The Life of a Showgirl is Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated twelfth album, produced by Max Martin and Shellback. The release was announced on August 13, 2025, when Taylor Swift appeared on her now-fiancé, Travis Kelce’s, podcast, which he shares with his brother, Jason Kelce. It was later announced that Swift and Kelce got engaged directly after the podcast was filmed. Swifties, what Taylor Swift’s fans are called, first got hints of a new album when Taylor Nation, the official fan page of Taylor Swift, posted multiple videos featuring orange items and costumes from the Eras Tour, the most notable being a post that contained the caption, “See you next era.” Later, New Heights, the Kelce brothers’ podcast, posted a photo on their Instagram account of both the Kelce brothers and a female silhouette, superimposed on a glittery orange background, with the text “New Heights Special Premiere Wednesday”. New Heights was officially on a break from their weekly episodes released on Wednesday until August 26th. This led many fans to believe that something special was occurring. Many eagle-eyed fans recognized the silhouette and found the original photo, which happened to be of Taylor Swift. Very soon after, on August 11th, 2025, a countdown mysteriously appeared on Taylor Swift’s official website, expiring at 12:12 AM, the next day, August 12th, along with orange and teal colored graphics and backgrounds on the site. When the countdown wore off, the website revealed a locked screen, again with orange and mint-green colors, and “The Life of A Showgirl” with an option to preorder. At the same time, New Heights posted a video clip from the podcast of the announcement on the podcast, showing Taylor Swift opening a briefcase, which was “mint green with TS on it” (a direct quote from Jason Kelce), and pulling out a record of her new album. However, the album cover was also blurred. Finally, on August 13th, the podcast was released. Her website now revealed the official cover, as well as alternate covers of the album, the tracklist, and a letter from Swift. Since then, there has been a lot of attention and hype around the album, with Swift releasing CDs, vinyls, alternate versions of both (with different versions of some of the tracks), the official cardigan (a tradition that started with her album folklore, which features the song “cardigan”), and a lot of different merch for the album. She announced that the lead single of the album would be “The Fate of Ophelia”, with a music video that premiered on October 3rd, album release day. Along with the album release, there would be an in-theater experience for the music video release, along with a semi-documentary on the songs on the album and how the album itself was produced. Unlike her previous album, “The Tortured Poets Department”, which was released while she was still on the record-breaking Eras Tour, this album had an actual press tour, complete with numerous interviews that fans haven’t seen her do in years. The album itself contains twelve tracks, which will be ranked by the author below, and has had mixed reviews. Initially, many Swifties and listeners alike did not enjoy the album, especially since its pop genre was very different from the sound of the previous album. Also, since “folklore” (2020), she has been renowned for her lyricism, which many say this album lacks. Compared to the previous album, the contrast is noticeable; however, many also argue that the vibe of this album is more pop, fun-loving, and less lyric-focused, contributing to why the lyrics may not contain as much depth. However, the minority did enjoy the album from its first listen. Today, 3 weeks from the release, most Swifties would agree that they enjoy this album, but most non-Swifties probably wouldn’t share as much enthusiasm. As a Swiftie since 2023, I personally did not enjoy the album on my first listen. However, I knew I would enjoy it more by listening to it more. Down below, I will be putting my initial ratings of all the songs of the album compared to my current ratings, three weeks from the release.
Original Rankings (10/03/2025):
- Song: The Fate of Ophelia
Rating: 7/10
Favorite Lyric: “Don’t care where the hell you been /’Cause now you’re mine”
- Song: Elizabeth Taylor
Rating: 7/10
Favorite Lyric: “Been number one but I never had two / And I can’t have fun if I can’t have…”
- Song: Opalite
Rating: 8/10
Favorite Lyric: “And don’t we try to love love / We give it all we got”
- Song: Father Figure
Rating: 8/10
Favorite Lyric: “They don’t make loyalty like they used to”
- Song: Eldest Daughter
Rating: 9/10
Favorite Lyric: “When your first crush crushes something kind” or “Ferris wheels, kisses and lilacs / And things I said were dumb”
- Song: Ruin the Friendship
Rating: 9/10
Favorite Lyric: “Staying friends is safe / Doesn’t mean you should”
- Song: Actually Romantic
Rating: 8/10
Favorite Lyric: “And I know you think it comes off as vicious / But it’s precious, adorable”
- Song: Wi$h Li$t
Rating: 8.5/10
Favorite Lyric: “Please, God, bring me a best friend who I think is hot / I thought I had it right once, twice, but I did not”
- Song: Wood
Rating: 8.5/10
Favorite Lyric: “Fingers crossed until you put your hand on mine”
- Song: CANCELLED!
Rating: 7.5/10
Favorite Lyric: “Did you make a joke only a man could? Were you just too smug for your own good?”
- Song: Honey
Rating: 7/10
Favorite Lyric: “But you say it like you’re in awe of me / And you stay until the morning”
- Song: The Life of a Showgirl (feat. Sabrina Carpenter)
Rating: 8/10
Favorite Lyric: “But, I’m immortal now, baby dolls / I couldn’t if I tried”
Overall:
Album Rating: 7.5-8/10
Favorite Song: Ruin The Friendship/Eldest Daughter. Probably Ruin The Friendship,
though.
Least Favorite Song: The Fate of Ophelia/Elizabeth Taylor. I feel like I’ll like them more
through more listens, but I feel like they were underwhelming as album openers.
Renewed Rankings (10/24/2025):
- Song: The Fate of Ophelia
Rating: 9/10
- Song: Elizabeth Taylor
Rating: 8.5/10
- Song: Opalite
Rating: 9.5/10
Note: This is such a fun song! I would rank this higher but it is not my favorite and I want to show the difference of how much I enjoy my favorites.
- Song: Father Figure
Rating: 8.25/10
- Song: Eldest Daughter
Rating: 9.5/10
Note: This song’s bridge just makes it so much better which is why it’s ranking is so high. Certain lyrics can be a little cringy, which is why this isn’t higher, but I also feel like this song gets a little too much hate online.
- Song: Ruin the Friendship
Rating: 10/10
Note: This song seems so fun and a message almost everyone can relate to, but the last verse makes it so devastating. Both the meaning of the main song and the last verse are amazing though, and this is definitely one of the best songs on the song.
- Song: Actually Romantic
Rating: 8.5/10
- Song: Wi$h Li$t
Rating: 13/10
Note: 13 is a Taylor Swift reference, obviously. (If you do not know, it is her favorite number and she has numerous superstitions associated with it.) I genuinely am absolutely in love with this song. She released an acoustic version on one of the CD variants and I’m so angry that I did not purchase it, because I have listened to that version and it is my current favorite song in general. This song is so addicting and the production, meaning, and just the entire feeling associated with this song is so happy and relatable that it’s just so likable.
- Song: Wood
Rating: 9/10
- Song: CANCELLED!
Rating: 8/10
- Song: Honey
Rating: 9/10
- Song: The Life of a Showgirl (feat. Sabrina Carpenter)
Rating: 8.10/10
Overall:
Ranking: 8.5/10
Favorite Song: Wi$h Li$t. Absolutely Wi$h Li$t. Ruin The Friendship is second.
Least Favorite Song: CANCELLED! or The Life of A Showgirl. Both are amazing songs but I just love most of the other songs so much more.
