2. Literary References: "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare
3. Key Lyric: "Keep it 100 on the land, the sea, the sky, pledge allegiance to your hands, your team, your vibe"
4. Favorite Lyric: "Tis locked inside my memory, and only you possess the key, no longer drowning and deceived, all because you came for me."
5. Taylor's Callback: "The Alchemy" and "So High School" from "The Tortured Poets Department"; "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" (video)
6. TL/DR: "Travis saved me from drowning in my sadness"
The most amazing thing about Taylor's first track, first single, first video from "The Life of a Showgirl" is what a bop it is, given the subject matter. Ophelia is one of the most tragic characters in Shakespeare's plays, a young woman whose love for Hamlet is used as a political weapon that backfires on her, resulting in madness and suicide. Fun times!
Give credit on this song and the whole album to Taylor and her musical collaborators, Max Martin and Shellback, who crafted twelve songs that use drums and bass so effectively. The rhythms on these songs are the stars of the show, and they are front and center for Ophelia right from the get-go.
Taylor said she wanted the album to be a journey through different eras and styles of music, and the Sixties Girl-group vibe is revealed through the first chorus in the video, where she is part of a three-girl group performing the song in a club.
Others have pointed out the irony of Taylor's reputation for being a, how should I say it, less than masterful dancer against the fact that the chorus of Ophelia resulted in the biggest viral dance craze of 2025 on the Internet. Musically, the girl-group influence is found in the layered harmonies the trio of songwriters create throughout the track.
The key to my key lyric is the number 100, which is the sum of 13 (Taylor's birthday and favorite number) and 87 (Travis Kelce's jersey number). Credit goes to the "Switched on Pop" podcast for pointing this out.
There's no doubt that she's singing about her relationship with Travis here, but in a more allegorical style, reversing the tragic fate of Ophelia with the image of him saving her: "You dug me out of my grave; No longer drowning and deceived."
Many have pointed out, including Taylor herself, that her lyrics are not a direct revelation of her personal life. This is true for all poets; the poetic speaker should never be confused with the poet herself. However, the obviousness of the clues ("Pledge allegiance to your hands, your team, your vibes") cannot be confused for anything else.
Taylor loves to do callbacks to her previous songs, something that many skilled songwriters do quite often (Sting is a master at this). Here the callback is not directly musical or lyrical but rather, once again, a "vibe," namely her two songs about Travis from "The Tortured Poets Department," "The Alchemy" and "So High School," both of which describe the vibe she has with Kelce.
She also does a wonderful callback in her video, where the next-to-last scene in a hotel room (#87, of course) features a band playing on the bed and a crowd of friends dancing happily, a direct homage to the same next-to-last scene of the video for "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" from her "Red" album.
In the final analysis, this may be her best opening track of any album (my favorites include "Mine," "...Ready for It?" and "The 1.") The melody is infectious without being annoying, the lyrics are insanely catchy, and the viral dance craze speaks for itself. Ophelia sets the bar ridiculously high for the rest of the album; watch as she keeps jumping right over it.
Exactly one month ago today was Friday, October 3. I was fortunate enough to be in Destin, FL, with my wife, Amy, celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary. I woke up at dawn to take a walk along the white sand beach beside the Gulf of Mexico and listened to Taylor Swift's new album, "The Life of a Showgirl."
Now at this point, if you don't like her music or if you are turned off by all the attention she garners as a celebrity, you're not going to like this new blog series. That's fine with me. Feel free to navigate away and ignore this blog for the next couple of weeks.
But before you go, remember this: there's no such thing as bad music. Before you respond, just know this—Nickleback, the butt of so many "bad music" jokes, has sold 50 million albums worldwide. Somebody really likes their music.
Two of my best friends, Steve Lewis and Mike Tucker, have wildly divergent tastes in music from me. We often converse about new songs and older artists, but despite our friendship, we don't have much in common musically, and that's totally okay. Music is subjective, and it's okay to dislike someone else's taste in music without making it a character flaw in the other person.
I haven't posted here at Blogger in a long time. The last series I posted here was in 2019 about "No-Skip Albums." (If you don't like Taylor Swift, maybe browse through those posts before you go.) That series is appropriate, because "The Life of a Showgirl" is a total no-skip for me. In fact, I can't create a ranked list of songs because they are all individually so amazing.
That's what I'm going to be writing about for at least the next 12 posts. I'm going to do a deep dive into each of the tracks from her new album. I'll talk about the musical influences, the literary allusions, the pop culture connections, and my own thoughts about each song.
My daughter Tori introduced me to Taylor way back in her career with the "Fearless" album, which will be an important touchstone for her new work. I was a casual fan of 1989, and incidentally, so was Steve at the time. I did not pay attention to her again until FB friend Shenandoah Lynd (another friend with divergent musical tastes) recruited me into the Swiftie life.
At this point, I went back and consumed "Midnights," which is one of my favorite Taylor albums (more of that one later as well). Following that, I encountered "Folklore" through the Long Pond Sessions documentary on Disney Plus. Shortly after that, she released "The Tortured Poets Department," and I've been a full-blown Swiftie ever since.
