Inside the Freezer

Bee. Writer. Lover. Fighter. Procrastinator. James/Lily worshiper. Gymnastics enthusiast. General Hospital groupie. Icon art courtesy of batcii. Sidebar Image courtesy of zoyastormwitch. YES, I'm still working on the next chapter of Commentarius. NO, I don't know when it will be done. Information on Next Commentarius Chapter FAQ

[bcdaily]

Lisa Kleypas is baaack and I'm so thrilled! I hope you manage to snag an arc of her new book

Want to hear something sad? I’ve had it for agesssss and still haven’t read it yet!!! But will report back when I do. (I do respect that they’re trying to branch her out to a broader historical genre than just romance…but I’m pretty sure this is just a more deeply researched historical romance lol. Very much like Sarah MacLean just did with her contemporary, which they tried to push as broader fiction but was just…romance in hardcover. 😂)

[bcdaily]

Bee! wish you a very happy birthday <33

may you have a great year ahead!

Ah, thank you so much for remembering!!

I know I have not been around these parts much lately, so it’s really kind ♥️♥️

[bcdaily]

Favorite Showgirl song currently? I'm listening to The Fate of Ophelia the most atm. The albums always take me a bit to warm up to and this won't be any different.

I’ve warmed SLIGHTLY more today, now that the shell-shock of the lyrics overall has dimmed and I can try to be a bit more generous about the songs overall lol.

I think “Wood” is still the one I enjoy most, just from a pure silly bop standpoint. Even if it’s Sabrina’s schtick, Taylor’s not doing it badly. But “Ophelia” is growing on me too!

[bcdaily]

Re: theres nothing new thematically on the album.

My first thought while listening was that it felt like I had already listened to a bunch of the songs before or that they were variations of songs she already put out, because they weren’t telling me anything new. And like you said the fact that this themes she’s repeating are the ones that make her the least relatable made it worse.

My other problem was that I felt like there was a disconnect between what the album was trying to be and some of the lyrics. It feels like she is talking about never been the cool girl or “savage” enough but now shes in love so she doesn’t care while also trying very hard to look cool and above the whole thing. I don’t know something just didn’t click for me.

Anyway sorry for the long ask and love seeing your Taylor takes!!!

I agree—I think the overall impression the songs are giving right now are “well…you haven’t learned much or grown at all, have you?” Which I don’t actually think is true at all, but you’d never know it listening to this. It is the impression she’s giving by the conflict of her loudly proclaiming “I JUST DONT CARE ANYMORE HA” while proving she is in fact the most online and internalizing person on earth. And instead of owning that, she’s lyrically spinning in exactly the same place she was…jeez, since Reputation, really.

I don’t mind repetitive motifs. But I mind when you don’t have anything new or different to say about them.

[bcdaily]

100% agree with all of your comments! My other big gripe is that the album has nothing to do with any of the visuals that we got leading up to the album!! I was expecting a completely different vibe just based on the visuals, but aside from Elizabeth Taylor and the title track we got none of that!

I’ve seen this criticism a lot and agree too—the actual motif of a showgirl and that zazz is not really present. Which, I mean—it’s not like she’s ever REALLY done album work like that. So in some ways I don’t really expect it. But it is a very specific homage to bring in and then not really engage with outside visuals and a staccato sound.

[bcdaily]

what do you think about how this is an album that she wrote the lyrics largely on her own rather than collaborated with to write? I know that is not the case for all her songs but most of her other songs/albums she did not write alone unless i am incorrect in saying that.

Speak Now is the only one she did entirely by herself, I believe—because she got mad that people were giving her collaborators credit for her lyrics on Fearless lol. Spite, thy name is Taylor.

But I don’t think it has anything to do with her writing or not writing by herself—her other songs she’s done with Shellback and MM are not afflicted with this type of froth writing. This was a choice by her. Or a tunnel she burrowed herself into and couldn’t see out of. Idk. Probably a direct response to the fact that everyone said Poets was overwritten, actually—as previously mentioned, she really does deeply internalize criticism like that and then try to whiplash back. But this one was not as successfully pulled off as Speak Now, imo.

[bcdaily]

What are your thoughts on Father Figure being about Scott Borchetta and the beginning being from his POV?

I think it’s predominantly from his POV until the end, no?

It’s actually one of the songs that has grown on me most. I think the mob motif is fun. The writing isn’t as frothy. And obviously that’s a great beat, bless George Michael.

[bcdaily]

Please share an album tracks ranking when you’re ready!! Or at least top 3. I’ve listened to it once and just don’t know how to get into it really.

I don’t know that I can do a full ranking yet—it’s moving around too much now. But the ones I enjoyed most straight off the bat were “Wood” and “Life of a Showgirl.” And digging in more “Father Figure” and “Fate of Ophelia” are clicking more.

[bcdaily]

there's always cringey songs and cringey lyrics on a taylor album, but i feel like showgirl doesn't have the highs to make up for it. lover had a BUNCH of cringey songs, but it also had cruel summer and death by a thousand cuts. 1989 had shake it off but pretty much every other song on that album is so strong lyrically. rep has the ready for it/look what you made me do/this is why we cant have nice things type songs but also getaway car and dont blame me. midnights had you're on your own kid, maroon, would've could've should've. the great songs usually balance out the bad/cringey/immature ones, but showgirl has some good songs and some bad ones, and nothing GREAT.

