Taylor Swift - The Life of a Showgirl (October 3, 2025) • Page 78

It’s absolutely fascinating watching the comment sections on TikTok as people react to this album. A not insignificant portion of them keep saying some form of “the album is bad so she must be MAGA” which is…quite the leap on what’s effectively a falling in love album.

 

yeah I mean lyrically this record feels diametrically opposed to brat to me. Midwest summer I don’t know about, is that Chappell? I’ve never actually listened to them

 

so there actually were some bonus tracks for this, but they are acoustic...?

 

I thought I liked them from the Hayley interview but what the actual fuck

 

I've seen some tweets saying the lyric on Wish List "have a couple kids, got the whole block looking like you" is about white supremacy lol.

 

“tradwife propaganda”

like yeah the 35 year old who wrote “Peace” five years ago maybe still wants kids! Idk!

 

What’s “forever” to you? She can be an elegant pop storyteller when she wants to be (though her recent streak certainly calls into question her range, lol). The qualities that make this so bad certainly aren’t new to her, but this is easily the most she’s leaned into what I’d call her absolute worst tendencies.

And, those other albums you mentioned are good albums. Charli is an expert at painting with a blunt object in a way that feels cohesive and at times more layered than one would maybe expect. And for Chappell Roan, the most direct moments feel like a release, an effective part of the both camp and emotionally vulnerable queerness of her project.

Taylor just doesn’t (when she’s in this mode) have the carefully calibrated touch that Chappell & Charli have. Or frankly the casual confidence of her friend Sabrina Carpenter. It doesn’t feel canny and just lands with a thud.

 

The more I listen to "Father Figure," the more I feel like y'all are missing a strong, incisive piece of songwriting there. The way she pivots the perspective, from Borchetta ranting to teenage her about being a kingmaker, to herself, who actually was the kingmaker in the long run, is really smart construction, and is a way sharper takedown of patriarchal power structures and the Big Machine gang than any of her prior attempts at writing something like that (cough, "The Man"). I get that the "my dick's bigger" line is jarring, but if you actually look at the context of the song and the type of guy she's embodying, I dunno, I think it works.

 

It's not one of my favourites musically or melodically but the final section, from the bridge onwards, in particular is so good that it keeps growing on me. I agree that it's a much better version of something like The Man and it feels like a fitting conclusion to that whole masters saga.

 

I just think there is a ton of craft there. Fitting that type of storytelling into the space of a catchy three-and-a-half minute pop song isn't easy, and is exactly what she said she was trying to accomplish by bringing Max and Shellback into the fold.

 

i'm not opposed to what she's talking about conceptually on Father Figure. i just think it's a tiny bit clunky in its overall execution

 

My wife was definitely disappointed with the album as a whole upon our first spin, but by the end of the day yesterday she was bopping around the house loving pretty much all of it.

I don’t love as much of it as she does, but really spending time with it, AirPod Maxes on your head, will definitely give a better impression sonically.

 

I’m curious: is it just the “my dick’s bigger” line that doesn’t work for you, or are there other aspects to the lyrics you struggle with, too?

 

it's more the musical execution than anything else. i get where she's coming from with the lyrics (even if the dick lyric is bad). it's just not all that dynamic, the key change doesn't work for me, and the cadence/structure of the lyrics in the song (especially the bridge) still falls into that pattern of sounding like she's trying to fit a bunch of words into a smaller part of the song, if that makes sense (what i think some people called talk singing in here, which might be more passable if the melody felt more dynamic - DBATC felt like a better executed example of this). or maybe it's just too mellow of a song for me? idk

 

I just skimmed the lyrics without listening to the song again, so I could just notice the words themselves. And, I don’t know what’s supposed to be impressive about these?

 

yeah, it's not that i disagree with the point that she's trying to tell a fully fleshed-out story in 3+ minutes, i just think she's done it much better on dozens of other songs

 

Gold Rush is barely five years old. she definitely still has writing chops

 

Apparently sold 2.7m copies on the day of release says Billboard.

 

The NYT Popcast guys had it on the money when they said “Father Figure” is like a more subtle version of “The Man.” But I still think “The Man” sonically is more interesting and compelling.

 

I was wondering why that was called out in the post and lol the same vocals for an acoustic version I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of someone doing that before.

 

think the only other time she's done this is with the piano/acoustic versions of Forever and Always and State of Grace (particularly since they're in different keys). otherwise, it's much easier (lazier) to recycle the same vocal takes and put them on top of an acoustic instrumental. glad she changed it up this time, even if i don't really have a desire to spin them

 

yeah, i've never been a huge fan of The Man from a lyrical standpoint, but musically i kind of enjoy the odd all production. Father Figure doesn't have that, imo

 

Unfortunately it was a trend for a bit, I would have to look up the other artists who did it, but basically if they needed new digital versions quick they would have someone take the existing vocals and make a new "acoustic" mix of music, and as you can expect, if doesn't sound good in the end. Super cheap and disappointing

 

Huh???????