That morning one month ago on the Destin beach was a revelation for me, an experience with an artist I already loved unlike many others. Probably the one that comes closest is with my favorite band, Tears for Fears, and their 2022 release "The Tipping Point."
However, it took me several listens to TFF's most recent album to really fall in love with the songs, and at this point, at least two of them are regular skips. Each song on Taylor's new album was amazing to my ears on the first listen, and each subsequent hearing only deepens my love for the album. I would have to think for a long time whether any album comes close to that.
Maybe "Wish" by The Cure or Kate Bush's "The Sensual World" are candidates for first-listen love, but those came out more than 30 years ago. This is new and fresh pop music, something that hasn't resonated with me for more than 20 years.
Final word: I like pop music, and I like popular pop music. I like hit singles. I like catchy melodies and infectious rhythms. MTV was always on when they only played music. I listened to Kasey Casem's "American Top 40" every week. This is my taste in music—it's very "vanilla old white dude," and I'm totally okay with that. I don't do edgy or avant-garde; I like what I like.
If you're still with me at this point, here's what's next. We'll go through the tracks, one by one, in album order. First up tomorrow is her first single, "The Fate of Ophelia." I hope that some of you will come along for the ride.
Photo credit: By Swift, Taylor (October 3, 2025). "The Life of a Showgirl". United States: Apple Music. Archived from the original on August 19, 2025. Retrieved August 19, 2025., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=80734644
“I’m confused,” Siannon said. “Asha said you had crossed
over and couldn’t return. If that’s true, why are you here?”
He smiled and kissed her, and then he said, “My soul crossed
over because I had no unfinished business. This is the part of me that will
always be with you. Our life together, our love, our family, it’s all bound up
in your memories, and it’s as real as the image of me you see right now.”
“Remembering you is not the same as having you with me,” she
said.
“I know, my love,” Dylan said. “I would feel the same in
your place. But you’ve always been stronger than me. You have many years of
life ahead of you. I don’t want you to miss out on your next adventure out of grief.
I’ll be with you in every moment. I won’t be able to talk to you after this,
but you can talk to me, and I’ll always be listening.”
“Promise me one thing,” she said. “When it’s my time,
promise you’ll come for me.”
“I promise,” he said. “When you see me again, we’ll be
together for eternity.”
“That is worth living for,” she said. “I love you, Dylan.”
“I love you, Siannon,” he said. “You have mourned me well.
Now live for me, my darling.”
They embraced one last time, and then the light from the
amulet faded, and Dylan disappeared along with it. Siannon saw a man standing
at the top of the chamber.
Okay, so sometimes I'm dumb, sometimes I'm stubborn, and sometimes I'm wrong. When it comes to the transcendent television series Fargo, originally on the FX Network and now streaming on Hulu, I was all three.
Friend and colleague Steve Lewis raved about the greatness of this show to me at least two years ago, but the title was an immediate turn-off. Fargo the movie is one of his favorites; I absolutely hated it, especially the stupid Minn-Ah-SOOOO-Tah "oh yah you betcha" accents throughout the film. I've never really understood all the praise for the movie, and for me, at least, the Coen Brothers are definitely hit-and-miss over the course of their career.
So I wasn't inclined to give a TV series of the same name much of a chance, even if the storyline was new and only slightly related to the original movie. But now, in the age of coronavirus and not-so-bottomless-after-all streaming content, I was in the market for something new, and at Steve's repeated urgings, I decided to give Fargo the series a chance.
To say that I was blown away is a gross understatement. The first season decimated me like a nuclear blast. I've never seen a first season of any series be this good at such an impossibly high level of excellence since perhaps Lost. It took Breaking Bad until season three to get this good.
First of all, the writing is some of the best dramatic script work that you'll ever see. Even when the dialogue seems mundane, seeds are being planted that will grow to fruition later on. This is a mystery that has more levels, more twists, more unseen connections than three seasons of Sherlock. This is a series that demands your attention and warrants it as well. Writer and producer Noah Hawley should be considered in the top echelon of screenwriters today.
Those flat, nasal, northern accents are back, too, but I found them all far less intrusive and irritating this time around, maybe because I felt far more invested in the characters the series creates. The acting performances are all astounding, but the star turns deserve individual praise.
Keith Carradine gives the best understated performance of the series as Lou Solverson, a retired state cop and local diner owner who says more with a silent stare than most actors can with a page of dialogue. His foil, performance-wise, is Colin Hanks (son of Tom), a well-meaning but inept police officer who talks and talks and talks because he's afraid to say what he really feels.
Next is Martin Freeman, so appealing as John Watson in Sherlock and so appalling as Lester Nygaard, a loser in every way until he becomes a murderer and finds his spine and his balls as a result. To see his transformation from pathetic wimp to a calculating manipulator is nothing short of astounding. His inherent weakness is the catalyst for the chaos that results.
