As a kid, I would force my sister to watch her music videos with me; I put my New Year’s post with the song \u201c22\u201d in 2022; I wear her Folklore cardigan consistently; and I was a proud attendee of The Eras Tour<\/em>. So, why am I talking about how Taylor Swift\u2019s magic lyricism might have fallen off? Because I truly believe it has. The question is: When did it start?<\/p>\n\n\n\n We all know the answer, but we don\u2019t want to say it. It all began when Joe Alwyn and Taylor split in 2023. This was just before she began The Eras Tour<\/em>, which has become one of the peaks of her career. After the breakup, she released The Tortured Poets Department<\/em>, an homage to the end of this relationship and the start of a new one: her and Travis Kelce. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The difference between her breakup songs and her love songs between the two relationships is clear. After two years of dating, Swift and Kelce announced their engagement and married after a brief engagement. During their engagement, she released The Life of a Showgirl (TLOAS)<\/em>, which was not a fan favorite compared to her other albums from recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lyrics felt surface-level compared to those of her other albums like Folklore<\/em> and Evermore<\/em>. You might be thinking, \u201cJacqueline, those albums were written when she wasn\u2019t actually in love with someone.\u201d Well\u2026 the Lover<\/em> album suggests otherwise. Granted, some of the songs on the album weren\u2019t perfect. And yes, I am talking about the song \u201cMe!\u201d featuring Brendon Urie. Not the most lyrically impressive song, and if it was released with TLOAS<\/em>, the song wouldn\u2019t exactly be out of the ordinary. Because it\u2019s frankly not the best song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So what has been said about the TLOAS<\/em> album? Well\u2026 some say it was written so Kelce can actually understand it (with so many head concussions in football and all), but I fear that may not be the case. Swift has been writing music since the age of 14, releasing her first album at 16, and is now 36 years old. That\u2019s 20 years of a long-running music career, including several genre switches which impacted her fanbase. But who is the fanbase now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Swift\u2019s music has attracted people of all ages. From little kids to people her age and older, the demographics aren\u2019t really based on age. Maybe her music may not be my taste anymore, but if that\u2019s the case, why do others feel the same way? My opinion has shifted over years, but I\u2019m not alone because the idea that Taylor\u2019s music has not been as well-written as before has recently become a larger consensus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t want to say her music has gotten awful and low quality. Actually \u2026 I just might be saying that. But the shift between the depths of songs like \u201cMaroon,\u201d where she sings \u201cwe lost track of time again laughing with my feet in your lap,\u201d or \u201cThe Prophecy,\u201d in which she laments that \u201cI look unstable gathered with a coven round a sorceress\u2019 table,\u201d or \u201cThe Lakes\u201d in which she laments that \u201cI want auroras and sad prose; I want to watch wisteria grow right over my bare feet \u2018cause I haven\u2019t moved in years and I want you right here\u201d (all of which are on different albums) to songs like \u201cWood,\u201d where she says \u201cHis love was the key that opened my thighs,\u201d it\u2019s hard not to take notice of the shift of tones and expressions. And it only gets worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recently, Taylor released The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore<\/em>, which included four new songs she wrote after the success of her album. Now, a couple of years back in high school, I would stay up until midnight to listen to the new songs. But that\u2019s so high school<\/em>, and I don\u2019t have time for that anymore, nor was I impressed by the original album, so it’s safe to say \u2026 My expectations were already low. And when I put on \u201cCleveland\u201d and heard the lyrics \u201cShe’s not as hot as she was, but she was only a four,” I finally realized the Taylor Swift I grew up with is not the same one I was listening to, and couldn\u2019t help but let out the biggest sigh at 8 a.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To get a little harsher in my criticism, Taylor\u2019s music feels purely created for profit. Why else would she have several vinyl colors for people to collect, a cardigan for every album, and more overpriced merch simply not worth the quality? Over the years, it seems Taylor Swift is now more of a persona than the actual artist we saw before The Eras Tour<\/em>. There\u2019s a lack of passion in her music, which people are welcome to disagree with. However, it\u2019s not really easy to defend when, in \u201cCleveland,\u201d she is barely even singing, not even rapping, just speaking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I believe her marriage with Travis Kelce has deeply impacted her music. From appearing at football games to openly talking about his \u2026 wood, it now seems her vision with her music has purely revolved around this relationship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Before, Taylor\u2019s music had stories. The love triangle in Folklore<\/em>, her song \u201cSpeak Now\u201d involving someone crashing a wedding, even in her debut album \u201cOur Song,\u201d has a story being told through music. Now it just feels as if she\u2019s bragging about how great her love life is with images we do not<\/em> want to envision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This isn\u2019t to criticize the marriage of Taylor and Travis. I\u2019m not a part of the relationship, nor do I really want to be if a song like \u201cWood\u201d came out of it. I\u2019m afraid I have to admit Taylor Swift has lost her touch. That\u2019s not to say she can\u2019t get it back. \u201cBabylon,\u201d one of the newer songs in The Encore<\/em>, does have some potential to be listenable. Still, I would skip it in a heartbeat if it popped up in the morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, if these new songs are your cup of tea, feel free to tune me out. My music taste has shifted drastically as I have gotten older, but I have never once been one to say \u201cI hate Taylor Swift\u201d because that\u2019s far from the truth. I am a writer and a poet, so my idea of good music depends a lot on my version of well-written lyrics. Taylor\u2019s music has gotten me through several moments of my life: my first breakup, my high school years, my second breakup; her albums have been vital to me growing up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I do believe she still has the capability to write good music. But right now, all it seems like to me is a profit scheme to add onto her billionaire status, which she does not need. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you truly believe that all of Swift\u2019s songs are awful, here are a few of my favorites which just might persuade you that the Swift we know right now is not the one who some of us have known and loved in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By Jacqueline Ayala, Social Media Editor I can\u2019t exactly publicly diss Taylor Swift for the world to see (even if a few other staff members and I kind of already…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":6730,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-6685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6685"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6767,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6685\/revisions\/6767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6685"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=6685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Taylor_Swift_Eras_Tour_-_Arlington_TX_-_Folklore_act_2_2000-1200x749.jpg\")
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\""Taylor](\"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Screenshot-2026-10-02-at-3.14.34-PM.png\")
Jacqueline\u2019s Top Five Taylor Swift Songs:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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