Opinion: Taylor Swift’s new album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” is the worst album on her discography

Paige Minich, Managing Editor • October 23, 2025

As a huge Taylor Swift fan since the release of “1989,” I was highly anticipating “The Life of a Showgirl.” I thought this would be an album where Swift would return to happier music after the sadness of “The Tortured Poets Department.”

I was right with the high-energy music behind all of the songs on the new album, but the lyricism was disappointing.

For example, in the song “CANCELLED!,” one of the lyrics is “Did you girlboss too close to the sun?” While I see the analogy in this lyric, it came off in a weird way, like she is trying to appeal to her younger fans who use “girlboss” as slang.

I find this disappointing because it seems that her music has been downgraded since “The Tortured Poets Department” release in 2024. Yes, she is appealing to younger fans and media by using today’s slang, but it is disappointing to fans who have been listening to Swift for years.

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Another aspect of the album I didn’t like was that a lot of the songs were based off of other songs. One of the biggest samplings that I noticed on the album was in the song “Wood,” where the beginning sounds exactly like the first notes of “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5. Some of the other songs have samplings that are uncredited as well, but this was the biggest one that stood out to me while listening. Overall, it goes to show that some of the songs on the album lacked originality.

Other Swifties feel the same way about the album as well, and Swift received hate for the album on social media. She responded to this on Apple Music’s “The Zane Lowe Show,” which she stated, “‘I welcome the chaos. The rule of show business is if it’s the first week of my album release and you are saying either my name or my album title, you’re helping. And art, I have a lot of respect for people’s subjective opinions on art. I’m not the art police. It’s like everybody is allowed to feel exactly how they want, and what our goal is as entertainers is to be a mirror.’” Even though the album wasn’t to my taste and I don’t fully hate it, I have to give my respect to Swift and how she handles hate with the new albums.

The best songs on the album, in my opinion, were “The Fate of Ophelia” and “Opalite.” However, after this album was released and the backlash received for it, I think Swift needs a break from music for a little while, especially after wrapping up “The Eras Tour.”

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About the Contributors

Paige Minich, Managing Editor/Community Editor

Paige Minich is a sophomore Multimedia Communications major, with a focus in Journalism and Public Communication, and is both Managing and Community Editor for The Wood Word. Along with The Wood Word, she is a DJ and Music Director for VMFM 91.7 and holds the Sisterhood Development Chair for Alpha Sigma Psi. In her downtime, she enjoys reading books, listening to music, going to the gym and spending time with friends and family.

Grace DiNella, Graphics Editor

Grace DiNella is a senior Graphic Design major and is the Graphics Editor for The Wood Word. Outside The Wood Word, she is the Treasurer and Fundraising Chair of Alpha Sigma Psi and a Graphic Designer for Scranton Fringe Festival.