When tens of millions of people around the world all stream the same album in the course of a few days, some of them are inevitably not going to like it. Such has been the case with Taylor Swift‘s 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl, and fair enough, as the artist herself recognizes. But as discussed in the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now — which breaks down every track of the album — some of the online discourse around this album has been downright ludicrous, rooted in bad-faith misreadings of lyrics by listeners weirdly determined to paint Swift as some kind of trad-wife MAGA fanatic, despite her open support of Democratic candidates, including an endorsement of Kamala Harris just last year.
There have been many odd takes, but perhaps the strangest of all is the idea that when Swift sings about wanting to have “the whole block looking like you” on “Wi$h Li$t,” she’s somehow endorsing white supremacy — rather than fantasizing about having a bunch of kids who look like their dad. Here’s what Swift said about that subject to Rolling Stone in 2019, by the way: “There’s literally nothing worse than white supremacy. It’s repulsive. There should be no place for it.” (To hear our new episode, go here for the podcast provider of your choice, listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or just press play above.)
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Both Rob Sheffield and Brittany Spanos, who join host Brian Hiatt for the episode, are fans of The Life of a Showgirl, and they all team up to break it down track by track, from musical influences to easter-egg references to Swift’s back catalog. Elsewhere in the episode, our panel wonders if Swift’s sheer ubiquity has somehow made it impossible to process her music in any kind of rational manner. “People turn off certain parts of their brain when they hear this voice,” Sheffield says. “That is kind of hilarious.”
Download and subscribe to Rolling Stone‘s weekly podcast, Rolling Stone Music Now, hosted by Brian Hiatt, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts). Check out six years’ worth of episodes in the archive, including in-depth interviews with Mariah Carey, Bruce Springsteen, Questlove, Halsey, Neil Young, Snoop Dogg, Brandi Carlile, John Fogerty, Phoebe Bridgers, Rick Ross, Alicia Keys, the National, Ice Cube, Taylor Hawkins, Willow, Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Dua Lipa, Killer Mike, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Liam Gallagher, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Donald Fagen, Charlie Puth, Phil Collins, Justin Townes Earle, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Eddie Van Halen, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, the Zombies, and Gary Clark Jr. And look for dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates, and explainers with Rolling Stone’s critics and reporters.
