The world of pop culture ground to a halt last Friday, holding its breath for the midnight release of Taylor Swift’s new album The Life of A Showgirl. The album cover features a bedazzled Swift, almost entirely submerged in the water of a teal-basined bathtub. Each song inside mirrors the release’s bubbly imagery: these tracks are known by the Swiftie community as “glitter gel pen songs” for their fun, bright sound and dance-all-night lyrics. With such an exuberant exterior, who could resist a listen? Plenty of Obies, apparently. The Saturday matinee screening of Release Party of a Showgirl at the Apollo Theatre, featuring behind the scenes footage of the music video “The Fate of Ophelia,” had just four people in attendance, present company included.
Michael Deane, general manager of the Apollo Theatre, spoke to The Oberlin Review about screening the release party. He was less than thrilled. Deane had been required to change his bookings last minute to accommodate the show, and the drive containing the movie unlocked only hours before the first show time was scheduled.
“The whole world stops for her, for Taylor Swift, to sell this album,” he said. “But we had no business for [the show.]”
While its film counterpart may not be making money for small Ohio movie theaters, it’s undeniable that The Life of a Showgirl was designed to be a pop hit. The album’s opener, “The Fate of Ophelia,” pairs a heavy beat with light instrumentation. With lyrics laced with Shakespearean references, “The Fate of Ophelia” appeals to Folklore fans with literary imagery despite its wildly different tone. The character-specific song lends itself well to a music video, which follows Swift as she becomes “showgirls” of different eras.
Swift grew up in the spotlight, and there was a sense of scandal when she began adopting more explicit lyrics that hadn’t been in her girlish country love songs. It’s clear with the album’s ninth track, however, that Swift has fully embraced the sexiest version of her public persona yet. In Release Party of a Showgirl, she coyly explains that the song “Wood” is about superstition and glazes over some of the most sexual lyrics of the album. The film featured a censored version of the lyric video, substituting the suggestive sigh of “his love was the key to open my thighs” with a straight-sung “opened my skies.” Despite her expansion into a more explicit genre, Swift’s audience is still multigenerational. She has to be careful unless she wants to scandalize the mothers — and at this point, the daughters — of her Swiftie fanbase.
Last but not least comes the title track. With an admittedly purposeless feature of Sabrina Carpenter, the track has an inexplicable sort of 1989 feel that has the power to bring listeners — fans and haters alike — back a decade. Rather than the extended metaphor seen in much of her more recent work, Swift settled on quick comparisons that pack the song to the gills. Lyrics like “sweeter than a peach,” “softer than a kitten,” and “I took her pearls of wisdom, hung them from my neck” flash by, matching the images conjured by the term “showgirl:” chunky jewelry, velvety costumes, and a sugary voice. While this song likely won’t become the fan-favorite of the album, it does justice to the critical role of uniting individual tracks under a common theme.
After seeing Release Party of a Showgirl at the Apollo Theatre, Oberlin resident and self-proclaimed Swiftie Erika Heck shared some of her thoughts about the album.
“I do think Taylor is capable of so much more,” Heck said. “I do think it’s a little superficial lyrically. But I do enjoy it. The beats are great. The production is fantastic.”
Her visiting friend, Kathryn Ferguson, had a less mixed reaction.
“I really like it. Some of the songs kind of remind me of Reputation,” she said. “Taylor’s just going into a new era. I feel like it’s the lover-boy era with Travis [Kelce].”
While Swift made no direct mention of her fiancé in the album or the film, many invested fans have made connections between her most recent work and her soon-to-be husband.
It’s clear, however, that Swift has become more than music. It goes without saying that Oberlin considers itself a place for wide-ranging musical criticism, even outside of the Conservatory. But paradoxically, the general sense of disdain (emphasis on general, as there are some who lie at the intersection of Obie and Swiftie) for the new album at Oberlin feels like it’s not about its sound — it’s about Swift’s constantly expanding influence.
“She’s … at the center of this whole apparatus that swirls all this money around her, and it’s frightening to me,” Deane said. At least for this non-Swiftie, Swift is the ultimate symbol of modern capitalism. Her influence is unsettling.
Ezra Rudensky, College second-year and Apollo Theatre employee, took a different stance.
“I don’t believe in critiques of her personality or of her as a person because I think that just gets into sexism,” they said.
There is an eternal struggle on the political side of the Swiftie vs. non-Swiftie debate. Are people rightfully frustrated by her extreme wealth, or are they just upset that she’s a woman in control of her career?
One thing is clear: While we — students, liberals, feminists, communists, what have you — debate the good, the bad, and the ugly of Swift’s latest album, she keeps on singing. The Life of a Showgirl is Swift’s twelfth record, and she shows no sign of slowing down. Her pop anthems have made it obvious that despite controversy and scorn, Taylor Swift will keep on making money “being pretty and witty.”
