The Life of a Show Girl, Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album, has broken numerous records in its first two weeks post-release. It had the largest sales week for any album in US music history, it was the first album in history to have every track, uninterrupted, from #1-#12 on the Billboard Hot 100, it set a new record for the most No. 1 albums by a solo artist, and continued the streak of 11 consecutive albums debuting at No. 1, beginning with Fearless in 2008, has over 34 variants and the single The Fate of Ophelia is the most daily and weekly streamed song in Spotify history. It is no wonder that every Boulder High student I interviewed was familiar with this record-breaking, once-in-a-lifetime release, and around 75% of those interviewed had listened to it.
But while it’s commercially huge, The Life of a Showgirl isn’t winning everyone over. In fact, this album is facing lots of backlash. Critics have called the lyrics “self-centered,” “lazy,” and “out of touch.” Some say the songs only reflect the problems of the ultra-rich, not the “girl-next-door” honesty that used to define Swift’s music.
That divide showed up clearly among Boulder High students, too.
“I think it’s very good,” said Rita Chulum ’27, “It’s not one of my favorites, but the beats are good and the songs are addictive.” For a lot of fans, the album’s upbeat, catchy sound is enough.
Others miss Swift’s old depth. “It’s like a poppy album and it’s supposed to be pop,” said Helena Carr ’27. “So the lyrics don’t necessarily have to be super deep, which they aren’t. They’re a little childish, kind of Sabrina Carpenter-ish more than Taylor Swift. She usually has meaningful, deep songs, but these just feel shallow, like one-hit wonders.”
That feeling came up again and again. “She used to be really strong with her lyrics,” said Emily Beenberg, ’26, “and now they’re really bad. Like, really bad. I like Actually Romantic, but Wood, Eldest Daughter, and Father Figure were just… too generic. Like something I would’ve written in third grade.”
Some students were disappointed not just by the lyrics but by the overall meaning behind the songs. “It was refreshing to hear something new,” said Tara Curtain ’27, “but I feel like it was lacking in meaning. She usually tells a story with her songs, and that’s sort of missing here.”
Still, not everyone thought it was a total flop. An anonymous senior described it as “pretty good, catchy and well-mixed,” though he added that “the production was minimal and it’s not as good as her early stuff.”
And then there were harsher takes. CC Striker, ‘29, said, “A lot of her songs are saying ‘oh, I’m a rebel.’ It’s like JoJo Siwa. I don’t really mess with that. I liked her old country music, but not this or The Tortured Poets Department.”
The most brutal review came from Layla Mauon,’26, who called it “hands down the most foul AI-generated album I’ve ever heard. It sounds like something a millennial would say to their kids to seem cool. It’s like she stayed 15 her entire life.” (To be fair, Layla admits she’s not a Swiftie).
Lyrically, The Life of a Showgirl leans into wealth and self-image in ways that feel hard to relate to. In Elizabeth Taylor, Swift sings about fame and loneliness among enormous wealth. In Wi$h Li$t, she contrasts people chasing money with her own desire for something simpler: “I just want you, got a couple kids, got the whole block looking like you.” But with a net worth of $2.1 billion, her “simple” life doesn’t exactly ring true.
In a recent interview, Swift called this the happiest year of her life, yet much of the album focuses on frustration, resentment, and how people see her. Maybe that’s part of why fans are split: she’s both untouchable and oversharing at the same time.
Whether students loved it, hated it, or just shrugged, The Life of a Showgirl has everyone talking, which might be exactly what Taylor wants. In the Zane Lowe Interview, Swift said, “If it’s the first week of my album release and you’re saying either my name or my album title, you’re helping.” Even when her lyrics don’t hit like they used to for some, she still manages to own the conversation and dominate the charts
