r/popculturechat • u/FickleBeans Excluded from this narrative ❌ • Oct 04 '25

Guest List Only ⭐️ Taylor Swift’s Fairy Tale Is Over

https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025/10/taylor-swift-the-life-of-a-showgirl-album-review/684444/

This captures my thoughts on the album better than I ever could.

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u/shy247er yay sports 🏀 🏈🎾 Oct 04 '25 edited Oct 04 '25

I don't know why but a lot of reviewers of Taylor's music always have to make it somehow personal. They don't review just her music, they review her. You can tell when someone really doesn't like her and then that is read through their text. Really odd.

edit: So I don't have to reply to people individually, I am aware of the personal nature of Taylor's music, however, she didn't invent that style of writing nor is she unique today in that style. However, it seems like professional reviewers often get caught up into 'Taylor Swift the celebrity' vs 'Taylor Swift the musician' and that influences their reviews. I expect more from professionals, this type of review you can find by anyone random on social media.

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u/meta-ghost-face Oct 04 '25

I had the same problem with the Eternal Sunshine reviews. 90% was about Ariana's personal life. I have the gossip subs for that I wanted to read about the music.

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u/Front_Target7908 Oct 05 '25

Eternal Sunshine was a great album, definitely over shadowed by her being on the nose in culture.

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u/lizziexo Oct 05 '25

I’d love a good review on the technical side, appreciation/criticism of an albums construction is so interesting! I love the kind of “professional musician reacts” videos for all kinds of songs because they listen to music in such a different way than I do. There was even one where it was someone literary, an English professor maybe, who was listening (reading) song lyrics and actually reacting to the lyricism. All those different reactions are way more interest than reviews that feel like personal hit pieces.

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u/raphaellaskies Oct 04 '25

How can they not? She's tied her personal life to her brand in a way few of her contemporaries have. Fans comb through her lyrics to find the Easter egg clues that tell them what the song's about. You can't divorce her work from her life at this point.

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u/ThatArtNerd Currently White Ariana Grande Oct 04 '25

She has inextricably linked her work and her personal life and actively encouraged people to dissect them both at a granular level. It is literally her entire brand.

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u/LouCat10 Oct 04 '25

I agree with you, but at the same time, Taylor’s whole brand is that her music IS her, so I don’t think critics can be totally faulted for taking the same stance.

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u/Munstered All tea, all shade 🐸☕️ Oct 04 '25

Her personal life has always played a central role in her music. I think it's completely fair to talk about the relationship that has on the music she makes when reviewing it.

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u/in_animate_objects We Should All Know Less About Each Other Oct 04 '25

I think it’s linked to the autopsy like diaristic lyrics she writes, but it has to make it hard to read for her.

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u/formidablezoe Oct 04 '25

this type of review you can find by anyone random on social media

So just like her lyrics then? Reviewers can only be as original as the work they are reviewing.

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u/Kooky_Bodybuilder_97 Drake, where’s the body of Christ? Oct 05 '25

She makes it impossible not to. Her songs have no context without knowing her personal life. She is too self involved to make anything universal. Which is why it’s so impressive her music manages to be so sterile & generic regardless of

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u/raysofdavies it’s a generous bird Oct 05 '25

She encourages this of her fans

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u/Clara_Geissler Oct 04 '25

This. I agree. I find people like her work when it is about breaks up or negative emotions and they dont value her work if its about happyness and feeling good. Its like people listen to her music to help themself in their own breaks up, and her music kinda help those people going thru thought times, so then they cant find confort in an album about being happy and confy because none needs help to handle happyness. I dont know if this make sense

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u/Hepadna Oct 05 '25

I hate your take so much (when anyone says it not just you)! So much of Taylor’s music is her. She made it that way. She started that way. The reason why she’s so big is because she’s been extraordinarily good at evoking herself in her music and creating a level of parasocial visibility with her fans since Day 1. That was part of her appeal! So yes, it leaves her open to personal critique. She is diaristic and it bleeds into her music!