At the end of a concert, exhilarated and hoping for more, fans often shout out “Encore! Encore!” to draw the artist back to the stage for additional songs. The chant is a sign of approval, of the audience wanting more. On Sept. 25, Taylor Swift, under the impression that we needed more of her music, released The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore. Instead of the triumphant final performance to cap off a wonderful show, The Encore attempts to trap listeners in an exhausting repetition of bland lyrics and even blander melodies.
The first sign that the newest additions to Swift’s discography might not be the epitome of songwriting was Swift’s own Instagram post teasing the release, in which she described taking a trip to Sweden and doing “what we do when we feel anything at all: We wrote more songs.” It seems Swift thinks that songwriting is just a cathartic practice of spewing anything — “anything at all” — onto a page and calling it music. If Swift’s goal for The Encore was to express a lot of emotion, she at least succeeded in doing something with her new songs “Patient Zero,” “Cleveland!,” “Pink Clouding” and “Babylon.” However, the overwhelming amount of feeling seems disingenuous — even artificial — forced and bordering on laughable. Take, for example, this opening line from “Cleveland!”: “She’s not as hot as she was, but she was only a four.” Or, take these lines from the bridge of “Patient Zero”: “I know it seems like he shines so bright / But he’s bathing in your reflected light / On a free solo social climb.” Yes, if you can believe it, these are the actual writings of a 36-year-old married woman. With those teasers in mind, let’s dive into the individual songs themselves.
“Patient Zero” is the first track of the so-called “encore,” and it is indistinguishable from most other Swift songs. Though the song begins with a sweet violin-based melody, that one breath of originality is extinguished quickly, and “Patient Zero” adopts a standard rock beat as the background after 30 seconds. Swift’s vocals are typical and offer no extraordinary moments or impressive range. She breaks into a mystifying semi-rap bridge that is somewhere in between plain speaking and singing but definitely falls flat due to the uninspired lyrics like, “I know he charmed your family and friends / And you thought it’s ’cause he loves you / But it’s ’cause he loves how everybody else loves him.” That’s a lot of love and not a lot of substance. After listening to “Patient Zero,” chances are that after only a few minutes you won’t be able to hum the tune, because you’ll have forgotten it entirely. This song is nothing special and not a great start.
“Cleveland!” follows after the mediocrity of “Patient Zero” but luckily brings energy and commits to a fresh, jingle-bells-esque beat. This song is actually fun so long as you do not listen too closely to the lyrics. Unfortunately, Swift does suddenly switch to a voiceover halfway through that is simply ridiculous and incongruous with the rest of the song, so maybe consider zoning out around then and coming back for the ending. Even though “Cleveland!” is by no means worthy of a Grammy, you’ll be so relieved to have found a unique sound that it’ll become your favorite on the album. If you’re into songs that provide you with the atmosphere of a Hallmark movie, “Cleveland!” is perfect for you. Otherwise, it’s perfectly average and sounds weirdly like Christmas music.
Speaking of Christmas, “Pink Clouding” is no gift. The third track on The Encore, “Pink Clouding” was apparently written as an apology to a former lover, but the only people to whom Swift should be apologizing are the ones subjected to listening to this song. Once again, Swift has written a song that sounds like every single other song she’s ever written. She is consistent. “Pink Clouding” doesn’t build up to a climactic crescendo and hits the same notes over and over again. After the outro fades away, fans might be hard-pressed to define what they just listened to, as “Pink Clouding” easily drifts into the background.
If, somehow, you make it through the monotony of “Patient Zero,” “Cleveland!” and “Pink Clouding,” you will be rewarded with “Babylon.” Is it much of a reward, though? Arguably, this fourth track has the best-written lyrics of the album, being a reflection on loss, memory and the peculiarly golden quality of the past. Yet, the actual music of “Babylon” isn’t doing the lyrics any favors. Again, there aren’t any especially noteworthy moments, and the guitar melody is lackluster and derivative. If “Babylon” was the finale of a concert, rest assured there would be no calls for an encore.
Swifties are known for obsessively attempting to decode the artist’s songs and searching for hidden meanings and clues; however, The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore is only superficially deep, and, at the end of the day, is more like a grab at attention and money than a genuine outpouring of talent and dedication. Taylor Swift’s strategy seems to be to produce as much material as possible in order to flood the market; in other words, quantity over quality. The Encore, then, would be best listened to at low volume while doing some other activity, because this album won’t leave you wanting more. Rather, you’ll want to advise Swift to, please, stop.
Jane Locke is a member of the Class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is a staff writer for the Arts & Culture department and can be reached at jlocke@cornellsun.com.
