Recently, Taylor Swift released a new edition of her album “The Life of a Showgirl” by adding new tracks and labeling them as “The Encore.” “The Life of a Showgirl” faced a massive amount of criticism from fans because the songs include corny lyrics and uncatchy melodies that make no sense.
“The Encore” was supposed to be a way for Swift to provide the album with more substance with regard to emotion and storytelling. Overall, it was just another excuse to write strange love songs about Travis Kelce, how hated she is, along with upbeat songs about past breakups that tell the same stories as previous songs.
As a devoted fan of Swift for many years, these new songs seem untimely and simply mediocre. I am not doubting her lyrical genius or her ability as an artist, however, it is disheartening to hear what is being released and how much her lyricism and melodies have changed throughout the years. Swift’s songs have gone from ultimate storytelling to songs with zero direction, driven by no inspirational lyrics.
Sophomore health sciences major Gillian Lanser, recalled her first impression of the new releases as a fellow Swift fan for many years.
“I actually texted my sister immediately and told her how Taylor Swift’s social lyricism may be officially dead, and I think that encompasses my entire reaction,” Lanser said.
In past albums such as “Speak Now”, “evermore”, “folklore” and even “THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT”, Swift’s lyricism was genius because the songs not only had amazing melodies and catchy lyrics, but they also encompassed each emotion when it came to love, friendship, grief and joy. That is why it is so depressing to see such straightforward song production on “The Encore” with no actual feeling behind them.
Senior criminology major Reagan Craig, talked about the change within Swift’s albums, especially in terms of lyricism.
“I feel like her storytelling is getting more direct instead of leaving it up for interpretation, but I feel like with the way she has evolved she’s just straight up telling the story,” Craig said. “It’s almost like listening to a poem rather than a song; her songs are starting to sound more pessimistic.”
One of the new songs on the album called “Cleveland!” is a perfect example of how drastically Swift’s production value has changed. Lyrics such as “He already took me to Cleveland / And showed me The Heights, so hate all you like / This is the love of my life.” The only real stories this tells are people hate Swift and she loves Kelce and he loves her.
Where’s the substance? Where’s the story? Where’s the emotion?
Joely Jensen, a sophomore marketing major with a music industry minor, discussed her thoughts on “Cleveland!” as a member of the Music Industry Club on campus.
“There’s less effort there, or it kinda sounds cheaper, for lack of a better word,” Jensen said. “It just doesn’t match her level of success. When I was listening to the music part … it was like what a Christmas song would sound like … Like T.J. Maxx during the holidays.”
I don’t want to write off Swift entirely because she has so much success due to her artistry. Throughout the years she’s had an album for each era, but not all of the songs on those albums were a hit.
What made Swift so powerful, however, was how she utilized her songs in order to deeply connect with her audience.
Sophomore nursing major Ashlyn Canale expressed her feelings on the Swift hate and how these songs aren’t much different from past albums.
“People are expecting her to go back to the [“The Tortured Poets Department”], which is very sad and depressing. But I don’t think she’s in that part of her life anymore,” Canale said. “She’s happily married now; she doesn’t have to be writing about depressing stuff, so I am really happy for her.”
Within this era in her life, she is free to write about how happy and in love she is. However, I do think there is a way for her to channel this love and write more creatively. At the end of the day, I feel as though she is just trying to make as much music as possible instead of taking her time.
“The Encore” seems like it was used to discuss how much she thinks people dislike her. In a way, it is very self-centered, which I could understand, but at the same time I felt no inspiration or emotion while listening to most of the songs.