albums in any order you prefer.

I asked Grok about TS new album on Twitter - X .... What percent of Twitter - X posts are chatter about her new album since it was released>>>>
ANSWER:
Estimate: 15-25% of X Posts are about her new album Since its Release


18 posted on 10/05/2025 11:08:25 PM PDT by dennisw (There is no limit to human stupidity )
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To: SeekAndFind

Wow. I never listened to Swift. I’m old. But ... Uh .... I wouldn’t want my kids to listen to that smut. Hard to believe famous parents like Prince William take their daughters to hear such stuff.

Glad I’m officially over the hill with no kids to protect.


19 posted on 10/05/2025 11:41:31 PM PDT by Whatever Works
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To: Bob434

Like Madonna?


20 posted on 10/06/2025 12:10:55 AM PDT by HollyB
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