100%. There’s not a single song on here that I went “Oh, yes, I gain FEELINGS with this.” Maaaaayyybe a touch on “Ruin the Friendship” because that had the most straightforward storytelling, but even that didn’t really feel reflective in an interesting way. It felt like backtracking to a person from the past and only scraping the edge of what it means to look at that twenty years later, which is actually what gives it depth.

But I think that’s the other thing that bothers me—all of this HAD potential. Like I think it was the BBC interview this morning where she was talking about how she got interested in Opalites because it’s a man-made stone, and how there’s something to the idea of owning that you’re man-making your own happiness. THAT is fucking interesting. Where the hell is that in the song??

And, thematically, this album is discussing nothing she hasn’t already discussed before. And a lot of it is the really petty and not at all relatable things she gets stuck on. I will never know what it means to be famous. I won’t know the kind of backstabbing and back talking you have to deal with. Which isn’t an automatic grave, but what has always saved her when she’s clearly stuck on themes before is her writing. She’ll have a few lines that cut deeper into the idea, or are just SUCH a good way of saying it that it’s worth trodding over this same idea again. So saying something I can’t relate to in the CRINGEST way possible was never going to be a winning combination.

Idk. Get me talking about this writing and I get more spun up about it. But the songs are still fun, so lol I’m still playing it. 😂

[bcdaily]

Honestly surprised you've ranked Showgirl over TTPD

My gripe with TTPD is and always has been that it’s just not fun to listen to. With the exception of maybe 6 songs out of the 31. It grew on me more. I can squint at the writing and appreciate it. But I almost never pick it up, and it was like that from the start. I’m still at least picking Showgirl up right now. I like a bop as much as the next girl. I think I am profoundly disappointed in the writing, which is a huge mark against it, but it’s not a painful listening experience overall. So that’s why it has the edge over TTPD right now. We’ll see if it stays there.

[bcdaily]

Curious what your overall Taylor albums ranking list looks like now? I am with you 100% on this one...

As of this exact moment, it’s probably something like (though I think it really is too soon for Showgirl. Idk where it will end up):

(Lol, I’ve already changed it. Debut is definitely over midnights. Idk why I even put that. It’s even over reputation some days, but today I’ll give rep her flowers.)

Red

Speak Now

Folklore

Evermore

1989

Fearless

Lover

Reputation

Debut

Midnights

Showgirl

TTPD

[bcdaily]

re: 'immature lyrics' I saw someone talk about how they think this album was Taylor trying to do the sort of slapstick comedy writing that Sabrina carpenter does really well, but she's just not as good at it...and while I don't 100% agree, I do kind of agree...I especially feel like some of the songs that were really explicit just didn't need it? It felt like profanity for the sake of shock value rather than because it was funny or emphasized something in the song

100% the profanity came off cringe every single time. And I can’t figure out whether she was trying to be in on the joke with that or it’s somehow going over her head. I’m leaning toward what you’re saying in that she tried and just isn’t succeeding at it, because she CAN do it. Folklore and Evermore were a masterclass in how to use profanity in songs for maximum gain. She knows how to write songs. I just…can’t figure out where the disconnect here was yet lol.

[bcdaily]

yeah ngl I agree with you 😭 it's kind of fun on relistens for melodies, but the lyrics are just...quite lackluster. Not every album has to be super masterful ofc, but I feel like she wasn't even writing at other decent lyricists level, say least her own level.

so ://

Or worse, wasn’t even trying to? I can’t get a gauge on it yet. I can’t tell if she was trying to be clever with playing with the idea that she’s obsessed with being cool and misses the mark every time…but she’s missing the mark every time. So it doesn’t come off clever, it comes off as cringe. It comes off like she’s massively online and very Steve Buschemi with a skateboard.

[bcdaily]

As per usual, my reaction is meh. So give me two weeks to get a real opinion. 😂

[bcdaily]

Okay. So if TTPD’s pitfall was that it was massively overwritten with no melodies, Showgirl is literally the direct flop: massively underwritten with ALL melodies. And, all things considered, I greatly prefer that because Poet’s very quickly became just unfun to listen to beyond a few songs. That’s not going to be Showgirl’s problem. It’s incredibly catchy. It’s incredibly fun. But it’s not the least bit INTERESTING, and that can’t be ignored.

[bcdaily]

As per usual, my reaction is meh. So give me two weeks to get a real opinion. 😂

[taylorswift]

Pre-order The Life of a Showgirl: “It’s Beautiful” Limited Release Deluxe CD now on my site. Available for 72 hours while supplies last. ‍‍❤️‍🔥

https://taylor.lnk.to/TSTheLifeofaShowgirl

Album Producers: Max Martin, Shellback and Taylor Swift 📸: Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott

[bcdaily]

I've learnt so many new words from reading ur fics. Akimbo? Where do you get your unimaginably extensive vocabulary from?

also btw I love ur writing, I hope u finish commentarius eventually, cuz im so attached to it.

Loool, I, like my foremother Taylor Swift, strive to teach a new SAT word with every entry of my writing lexicon. 🤓