Maddie Heckler
Staff Writer
On Tuesday Sept. 22, a countdown took over Taylor Swift’s website. When the countdown ended, it revealed a new single for her album “The Life of a Showgirl” called “Patient Zero.” Then, the very next day, Swift announced on her Instagram a deluxe edition of the album called “The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore,” with four new songs. The album was released at midnight on Friday with four new tracks; “Patient Zero,” “Cleveland!,” “Pink Clouding,” and “Babylon.” I was up and I listened to the songs the minute they dropped.
To start, “Patient Zero” stood out because I loved how the song started out with strings. It was different from what I’ve heard from Swift in the past. Listening to the lyrics, I absolutely loved the story she was telling behind the lyrics; sharing the same experience with another girl of dating a guy you thought was perfect and amazing but really was narcissistic and toxic. The way Swift framed the song made it sound like a one-sided phone call where she calls the new girlfriend of an ex to warn her of the guy, calling herself “patient zero,” since she was the first girl who experienced toxicity from the guy. I really liked it personally and actually related to it from my own experiences.
The next song is “Cleveland!,” and I have to say this is my favorite of the four. This song specifically has been getting a lot of hate online because it sounds “cringey” and “cheesy,” but that honestly was the whole point on why Swift made the song. To me, “Cleveland!” is a cute tribute song to Swift’s husband, Travis Kelce, explaining how absolutely in love she is with him. At the same time, it is also a song to show people that she sees and hears the hate she gets and that it doesn’t bother her ; hence the lyric “so hate all you like.” Swift purposefully made herself sound “annoying” as another way to show her haters that she doesn’t care if she is annoying to them because she is happy.
The next song is “Pink Clouding,” and to me, this song is the most showgirl-type of song of the four. The song is very upbeat and fun and definitely fits the vibes of “The Life of a Showgirl.” Many fans are conflicted on the meaning behind this song, but I mostly agree with the interpretation of the song being about the relationship she had with actor Tom Hiddleston. The lyrics overall sound like someone looking back at a past relationship and realizing they regret how they treated the other person, which makes sense for the song to act as an apology towards Tom Hiddleston. Swift has mentioned in the past that she has regretted how things ended between them. Certain lyrics also hint at this as well, for example, “you met me at a cursed time,” referring to their relationship taking place around the time that the world turned on Swift and she was working on her album “Reputation.”
The fourth and final song is “Babylon.” At first this song was my least favorite of the four, but it actually grew on me the more I listened to it. I loved the vibe of the song, but it didn’t really match “The Life of a Showgirl” vibe, and I thought it would fit better on “Red” or “Evermore.” The song itself though is really good and I loved the meaning behind the lyrics the most. The song is about chasing huge ambitions and finding the next best thing, only to regret it in the end because it was at the expense of true love, family, and a peaceful life. This reminded me of Swift and her career because she had to give up so much throughout it. The song also gives off a nostalgic feeling in my opinion.
In the end, I think all of these songs are amazing additions to “The Life of a Showgirl,” and I really loved each one.
