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“Now I know the life of a showgirl, babe / And I’ll never know another.”

Taylor Swift certainly does know the life of a showgirl as her long awaited 12th studio album arrived on Friday, right on the heels of her engagement to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, reaching a record-breaking 249.9 million streams in the first 24 hours.

This album is part “glitter gel pen” — one of Swift’s signature songwriting styles — and part disappointing millennial lyricism coupled with descriptive imagery of her fiancé’s “magic wand.” While the first few songs lured fans in with similar sounds to Swift’s previous albums, “The Life of a Showgirl” quickly devolved into reused beats, internet lingo, and repetitive bridges.

The album opens on one of its highest notes with “The Fate of Ophelia,” an upbeat ballad presumably about how Kelce saved Swift’s heart from the same treacherous end suffered by Shakespeare’s Ophelia, from his magnum opus “Hamlet.” With lyrics like “And if you’d never come for me / I might’ve drowned in the melancholy” and “But love was a cold bed full of scorpions / The venom stole her sanity,” this introductory track provides a fitting callback to the album’s cover, featuring Swift lying in a pool of water, nearly submerged.

The album continues in a strong and cohesive fashion with “Elizabeth Taylor” and “Opalite,” which are reminiscent of Swift’s previous albums “Reputation” and “Lover,” respectively. However, the track “Eldest Daughter” is where the album takes a turn for the worse. The song begins with references to “memes” and “trolling” before it delves into the chorus where Swift describes her life as not “savage.” This type of lyricism comes as a disappointing shock since, in recent years, Swift has been known for her deep and complex prose, especially for the fifth song on the tracklist — typically the spot reserved for the most vulnerable and emotional song on her albums.

Swift uses “Wi$h Li$t” to describe the white picket fence suburbia she aspires to with Kelce, as opposed to her current life as a public figure. This song has already received a lot of criticism with lines like “Have a couple kids, got the whole block looking like you,” which some fans read as an implication that Swift dreams of living in a white upper-class neighborhood. Regardless of her intention with this line, it misses the mark, falling short of the rest of Swift’s discography.

Another prevalent issue with “The Life of a Showgirl” is its similarity in sound to previous songs by Swift and other artists.“Wi$h Li$t” reuses an incredibly similar backing track as “Glitch,” a song off of Swift’s “Midnights” album, and the title track “The Life of a Showgirl” sounds eerily similar to “Cool” by the Jonas Brothers, released 6 years prior. This is especially shocking after Olivia Rodrigo was forced to give royalties to Swift and her team after they claimed her song “deja vu” was too similar to Swift’s hit, “Cruel Summer.”

In traditional Swiftie fashion, fans have flocked to the internet to speculate who each of Swift’s more targeted songs are about. “Father Figure” is especially reminiscent of Swift’s former record executive Scott Borchetta, who took her under his wing when she was 15 before selling the rights to her original masters 13 years later, against her will. “CANCELLED!” seems to be dedicated to everyone who has spoken out publicly against Swift with lyrics like “At least you know exactly who your friends are / They’re the ones with matching scars,” implying how deeply she relates to other celebrities who have been publicly shamed on social media.

Perhaps the most shocking part of the album is how obviously Swift references her fiance Kelce on a number of the tracks. In the past, Swift has chosen to keep her personal life out of the public eye, but since beginning a relationship with the NFL player two years ago, both of them — along with their families — have been very open about the details of their romance. In “The Life of a Showgirl,” Swift does not shy away from describing exactly how Kelce makes her feel with lyrics like “New Heights of manhood” in the song “Wood,” a clear reference to the podcast Kelce shares with his brother. While Swift has not shied away from innuendos in her songs before, this album is much more upfront about what exactly goes on between the superstar and her fiancé.

Overall, “The Life of a Showgirl” contains a few impressive songs, but most of the album strays far from Swift’s roots, which will leave many fans disappointed. As a whole, it is not entirely cohesive except for the theme of Swift enjoying Kelce’s company. It even seems like this could be Swift’s last album, as she clearly expresses her desire to settle down, have kids, and live a domestic life outside of the spotlight. While there is a vision to appreciate behind this album, “The Life of a Showgirl” ultimately falls short of Swift’s other projects because of its overt repetition and flat lyricism.

—Staff writer Audrey A. Chalfie can be reached at audrey.chalfie@thecrimson.com.