I’m six years old and I’m in the back of my mother’s SUV, travelling somewhere that seemed so far away at the time, like the shopping plaza 30 minutes from our home. I’d just recently been given another hand-me-down from my older brother: a sparkly blue iPod Nano. I put in my wired headphones and scroll through the songs that had been hand-selected by my parents.
My go-to artist? Taylor Swift.
As I look out the window and drive past the Northeastern suburbia that surrounds me, I pretend I’m the protagonist in a music video for “Fifteen,” fantasizing about what life in high school is going to be like, or I see myself as a Juliet-esque character in “Love Story,” being fawned over by my elementary school crush.
This love for Swift continues into my middle school years, with “reputation” being a part of my soundtrack on the bus ride to school; “Lover” having the most relatable lyrics when it came to daydreaming about young love in high school; and “Midnights” blasting through my headphones as I walk through the University of Massachusetts’ brisk campus during my freshman year of college.
So, during my sophomore year at UMass, while I’m making my way to my friend’s off-campus apartment to stay up late for the release of “The Tortured Poets Department,” I know I’m in for a treat. After hours of sitting on his couch and listening to every single track, I was met with nothing but disappointment.
This is where my affection for Swift starts to diminish, but my hopes remain somewhat high as I listen to her re-releases of “Speak Now” and “1989” and watch clips from her highly successful “Eras Tour.”
This past Friday morning, I listened to Swift’s new album “The Life of a Showgirl” and officially lost my faith in one of my favorite pop artists. I believe Swift is now seen more as a brand rather than a woman with tremendous artistic expression.
This was once an artist whose discography would blast through the speakers of my car as I’d zoom down the highway and scream along to lyrics that are tattooed on the crest of my brain.
With lyrics on Swift’s most recent album, such as “Did you girlboss too close to the sun” and “Every joke’s just trolling and memes,” it’s hard to gather the same heart-felt energy that I did for lines such as “You kept me like a secret, but I kept you like an oath,” or “I’m captivated by you, baby like a fireworks show.”
For instance, in her song “Eldest Daughter,” I understand why Swift is using “internet slang” in her lyricism, perhaps because she is attempting to seem more connected with her younger audience, or maybe she is running out of ways to still be viewed as relatable by any of her listeners.
In the song “Actually Romantic,” which is a blatant diss on Charli XCX and a response to XCX’s song about battling with insecurity, “Sympathy is a knife,” Swift begins the song with “I heard you called me ‘Boring Barbie’ when the coke’s got you brave.” This honestly sounds like something the bully Swift describes in her 2010 song, “Mean,” would say to the girl that Swift attempts to portray herself as.
On the contrary, I still come to Swift’s defense on tracks such as “Wood.” Swift has been facing rather harsh criticism for including raunchy innuendos that can be found in similar artists’ discographies like Sabrina Carpenter, Reneé Rapp and Chappell Roan.
This particular song is facing so much criticism because Swift happens to be a few years older than the previously mentioned artists. Are people cringing because she’s an older millennial-aged woman who enjoys sexually-related escapades? I think so.
Ever since meeting her goal of becoming one of the most successful artists in the world, it seems as though Swift’s mission in her songwriting, producing and overall image is now quantity over quality.
One of the main caveats that can be pointed out when seeing how Swift now operates in her artistic expression is the number of variants she creates for her albums. For example, there have (so far) been twenty-nine different versions of her most recent album “The Life of a Showgirl,” including sixteen CDs, eight vinyl LPS, two deluxe CDs that come with a sparkly orange cardigan, a cassette version and four digital download editions.
The most recent edition, titled “Deluxe Life Is A Song Acoustic Version” is only available for 24 hours until Oct. 9 at 1:59 p.m. and includes two original songwriting voice memos of “Honey” and “CANCELLED!,” an acoustic version of “Opalite,” and a “my advice version” of “Ruin The Friendship.”
Swift made over $2 billion from the Eras Tour. She was able to successfully purchase her first six albums back and gain full ownership of them. Why is she continuing to drown her fans in financial manipulation through the releases of album variants, limited edition merchandise and even a “Life of a Showgirl” release party that was held in AMC Theatres from Oct. 3 through Oct. 5?
I truly believe that Swift does care about her fans and wants them to love the art she creates. However, most of these fans have idolized Swift since the very beginning of her career.
