“Mean Girls Day” has a new queen bee. The crown has been passed to a fitting monarch — the pop princess of the music industry: Taylor Swift.
On Oct. 3, Taylor Swift released her 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” to a roaring audience. The album shattered Spotify’s single-day streaming record for an album in merely 11 hours. Her first track, “The Fate of Ophelia,” received the most streams in a single day in Spotify history.
Swift is a global phenomenon. Since the age of 16, she has released 12 original albums and four re-recorded albums. Her legendary Era’s tour, which consisted of a three-hour performance of her first 11 albums, is the highest-grossing tour of all time, surpassing $2 billion. Her newest work, “The Life of a Showgirl,” details her glamorous relationship with fame and her fiancé, Travis Kelce. Many fans were excited because this album entails the reunion with Swift’s “Reputation” producers, Max Martin and Shellback.
Despite the record-breaking accolades, the album is controversial among her fans, who are in a state of chaos, questioning whether they love it or hate it. USA Today reports that “Swifties,” her fanbase, feel betrayed by the album, as it strays from her recent albums, which feature soft melodies and ballads like “The Tortured Poet Department,” “Folklore,” and “Evermore.” Moreso, Swift has become tangled in controversy as her lyrics force fans to confront her possibly underlying racist allusions.
In the song “Opalite,” Swift makes apparent references to Travis Kelce’s ex-girlfriends. She determines that Travis has overcome the “onyx night” to reach “opalite.” Her jarring use of AAVE (African-American Vernacular English), and her hypersexualization that is often stigmatized for Black women, leads expert Sunny Adcock to contend that “Taylor’s inability to read the (increasingly hostile) room that makes joking about ‘liking’ your friends cancelled, when these friends have been ‘cancelled’ for aligning themselves with MAGA, not the flex she thinks it is.” In this album, Taylor fails to recognize her mistakes, as the people she aligns with are the same who defame those whom she takes inspiration from.
Her actions are not unique to this album. During the making of her 2024 album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” she frequently alluded to her former partner, Matty Healy, who faced many allegations, including racist remarks towards artist Ice Spice.
Swift’s controversial words should not be ignored, and fans must make a dire effort to confront her about her mistakes. As a Swiftie myself, it is easy to idolize Taylor for her lustrous star quality, but as fans, it is equally important to hold her accountable for her words and actions. Amidst criticism, the album persists, and while the beats may be basic, Swift’s renaissance also offers teens a lesson in self-confidence.
The first track opens as a tribute to all Hamlet fanatics. “The Fate of Ophelia” has an upbeat rhythm that invokes the passion of Shakespeare’s fated prince. The beat is catchy, reminding us of both old and new Taylor. She continues her hits, calling on another cultural icon, Elizabeth Taylor. Her second track is filled with vivid lyricism as she puts us in the eyeline of those famous blue eyes. Like her escapades and concerts, “Elizabeth Taylor” opens up Swift’s personal life to her larger audience, and reminds me of songs from “The Tortured Poets Department.” In her new album, she recognizes the importance of intimacy with others and tells us it’s okay to be sad, confused, and red in the face.
But hidden in the midst is my favorite song, “Father Figure,” where Swift adopts the power of a patriarch for herself. As teens, we are pushed back and forth from decision to decision, forced to rely on others, or stuck in the middle of two parents. From “Father Figure,” we are inspired to take control of our lives and own the things we need and want. However, as the album continues, the appeal dwindles. Songs like “Ruin the Daughter,” “Eldest Daughter,” and “Wi$h Li$t,” while catchy, make me realize why some believe Swift has turned too cringy. In “Wi$h Li$st,” specifically, Taylor’s words spark concern when she states that many of her fellow musicians “want a fat a** and a baby face.”
Swift makes a dire effort to appear current, but her lyrics often fall far from the mark. Student Jenin Al Shalabi with the Stanford Daily writes that “Swift has nothing of substance to say.” As the songs continue, we are presented with Swift’s aggression through melodies such as “Actually Romantic” and “Honey.”
“Actually Romantic” has been deemed by social media users as a Charlie XCX diss track in response to Charlie’s song “Sympathy is a Knife,” where Charlie XCX appears to lament over her anxiety about comparing her success with Swift’s. In her song “Honey,” Taylor states that “the b*tch was telling me to back off / ‘Cause her man had looked at me wrong.” Her incessant use of attacking women and calling them b*tches turns her hypocritical. During Swift’s infamous feud with Kanye West, he called her a b*tch in the song “Famous,” and in Swift’s “Miss Americana” documentary, she boldly says, “there’s no such thing as a sl*t, there’s no such thing as a b*tch.”
We must recognize Swift for all that she is, including her mistakes. Whether you are a “Swiftie” or not, all teens should strive to hold their favorite artists accountable for their blind spots and inactions. For Swift, that includes her lack of inclusivity in pop music, as she caters to a single group. With her final titular track, “The Life of a Showgirl,” Swift tells us to be an individual. And like most people, we can change our minds and ask for change. We can take “pearls of her wisdom” and girlhood while avoiding the monolithic trap of the “yes man” who never questions what they hear and speaks up to an audience like the showgirl Taylor Swift emulates.
