After facing backlash over “The Life of a Showgirl,” Taylor Swift leaned into the controversy instead of moving on. She dropped four new songs on Sept. 25 as part of “The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore,” and they immediately became memes online.
There is no denying Swift’s commercial success, regardless of what haters and fans alike say on social media. One of her newly criticized songs, “Patient Zero,” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Swift also acquired three Video Music Awards this year, bringing her total to 33, the most anyone has ever received, and the album won four iHeart Radio Awards. But at what point does commercial success start to mean little about the actual artistry in the music industry?
Many of the lyrics in her new songs are directed at internet trolls and brag about her new life, but it comes off as obsessive, self-conscious and embarrassing. For example, on her track “Eldest Daughter,” she sings “Everybody’s so punk on the Internet. Everyone’s unbothered until they’re not. Every joke’s just trolling and memes.”
Another track, “CANCELLED!,” featured the cringeworthy lyric, “Did you girlboss too close to the sun?” Swift’s latest releases feel less relatable because she has reached such a high level of fame and wealth that she isn’t connecting with her listeners anymore.
Her early work was about young love, heartbreak and growing up. She was able to reinvent herself into a pop star successfully, and her lyrics were about finding herself and change. Not everything was even about her own life. Her lyrics in “folklore” and “evermore” were about fictional characters.
Each era had its own personality and production style that allowed listeners to develop and evolve with Swift. This album, on the other hand, lacks the raw emotion of her ballads or infectious pop melodies. She has achieved so much commercial success that maybe the intense passion in her earlier writing has been lost.
I doubt any part of her life now is normal enough to be relevant to the average listener. Swift is a renowned singer, has just come off of the incredibly successful “The Eras Tour” and is now married to an NFL star. She has never had as many fans, but has also never had as many haters.
Even as a fan, I haven’t loved every single song she has ever written, but “The Life of a Showgirl” feels manufactured. The lyrics and music production sound like someone trying to copy or mock Taylor Swift. They don’t feel authentic at all.
In general, pop music has started to sound too robotic, too perfect. Each decade has had a specific sound associated with it up until now, and there isn’t anyone topping the charts who sounds particularly unique or revolutionary.
Listeners want something novel and unvarnished in a world that is filled with AI and mass production. We want artistry to be competitive again. I think the fact that these songs are reaching the top of the charts has everything to do with the lack of mainstream pop music to compete with.
Swift should not give up writing music, but should take into account some of the recent criticism of her latest album. Her influence could really impact the future of pop and if Taylor Swift starts bringing back her true artistry, perhaps other pop stars will follow in her footsteps.
