Is Taylor Swift’s explicit new album proof she’s losing her creative edge?
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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‘Cocky motherf**kers, ain't they?’ Zach Bryan's anti-ICE song is Dixie Chicks 2.0
In 2003, the all-female country music band the Dixie Chicks committed career suicide when the lead singer, Natalie Maines, told a London audience during a concert that the band was “ashamed the president of the United States [George W. Bush] is from Texas.” The girls returned home to boycotts and threats. It took them years to rebuild their brand.
Just a few days ago, country music star Zach Bryan pulled a stunt that’s been dubbed by many as a Dixie Chicks 2.0. On October 6, the “Pink Skies” singer posted a snippet of his new song “Bad News” on Instagram. Some of the lyrics he chose to feature triggered a visceral reaction in his largely conservative fan base.
“I heard the cops came / Cocky motherf**kers, ain't they? / And ICE is gonna come bust down your door / Try to build a house no one builds no more / But I got a telephone / Kids are all scared and all alone / The bars stopped bumping, the rock stopped rolling / The middle finger's rising and it won't stop showing / Got some bad news / The fading of the red, white, and blue.”
From DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to fellow country star John Rich, Bryan received heat for the lyrics, especially considering that he’s a U.S. Navy veteran. X users and MAGA supporters suggested boycotts, the DHS mocked him by using his song “Revival” in an ICE recruitment video, and figures in conservative media like Tomi Lahren and Fox News slammed him as unpatriotic.
When Rick Burgess, BlazeTV host of “The Rick Burgess Show” and “Strange Encounters,” got wind of Bryan’s latest scandal, he couldn’t help but admit that “this one's going to hurt a little bit.”
“He can write about whatever he wants, but the people, like I say, can respond however they want to,” he says.
But the people who make up Byran’s audience are largely conservative, as are the majority of country music fans, which doesn’t bode well for the Oklahoma troubadour.
“If he writes a song to his fan base condemning ICE and getting on that wagon, we'll see,” says Rick.
While Rick’s producer, Adler, understands the argument that America was built on immigrants, the reality is: “We are not in a nation-building phase.”
“The entire world [is] coming here to live off of our welfare programs, and you can't sustain a country if you do that,” he says.
“Plus legal immigration is how the country was built, not illegal,” adds Rick.
To hear more of the panel’s analysis, watch the episode above.
Want more from Rick Burgess?
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