Reactions to “The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore”

With Taylor Swift’s surprise release of four additional songs to “The Life of a Showgirl” album from 2025, many fans are disappointed in the singer’s lackluster continuation. Now officially married to Travis Kelce, Swift’s tone as an artist has been shifting. Is this new direction just her being happy in her relationship for once or is this officially the end of Taylor Swift?

There is no denying that Swift is an extremely successful artist. Of her 277 songs produced, 70 have been top 10 on the Billboard top 100 and 15 of those songs have been No. 1 hits. Since her debut album in 2006, Swift has made millions from her music.

As a former “Swiftie,” the release of “The Life of a Showgirl” on Oct. 3, 2025 was the beginning of the end of my interest in her music. This album truly caught me off guard, as it sounded like a complete 180 from her deep and poetic release “The Tortured Poets Department” only a year earlier.

“The Life of a Showgirl” felt extremely unserious, with cheeky songs like “Wood” joking about Kelce’s “wood.” The synth and production felt cheap, like they recycled every current pop song into one. This is also true of the re-release of “The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore” with its poorly written songs like “Cleveland.”

Her lyrics, usually her strongest area, are lacking and uninspiring in this album, like in “Cleveland,” Swift sings, “The taste of me is acquired, but it’s his favorite dish. He says I look like an angel, they say, ‘I hate that bi-’”

This feels wildly different to her other lyrics, even from her more recent album “The Tortured Poets Department” that has lyrics like “You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith, this ain’t the Chelsea Hotel, we’re modern idiots.”

Comparing these two albums, it doesn’t even seem like the same artist wrote these songs. From a deep cut reference to another songwriter, Patti Smith, and the famous landmark hotel in New York City to her complaining about her “haters” yet again, many fans are left feeling betrayed by this release.

This transition could be blamed on her new romantic partner, Travis Kelce, as her music has always revolved around her romantic life. Maybe Kelce is not as inspiring of a muse as her former partners, or as problematic as the likes of Matty Healy.

However, despite public opinion, there is no denying the success of this new release from a publicity standpoint. The “Encore” has brought Taylor back into the spotlight, over a year after the release of her original album, and after her extravagant wedding.

Taylor Swift has become an enigma in pop music. After the enormous success of The Eras Tour, her fame has reached levels that are almost unfathomable, which, in turn, have made her untouchable. Her lyrical genius is completely injured by her lack of relatability, and now, her age.

Swift’s “Millennial” is starting to show. Gen Z has grown up and Taylor Swift and her unrelatable music is out. She will continue to top charts by using her expert marketing strategies but the soul of her musicality seems to be gone.

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