On Friday, October 3, at midnight, global pop icon Taylor Swift released her twelfth studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl.”
Like virtually all Swift albums, the 12-track disc went mega-viral immediately.
But not everyone is thrilled. Some can’t help but notice how far Swift has fallen since her 2006 debut as a fresh-faced, home-grown country singer. Today, the 35-year old is a global superstar known for weaving provocative themes and left-wing political posturing into her music and public persona. This latest album, with eight of its twelve tracks labeled “explicit” due to swear words, sexual innuendos, and references to drugs and other adult content, is proof that the curly-haired, sundress-clad teenager who moved to Nashville with a dream in the early 2000s is no more than a distant memory.
When Rick Burgess’ brother, Greg Burgess, listened to the album, he couldn’t help but reflect back on the day when his daughter, just 14 years old at the time, took a picture with Taylor Swift in a school gymnasium following a low-key performance. At the time, Swift had just one song out: “Tim McGraw” — the track that would soon launch her into stardom.
“The latest [album] — when I read the lyrics the other day that she wrote to her boyfriend — wow,” says Greg, disappointedly.
Rick isn’t surprised that this album is Swift’s most explicit to date. Like Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears, Taylor has taken the beaten path of marketing herself as a wholesome, family-friendly artist only to begin bending toward promiscuity and profanity as her fame grew.
It’s ironic that as these female pop stars mature from girls into women, their behavior becomes more childlike, says Rick.
Adler, producer of “The Rick Burgess Show,” who’s long been a Swift fan, can’t help but agree. “It’s like she’s a kid that just learned how to cuss. And it just feels weird and forced and odd,” he says, theorizing that Swift’s transition stems from wanting to break away from the kind of “high school breakup songs” that made her famous.
But “instead of going more mature and viewing her relationships in a more mature way, unfortunately, she’s taken a step in another direction,” he laments. “It’s a choice, and I am sad about it.”
Adler hoped that Swift’s latest album would reflect the maturity we’ve seen in her personal life with her engagement to NFL tight end Travis Kelce — a commitment we’ve never seen from the singer, whose entire musical career is fueled by her breakups with fellow celebrities.
While Rick understands an aging artist wanting to sing about more adult themes, he doesn’t think that requires being “nasty.” Whether it’s wanting a committed relationship or the highs and lows of fame, there is plenty of adult material Swift could sing about.
But her decision to succumb to profanity and sexually explicit themes is perhaps proof she’s not the creative genius she’s been made out to be.
To hear more of the panel’s discussion, watch the episode above.
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