October 4, 2025 - That addictive quality where you can’t stop singing a chorus or replaying a bridge or obsessing over a particularly well-written lyric. For an artist whose discography is filled with undeniable hooks and sharp, devastatingly good lyricism, The Life Of A Showgirl missed the mark.

reddit.com › r/popheads › nme review: taylor swift – ‘the life of a showgirl’ review - magical when the songwriter just lets herself be (3/5)

r/popheads on Reddit: NME review: Taylor Swift – ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’ review - magical when the songwriter just lets herself be (3/5)

August 11, 2025 - You say the concept is nowhere to be found; in the last song (about pretty and witty Kitty who was given the keys to the city, but didn’t do it legitly) she literally says ‘you don’t know the life of a showgirl babe, and you’re never ever gonna’.

Discussions

Music Review: On Taylor Swift’s 'The Life of a Showgirl,' love and reputation are on the line

It’s really fascinating how people’s opinions are completely polarized on this album, even on this sub. I never love Taylor’s albums on first listen, they always have to grow on me, so I don’t have a strong opinion yet. On first listen, I like it better than TTPD and about equal to Midnights. More on reddit.com

r/TaylorSwift

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Taylor Swift - The Life of a Showgirl MEGATHREAD II

Taylor Swift: “yea, the album showgirl is going to be about the behind the scenes of what it’s like to be a show girl” The album/ “the life of a showgirl” song: “yea, you don’t know the life of a show girl, babe… And you’re never ever gonna!!” More on reddit.com

r/popheads

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October 4, 2025

Taylor Swift - The Life of a Showgirl MEGATHREAD

Half the album is an easy fun listen. The other half should never be heard again. Wait until she has a kid and the classics will come again! She’s just out of material at this point. More on reddit.com

r/popheads

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October 4, 2025

Taylor Swift's The Life of a Showgirl Review

You have to ask yourself, if you heard these songs from new artists you hadn’t heard about would you care? That’s always the test. Her early work passes that test, effortlessly, this album And the last, not so much. Tbf every band and artist, even the Rolling Stones or the manic street preachers or Kanye west, end up failing that test, it’s just the natural circle of life. More on reddit.com

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October 3, 2025

Videos

21:07

YouTube

Taylor Swift - The Life of a Showgirl ALBUM REVIEW - YouTube

October 7, 2025

02:28

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Rolling Stone Gave Taylor Swift's 'The Life of a Showgirl' a 5-Star ...

October 3, 2025

01:33:07

YouTube

TAYLOR SWIFT - THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL❤️‍🔥 *Reaction/Review* ...

2 weeks ago

02:54

YouTube

Taylor Swift Reacts to 'The Life of a Showgirl's HARSH Reviews ...

October 7, 2025

reddit.com

r/fantanoforever on Reddit: Taylor Swift - The Life of a Showgirl ...

October 7, 2025

15:27

YouTube

The Life of a Showgirl & The Black Hole of Music Criticism - YouTube

October 5, 2025

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PureWow

purewow.com › entertainment › taylor-swift-the-life-of-a-showgirl-review

"The Life of a Showgirl" Review - PureWow

October 3, 2025 - My biggest benchmark for deeming "The Life of a Showgirl" a good album was Swift's ability (or not) to ditch the synth pop sound and referential callbacks to high school. She succeeded in the latter, but not so much in the former.

Pitchfork

pitchfork.com › reviews › albums › taylor-swift-the-life-of-a-showgirl

Taylor Swift: The Life of a Showgirl Album Review | Pitchfork

October 6, 2025 - It’s one of the moments when, musically, The Life of a Showgirl brushes up against a much better idea—a big, glorious pageant that inspires organic passion and camaraderie; a concept album with the ambition to do something familiar like ...

The Alternative

getalternative.com › home › album review: taylor swift – ‘the life of a showgirl’

Album Review: Taylor Swift – 'The Life of a Showgirl'

October 5, 2025 - The song, while endearing and sweet in a vacuum, loses its impact when you remember this woman is 35 years old and recently engaged. Her maladaptive daydreaming feels like a last minute “what-if” before she’s bound by contracts and prenups.

