Continuing my ranked list of the songs on Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl…
#9. ‘Eldest Daughter’
Track five has always held a special place on Swift’s albums, and this is a decent choice to receive the honor. ‘Eldest Daughter’ is a sweet piano-based love song about setting aside negativity and fear and giving yourself permission to let someone in. It’s touching and romantic, especially in the second verse and bridge, where Swift uses childhood imagery to describe her emotions.
The song’s first verse is a bit of a mess, though, crammed with dated slang about toxic internet culture. That knocks an otherwise very good song down a few spots.
#8. ‘Honey’
The album’s penultimate song is a feather-light ode to Travis Kelce (it’s pretty clear why he digs this album so much). This is one of many songs on this album that stick in my head long after listening.
#7. ‘Actually Romantic’
This is one of Swift’s most biting diss tracks, taking aim at a fellow songwriter whose fixation on Taylor borders on infatuation. All signs point to the song being about Charli XCX, who is married to a bandmate of Swift’s former flame, Matty Healy of The 1975. If this is a response to Charli’s song ‘Sympathy is a knife’ it’s a bit of an overreaction. That song is about Charli’s insecurity and jealousy of Taylor, with whom she toured. It’s more self-critical than vicious.
At any rate, the result is a nastily effective song with crunchy guitars and some of Swift’s most explicit lyrics to date.
Everybody’s so punk on the internet
Everyone’s unbothered ’til they’re not
Every joke’s just trolling and memes
Sad as it seems, apathy is hot
Everybody’s cutthroat in the comments
Every single hot take is cold as ice
When you found me, I said I was busy
That was a lie
[Pre-Chorus]
I have been afflicted by a terminal uniqueness
I’ve been dying just from trying to seem cool
[Chorus]
But I’m not a bad bitch
And this isn’t savage
But I’m never gonna let you down
I’m never gonna leave you out
So many traitors
Smooth operators
But I’m never gonna break that vow
I’m nеver gonna leave you now, now, now
[Verse 2]
You know, thе last time I laughed this hard was
On the trampoline in somebody’s backyard
I must’ve been about eight or nine
That was the night I fell off and broke my arm
Pretty soon, I learned cautious discretion
When your first crush crushes something kind
When I said I don’t believe in marriage
That was a lie
[Pre-Chorus]
Every eldest daughter was the first lamb to the slaughter
So we all dressed up as wolves and we looked fire
[Chorus]
But I’m not a bad bitch
And this isn’t savage
But I’m never gonna let you down
I’m never gonna leave you out
So many traitors
Smooth operators
But I’m never gonna break that vow
I’m never gonna leave you now, now, now
[Bridge]
We lie back
A beautiful, beautiful time-lapse
Ferris wheels, kisses, and lilacs
And things I said were dumb
‘Cause I thought that I’d never find that
Beautiful, beautiful life that
Shimmers that innocent light back
Like when we were young
[Pre-Chorus]
Every youngest child felt
They were raised up in the wild
But now you’re home
[Chorus]
‘Cause I’m not a bad bitch
And this isn’t savage
And I’m never gonna let you down
I’m never gonna leave you out
So many traitors
Smooth operators
But I’m never gonna break that vow (Never gonna break that vow)
I’m never gonna leave you now, now, now
[Outro]
Never gonna break that vow (Oh)
I’m never gonna leave you now, now
I’m never gonna leave you now
Meet Me In Montauk 
Looking forward to hearing the album this week so I can have an opinion.🤪
I heard a bit of one of her interviews where she talked about choosing to include dated slang as a way to demonstrate the earnestness of trying too hard to be “cool,” which made me hear that verse in a new way. Love that song and the second half of this album from that point on, though more full listens will lead me to a more authentic list.