If you’ve been a Taylor Swift fan as long as I have (Newcastle Entertainment Centre, 2010, anyone?), you’ve no doubt done some defending along the way. I once dramatically stopped speaking to a friend who joined the argument that Swift’s ‘surprised face’ was all for show. Said friend was quite appreciative of Joe Jonas at the time — you can draw the obvious conclusion.
I got over it quickly.. except for the fact that I definitely didn’t. As the old adage (meme) says, Taylor Swift writes music for people who have never gotten over anything that has happened to them in their lives, ever. She’s one of us there, and that’s why we relate to her so intensely. We’re all still at the restaurant — one big booth.
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I’m an Augustine apologist/super fan through and through, but when it comes to my personal favourite music from Swift, it’s the ones we hear her story in. The through line of our parasocial bond is that when she talks about her life, we all feel a little less alone as we go through our own.
When ‘I Can Do It With A Broken Heart’ came out, I cried and I’m not ashamed to admit it. It was everything we’d all wanted to say, which is that I just thrived in that pressure-cooker scenario despite not being sure if I can physically stand right now — and I’ll do it again tomorrow. Heartbreak is hard, and Swift is hardly immune. But still, she’s a showgirl and she’s no longer afraid to embrace it. We’ve officially entered The Life Of A Showgirl‘s era.
Though Taylor Swift’s image has often projected squeaky clean, fans knew there was struggle behind the sparkle. The signs were all there, sure, but confirmation came in the form of a personal admission in ‘I Can Do It With A Broken Heart’ (a breakout hit on The Tortured Poet’s Department) the told the story of her early Eras tour heartbreak. Of course, that was following her split with Joe Alwyn. Until this moment, she her albums had weaved mythic adolescent love stories, but it was a reminder of how powerful it is when she lets us in.
That’s what I’m hoping we hear on this album: the duality of her being Taylor Swift the superstar and everything that comes with that.
Of course, it’s different now that we’re all older — she’s no longer a ‘new’ success, and so it makes sense that her ‘just a girl’ and more grown up ‘showgirl’ sides must now coexist within her work. It’s fitting, since her fans who have been there since the beginning are also dealing with similar struggles of existing in a world where women are picked apart and pedestalled for simply existing.
At the end of ‘I Can Do It With A Broken Heart’, Swift literally challenges the listener to “try to come for my job”. It sounds bizarre, but even Swift admitting it’s a ‘job’ and not something she’s the luckiest girl in the world to have fallen into is big. We know the level of intelligence we’re working with here (the rust that grew between telephones, hello?). It’s a major factor as to why we love her. And yet it’s long come along with the side of her that stands at the end of a stage visibly unable to believe it’s all happening to her. ‘Showgirl’ seems like a sign she’s recognising why it’s her up there after so many years.
Predictions For The Life Of A Showgirl
Sonically, I anticipate that The Life of a Showgirl will be a natural evolution of ‘I Can Do It With A Broken Heart’ and The Tortured Poets Department’s other pop moments, hopefully arriving just in time for the Australian summer. I expect nostalgic, theatrical and slightly kitschy twists. Jack Antonoff has done great things (and we owe him a lot), but the return of Max Martin in some capacity feels right for this era’s theme.
Dare I say, I hope for perhaps a hint of Gaga drama as well. As posters pointed out on X, Lady Gaga’s ‘Applause’ came out 12 years ago, a song Swift herself has admitted her appreciation for. Anyone who attended The Eras Tour likely still gets full body chills at the sound of it. with the song being the second last to boom through the arena before Swift took to the stage.
To me, The Life Of A Showgirl‘s name feels like Swift is acknowledging that she lives for the applause — as she should. It’s well-deserved. The post-‘Champagne Problems’ standing ovation never felt like enough, and whether we think the imagery of living life on a stage can be both glamorous and tragic, it’s still Swift’s reality regardless.
That said, with The Life of a Showgirl I’m also anticipating a true glitter gel pen album and we need that more than ever. Hopefully, with sides of a Sabrina Carpenter collab (orange dress clue alert) and a tour that puts Vegas residencies to shame. I’m the crowd chanting ‘more’ right now, I know, but Swift seems like she’s ready to offer it.
Events prior to Reputation saw her mocked mercilessly for devising a strategy. For daring to have a plan for her colossal career. She was accused of being a snake. All because she was both career-savvy enough to give the go-ahead for the first version of that lyric and then human enough to be insulted by what was instead released. That’s what I’m hoping we hear on this album: the duality of her being Taylor Swift the superstar and everything that comes with that (pressure, adoration, the gifts and curses of extreme success.) and being Taylor Swift the person (adult crushes, relationship firsts, and the more personal likes).
The increase of easter eggs has also spoken volumes — it’s her saying ‘yes, I’m calculated, but in the best way‘. Leaning into that little dig is genius. Having your moves pre-planned as the world’s biggest pop star is actually not only impressive, it’s essential. She’s Taylor Swift. She’s the most famous woman in the world. Of course she’s not 100% surprised when events in her life reflect her status. Was the surprised face real at the start of her career? Yes, obviously. Is it still today? I’ll still bleed out for a resounding ‘yes’, but even if it’s for show, she’s putting on a damn good one.
She was a showgirl, both for herself and for us, for nearly two years straight, and now she’s ready to tell us about it. We watched her heal from an old relationship and start one anew, we watched her set records and reclaim stolen work, and I’d go as far as to say we watched her learn to trust us again. I don’t think I’m the only one nervous that something (or someone) is set to ruin that. We’ve put in the work to prove that we’re worthy of her innermost thoughts once more, and it’s an access level we diehard Swifties would like to hold onto.
So: appreciate her genius for what it is, I beg. I might not be 13 anymore, but I will defend Taylor Swift’s right to put on a show if she wants to till the day I die.
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