The DePaulia

depauliaonline.com › 79347 › artslife › the-life-of-a-showgirl-review-it-didnt-make-my-wish-list

‘The Life of a Showgirl’ review - The DePaulia

October 13, 2025 - The melodies in “The Life of A Showgirl” are undeniably infectious and joyful, and its lyrics leave an impression — for better or for worse. I don’t think the album is the greatest thing Taylor Swift has ever done, not by a long shot.

BBC

bbc.com › news › articles › cn4wpe5z52qo

Taylor Swift: The Life of a Showgirl is a loved-up pop victory lap

01:57

Taylor Swift's 12th album is a breathtakingly fun pop record, capturing the joy of falling in love.

Published October 3, 2025

Variety

variety.com › 2025 › music › album-reviews › taylor-swift-album-review-life-of-a-showgirl-1236537532

With ‘The Life of a Showgirl,’ Taylor Swift Has Made Such a Contagiously Joyful Record, Even Her Score-Settling Detours Sound Sunny: Album Review

October 3, 2025 - But the album seriously kicks into gear with its third number, “Opalite,” a song that starts modestly and then surprises you with a sheer pheromone rush of a chorus. From that slow-burning head-rush forward, “The Life of a Showgirl” never lets up, in the quality of its subtle but completely engaging pop arrangements or in Swift’s audacity in giving every lyric a high-concept variation on a theme.

Find elsewhere

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reddit.com › r/taylorswift › music review: on taylor swift’s 'the life of a showgirl,' love and reputation are on the line

r/TaylorSwift on Reddit: Music Review: On Taylor Swift’s 'The Life of a Showgirl,' love and reputation are on the line

October 3, 2025 -

“The Life of a Showgirl” isn’t as seismic, but there are addictive and idiosyncratic Swiftisms here: acerbic wit and thick literary references in glassy pop hooks. Where a song like “Opalite,” if attempted by another other performer, would lose its weightlessness under its voluble aspirations, Swift manages to swoon. Stacked, opalescent harmonies and a vintage swing give the song, fittingly, an almost iridescent quality. “

Reviews:

The Guardian: Taylor Swift: The Life of a Showgirl review – dull razzle-dazzle from a star who seems frazzled - 2/5
The Telegraph: Taylor Swift’s new album is as sickly sweet as a Barbara Cartland fever dream - 3/5
A. V. Club: Taylor Swift takes the bait on The Life Of A Showgirl - C+
The Independent: Taylor Swift review, The Life of a Showgirl: As compelling as she’s ever been – the star, the ringmaster and the circus all in one - 4/5
AP News: On Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl,’ love and reputation are on the line - 4/5
Rolling Stones: Taylor Swift Conquers Her Biggest Stage Ever on ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ - 5/5
Billboard: Taylor Swift Brings the Bangers on ‘Life of a Showgirl,’ But Don’t Call It ‘1989, Pt. 2’: Critic’s Take
Variety: With ‘The Life of a Showgirl,’ Taylor Swift Has Made Such a Contagiously Joyful Record, Even Her Score-Settling Detours Sound Sunny
NPR: On 'The Life of a Showgirl,' Taylor Swift feels love's glow and the spotlight's glare
Teen Vogue: The Life of a Showgirl Album Review: A Taylor Swift Who Is Unafraid to Fail
The New York Times: On ‘Showgirl,’ Taylor Swift Has a Lust for Love (and Her Foes)
The Atlantic: Taylor Swift’s Fairy Tale Is Over: The singer has everything she ever wanted—her new album suggests that it’s all sort of a drag

Track Reviews:

Pitchfork: Actually Romantic | Thread
Pitchfork: Father Figure

Written Interviews:

The Telegraph: Taylor Swift: I thought I had to be sad to write songs

Radio Interviews:

Hits Radio
Heart Radio
Capital FM
BBC Radio 1
Magic Radio
This Morning
Elvis Duran Show

(Thank you r/taylorswift for compiling these for easy copying for us)

TV Interviews:

Taylor Swift Shows Off Her Engagement Ring | The Graham Norton Show (Sneak Peak)

Articles:

The Guardian: Taylor Swift’s Charli xcx hit job misses the point – and underscores her tedious obsession with conflict - Opinion piece by Laura Snapes
Vox: Taylor Swift is done pretending she doesn’t absolutely love this life
Teen Vogue: Ophelia Explained: Why Taylor Swift Reimagines Shakespeare in The Life of a Showgirl
The Telegraph: Taylor Swift is settling some scores: The Life of a Showgirl decoded
Stereogum: Premature Evaluation: Taylor Swift The Life Of A Showgirl
New Yorker: Why Does Taylor Swift Think She’s Cursed?

