Glitz and glamour, love and hate, and wit and wisdom are some of the many themes expressed in Taylor Swift’s marvelous new album, “The Life of a Showgirl.”
The album was released on October 3, 2025, following much anticipation. According to many radio interviews, Swift was said to have written the album on her highly successful global tour, “The Eras Tour,” making and producing every song in her free time. A new album was speculated to be released following Swift’s typical two-year gap, especially with last year’s double album of “The Tortured Poets Department” and the deluxe “The Anthology,” adding up to a tracklist of 31 songs. Due to this, many fans believed that another album wouldn’t be released until at least 2026. That theory was debunked on August 13, on her fiancé Travis Kelce’s podcast, “New Heights,” as Swift appeared on the episode with a glimmery mint and orange briefcase, holding her brand new album, “The Life of a Showgirl.”
TLOAS features 12 tracks, with only one leading single, “The Fate of Ophelia.” The song begins with an upbeat instrumental and drums humming behind Swift’s mezzo-soprano voice. The song references Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” in mentioning the tragic death of Ophelia, but instead of choosing to tell a story of sadness, Swift sings about how she was spared from that same fate. The refrain, “You dug me out of my grave and/Saved my heart from the fate of Ophelia,” sheds a positive light on Ophelia’s demise and continues with her love-filled narrative. Being the first track, the song sets the scene for an uplifting and optimistic album, almost opposite to her past LPs.
The complete album reached over 500 million streams on its first day of release, making it the most-streamed album in one day for the entire year. Though there have been no other announced singles, fans have taken great liking to different tracks, such as “Opalite,” “Actually Romantic,” “Eldest Daughter,” and “Father Figure.”
The twelfth and final track, “The Life of a Showgirl,” featuring Sabrina Carpenter, ties the album together perfectly. The song tells the story of a young girl who dreams of being a showgirl, only to find out that her idols despise the job. The girl follows through with her career despite being repeatedly told that she’d never succeed, and at the end of the song, finally understands what it’s like to live in her role model’s shoes. Swift and Carpenter sing, “Thank you for the lovely bouquet/I’m married to the hustle/And now I know the life of a showgirl, babe/And I’ll never know another/Pain hidden by the lipstick and lace/Sequins are forever/And now I know the life of a showgirl, babe/Wouldn’t have it any other way.” The song and album conclude with Swift acknowledging her band, dancers, and Sabrina Carpenter, in a similar manner to how she would finish a night at “The Eras Tour.”
This album, though completely different from past LPs, is brilliant and sharply written, especially from the perspective of a singer and performer. It deserves nothing less than a 5/5.
