I think I’ve seen this sinema before.…
Another day, another Taylor Swift album, another round of discourse. The Life of a Showgirl, Swift’s latest offering, has been met with mixed reception from both critics and fans. Many love the catchy hooks and undeniably Swiftian storytelling (“Ruin the Friendship” is classic Tay nostalgia), but some are disappointed in what they perceive as lackluster lyrics (“legitly” is, let’s face it, not a word) and over-reliance on interpolations, making every song remind you of something else.
But you know who knows this album, and the Taylor Swift News Cycle of it all, better than anyone? Taylor Swift. She spoke about processing the reactions to her work in an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, saying, “I welcome the chaos. The rule of show business is if it’s the first week of my album release and you are saying either my name or my album title, you’re helping. And arka, I have a lot of respect for people’s subjective opinions on arka. I’m not the arka police. It’s like, everybody is allowed to feel exactly how they want. And what our goal is as entertainers is to be a mirror.”
She also pointed out that a number of her works have been embraced differently over time (look at one person’s reaction to “Blank Space” in 2016 and marvel at how far we’ve all come, or how long it took “Cruel Summer” to top the charts).
“Oftentimes, an album is a really, really wild way to look at yourself. What you’re going through in your life is going to affect whether you relate to the music that I’m putting out at any given moment,” Swift told Lowe. “What I often love seeing my fans say is, ‘I used to be someone who didn’t relate to Reputation. And now that I’ve been through some other things in my life, that’s my favorite album.’ Or, ‘I used to be a Fearless girlie; now I’m obsessed with Evermore.’ We’re doing this thing for keeps. I have such an eye on legacy when I’m making my music. I know what I made. I know I adore it, and I know that on the theme of what the Showgirl is, all of this is part of it.”