Podcast Episodes:

NYT's Popcast: Breaking Down Taylor Swift's 'The Life of a Showgirl'

Megathread I | Megathread II (You're here!) | Megathread III

Rude, combative and inappropriate comments will be removed. Behave yourselves!

Top answer

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Half the album is an easy fun listen. The other half should never be heard again. Wait until she has a kid and the classics will come again! She’s just out of material at this point.

taylorswiftstyle.substack.com › p › the-life-of-a-showgirl-review-taylors

The Life of a Showgirl Review: Taylor’s Greatest Performance Is Herself

October 10, 2025 - Below, you’ll read my high level takeaways on the album, its reflection on society and the place it carved in the zeitgeist, as well as my track-by-track thoughts on every song off The Life of a Showgirl. ... On the surface, the album seeks to remedy every suggested fix lobbed at The Tortured Poets Department. Showgirl’s trimmed down track list, reshuffled personnel board, and sparklier finish were all direct counterpoints to Poets. Critics, in turn, churned out generally favorable reviews that tiptoed on heelless blistered feet around the album’s less glittering moments, at least aware that they brought this on themselves.

The Dartmouth

thedartmouth.com › article › 2025 › 10 › life-of-a-showgirl

Review: ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ is a spectacle that lacks substance - The Dartmouth

October 13, 2025 - “The Life of a Showgirl” distances Swift from her listeners with its out of touch references, misleading aesthetics and unwieldy language. The sticky hooks and glossy production of the record shimmer like a mirage, sparkling from a distance ...

The Yale Review

yalereview.org › homepage › how we’ve misunderstood taylor swift

The Yale Review | How We’ve Misunderstood Taylor Swift

October 21, 2025 - Fans who wonder why she won’t denounce the pro-Trump views of other NFLers, or their wives, should remember that Kelce has to work with these people: their distrust would put his life and limb at risk. A retrospect also looks back to see the future. Swift has sold enough records to do whatever she wants, and what she wants is to stay onstage. That’s the point in the titular track, which has everything to do with retrospection, and turns on its old-timey, feathers-and-sequins image. The showgirl, exhausting herself in costume, must go on: she may look celestial, but she’s also a down-to-earth professional.

Countrylowdown

countrylowdown.com › 2025 › 10 › 13 › taylor-swift-the-life-of-a-showgirl-album-review

Taylor Swift ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ Album Review | Country Lowdown

October 13, 2025 - … The lyrics feel like an attempt to remain modern and relevant, to echo the fun and witty lyrics of superstar Sabrina Carpenter, especially when listening to ‘Wood’. But to be honest, Taylor does not need to do this – she has a die-hard, loyal fanbase who adore her music and are seemingly surprised by the unusual lack of poetics from the previous ‘tortured poet’ (persona) herself. The thing is: I won’t stop wearing my cardigans, listening to evermore on every rainy day or playing Fearless in my car on my way to uni. However, I doubt that I will listening to ‘The Life of a Showgirl’, especially as a whole, very often.

Daily UW

dailyuw.com › article › review-the-life-of-a-showgirl-20251006

Review: 'The Life of a Showgirl' - The Daily

October 8, 2025 - While I don’t always love how it sounds, it does feel like a body of work that is meant to be listened to as an album. Still, the songs are unique enough that they don’t mush together. Whether the songs on “The Life of A Showgirl” are unique because they each uniquely piss me off is another issue, but I’ll still give her the win.

The Colgate Maroon-News

thecolgatemaroonnews.com › 63618 › af › is-taylor-getting-tired-a-review-of-the-life-of-a-showgirl

Is Taylor Getting Tired? A Review of “The Life of a Showgirl”

While I appreciate her stepping outside her comfort zone (or, rather, my comfort zone), when you listen to an artist for over ten years, you come to expect certain things and are left disappointed when the music does not reach those dreams. I was particularly let down by the songs “Eldest Daughter” and “The Life of a Showgirl” as the lyrics were nowhere near Swift’s normal caliber.