The Death of a Showgirl: The Scathing Controversy Surrounding Taylor Swift’s New Album

On October 3rd, 2025, Taylor Swift released her 12th studio album titled, “The Life of the Showgirl”. This album was highly anticipated by a plethora of people, due to her recent revival in fame after her highly successful “Eras Tour” and consistently setting records at the 2024 Grammys, being the first artist to ever win 4 Album of the Year awards. Taylor Swift’s accomplishments from the beginning of her career as a country singer to her transition into the pop music universe are limitless and she continues to set records and remain at the top of the billboards and charts. However, her recent release of the 12-track album, “The Life of a Showgirl”, has been received with mixed reviews and a surplus of negativity. In certain press conferences and interviews Swift participated in, in promotion of her album, Swift regarded “The Life of a Showgirl”, as a combination of the beautiful and raw storytelling and lyricism that was featured in her 8th studio album, “Folklore” and the upbeat and lively beats of her iconic pop album, “1989”. This comment got people excited for the release of the album, considering “Folklore” and “1989” are two of her most accredited albums, both winning Album of the Year awards at the Grammys. When the album was initially released, people came to the conclusion that Swift’s statement couldn’t be further from the truth. The album is perceived negatively due to a lot of the lyricism and word choice utilized in the tracks. Usually, Taylor Swift is praised for her genius lyricism and her Shakespearean type of vocabulary, while the release of this album has led to many wondering if her prime song-writing days have passed. For example, on the tenth track titled “CANCELLED!”, Taylor Swift wrote the lyric “Did you girl-boss too close to the sun?”. A lot of people are poking fun at Taylor Swift for this lyric in specific due to the fact it seems like she’s trying to utilize outdated Gen-Z lingo in an unironic manner. The controversy and negative reviews surrounding this album have gone as far as die-hard fans pointing out the blatantly bad writing and story-telling in this album compared to her other albums. A well-known Taylor Swift super-fan, The Swiftologist, regarded a part in the latter half of the track “Eldest Daughter” as “not good writing”. Additionally, in the song “Actually Romantic” on the album, Swift throws subtle shade at another famous pop star, Charli Xcx, known for her electro-pop album BRAT. This shade has caused a lot of discourse online, leading to people turning against Swift for her seemingly unprovoked attack on Charli Xcx. Despite the negative reviews made by many individuals on social media platforms like TikTok, X, and Instagram, Taylor Swift’s songs are still climbing the Billboard 100 and dominating the charts. The album has also been revered and highly rated by different articles, like the Rolling Stones originally giving the album a 100/100, essentially regarding it as pop music perfection. Regardless if “The Life of a Showgirl” was the most creative and brilliant album of the year or if it failed to do so, Taylor Swift will always play a significant role in the music industry.