The relationship between Swift and her most loyal fans is 100 percent parasocial, but since Swift has always been there for them, they will always support her no matter what. Her music has been there through the ups and downs, the engagements and breakups and the different phases of life that everyone faces.
If all of that is true, wouldn’t Swift want to create high-quality work for her fanbase? She certainly has the funds to do so. For this album, instead of going to her long-time collaborator and friend Jack Antonoff, Swift hired producers Max Martin and Shellback to collaborate with her, both of whom have worked on previous Swift projects such as “Red,” “1989,” and “reputation.”
Both of these producers have also helped create iconic pop songs, including “…Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears, “California Girls” by Katy Perry, “Moves Like Jagger” by Maroon 5, “Problem” by Ariana Grande and many more. Songs like these are known for their iconic hooks and heavy instrumentation. Many Swifties had high expectations for some unique pop anthems from “Life of a Showgirl.”
Unfortunately, most songs can be described as cookie-cutter pop mediocrity at best, with interpolations on almost every track: “Father Figure” samples “Father Figure” by George Michael; “Ruin the Friendship” samples “It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over” by Lenny Kravitz and “Actually Romantic” samples both “Where Is My Mind” by the Pixies and “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus.
Is this lazy songwriting? Kind of! But I’m sure with these artists that she sampled, she was given the go-ahead right away by them to do so. It’s Taylor Swift; she’s a powerhouse. Anything Swift touches turns into marketing gold for these already well-established artists; any chance of getting their names into the limelight associated with Swift is 100 percent going to be taken.
Swift’s main topic of inspiration and relatability has always been the tumultuous relationships that she’s been involved in since she was a teenage girl, something most of her listeners have experienced all too well themselves.
But since publicly revealing her relationship in late 2023 with Kansas City Chiefs’ tight-end Travis Kelce, not only have the messages in her songwriting changed both positively and negatively, but it seems as though her morals and values could have too.
It’s very refreshing to see Swift finally in a stable and mature romantic relationship with someone who seems to understand what being in a partnership with Taylor is truly like, but this does not really give her any excuse for her lyricism to diminish in quality.
Love is one of the most popular topics in songs. Swift has faced enough heartbreak as it is. Maybe it’s time for Swift to take a hiatus for a few years to enjoy what love truly has to offer?
If you look at Swift’s social media from March 2018 up until Sept. 2024, you can see that it has a pretty consistent amount of advocacy for anti-gun violence, abortion rights, racial equality, democratic endorsements for former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris and even spoke out against right-wing politicians, including President Donald Trump, numerous times.
Even in her discography, Swift has songs including “You Need to Calm Down,” which is a celebratory anthem for the LGBTQ+ community and “Only the Young,” a political song that was written by Swift after the 2018 U.S. midterm elections.
Swift’s political advocacy is deemed as performative by most, but at least she is spreading messages to fans who typically wouldn’t absorb world news, so they can get a glimpse into what is truly happening with these social issues.
As of recently, Swift has been pretty silent about recent political issues. No one is asking Swift to be the ultimate political advocate, but with a platform as big as hers, wouldn’t’t you want to at least make a statement here and there?
One could make the argument that she does not want to lose any fans, but even in her own 2020 documentary, “Miss Americana,” she says to her father, “I don’t care if they write that [Taylor Swift comes out against Trump]. I’m sad I didn’t write that two years ago, but I can’t change that.”
I truly believe that this recent quiet spell may have something to do with Kelce, who has kept his political values private and, when asked about President Donald Trump attending Super Bowl LIX, Kelce said in a very PR-coded response that “it’s a great honor, I think you know, no matter who the president is.” Days after Kelce said this, Trump posted on Truth Social, “I hate Taylor Swift.”
Swift and Kelce have also recently referred to or have connections with Barstool Sports CEO Dave Portnoy, A-list actor Brad Pitt and Patrick Mahomes’ brother Jackson Mahomes, all of whom have had accusations made against them for committing domestic violence acts against women—an issue Swift has faced herself in the past and has openly advocated for.
Now that Swift has reached a level of fame and wealth that is incomprehensible to even describe, I can’t say that I’m not surprised that she has slowly but surely lost her message that she has tried to spread since the beginning of her career: to stay true to your own values and to love one another.
So for now, I’ll put my headphones back on, continue to listen to Swift’s music and reminisce on who she once was, and hopefully, maybe, still is.
Paige Hanson can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @Paige_Hanson1.