Allison Tolman is the star as Molly Solverson, a police officer with the heart and mind of a true detective. She's an echo of the movie's Marge Gunderson, but watching her journey is like seeing Marge in her younger days learning the skills that served her so well in her own investigation. Molly is always five steps ahead of her bumbling boss, Bob Odenkirk (the star of Better Call Saul), and miles ahead of her fellow deputies. She is the emotional heart of the show.
The most amazing character, however, is the villainous Lorne Malvo, a killer for hire who sees himself as a predator, a wolf among sheep, and who I started to suspect was actually the devil himself and not a human being at all. Played with cold intensity and piercing intelligence by Billy Bob Thornton, his performance reminds us of just how good of an actor he is.
I've been assured by others that seasons two and three are just as good, and since I'm still doing my best to stay at home and avoid public contact with others, I'm certain to have enough time to view both of the subsequent seasons by the end of this month. Don't be dumb, stubborn, and wrong like I was. If you haven't already seen it, watch it now!
It's a new Golden Age of television, with streaming services completely changing the viewing landscape into a fever dream of amazing shows. In turn, this is driving networks to innovate their content as well, with mixed results so far but with the promise of better shows in order to survive. Debate the quality and post your own picks as you please, but these are the ten shows that constituted "must-see TV" for me this year.
#10: Castle Rock, season two (Hulu)
Remember batshit crazy romance novelist Annie Wilkes, from Stephen King's paean to novelist paranoia, Misery? Well, we get her origin story here in a mishmash with part of King's Salem's Lot and a tenuous connection to the somewhat disappointing first season of this show. The result is a nail-biting series in which the protagonist, played brilliantly by Lizzy Caplan, is also a diabolical killer. As a bonus, we get Tim Robbins (but not as Andy Dufresne) living in the same town as Shawshank State Prison. Castle Rock is catnip for King fans who love Easter eggs from his novels.
#9: Good Eats: The Return (Food Network)
My love for cooking is directly caused by Alton Brown's landmark series, Good Eats. Most of my techniques and favorite recipes come from those classic episodes that perfectly blend food science, cooking skills, and a Monty Python-esque sense of humor. Brown came back with a handful of new episodes that are as warm and comfortable as your favorite pair of slippers. Nothing has really changed, which is part of the appeal. Brown is a genuine foodie celebrity; Good Eats reminds us all how he got there in the first place.
#8: The Good Doctor (ABC)
Yeah, it's a total soap opera, with as much emphasis on the various personal relationships among the physicians at a hospital in San Jose, California, but like any good soap, the characters are all appealing (or repugnant, in a couple of cases), which makes their stories compelling. At the center of it all, however, is Dr. Shawn Murphy, played with unsympathetic honesty by Freddie Highmore. Shawn is a surgical genius because he's an autistic savant, and his autism is never played for humor or sympathy. His mind allows him to see medical solutions that others can't, but it also makes him frustratingly difficult to communicate or connect with, and it's watching him live this out that makes this a good hour of old-fashioned TV drama each week.
#7: Rick and Morty (Adult Swim)
The entirety of season four has not played out yet, but in the four episodes I've seen, the series creators aren't backing off the dysfunctional dynamics of the Sanchez/Smith family in any way. In fact, they've doubled down on Rick's nihilism, Morty's existential angst, Summer's hedonism, Beth's Sphinx-sized denial, and Jerry's utter worthlessness in ways that are simultaneously sicker and funnier than the three genius seasons that preceded it. This show is definitely not for everyone, but I guarantee that if you connect with it, it will make you think more than any other show out there.
#6: The Boys(Amazon Prime)
This show certainly owes a large debt to Alan Moore's Watchmen, which dealt with the idea of superheroes who were less than super (or downright evil), but The Boys puts it into the context of modern media and the gargantuan corporations that push product for profit. In this case, the heroes are, for the most part, hedonistic sociopaths protected by a corporation that owns them lock, stock, and flashy costume. Enter Karl Urban, a former cop turned vigilante leader determined to literally pull the mask off these "heroes" and their true identity. If you haven't already watched this, and you have a few days off this week, binge it. The last episode will leave you breathless and demanding a second season ASAP.
#5: The Blacklist (NBC)
There is absolutely no explanation for why this show has lasted for seven seasons. It features literally the dumbest FBI agent in the history of the nation (Elizabeth Keen), who lives at the center of a decades-long conspiracy involving her KGB-agent mother (Katarina Rostova) and the world's most-wanted criminal, disgraced CIA agent Raymond "Red" Reddington. Each season doles out a new "mystery" about these characters and their hidden past, leading them all to get tantalizingly close to finding the answers but always falling short (usually in a season-ending cliffhanger). It should have gotten stale and used-up after maybe three seasons, but this past year has been the best of all, revealing new details that have turned our previous knowledge upside-down, most of all concerning Red's true identity. The real strength of this show is James Spader's portrayal of Reddington. Every episode is a master class in acting from the William Shatner Academy of Drama, and it is as delicious as the most decadent dessert you can imagine.
#4: Good Omens (Amazon Prime)
Written by Neil Gaiman based on his collaboration with Terry Pratchett, Good Omens is the best buddy comedy available right now. The six-episode series bases its plot around the rise of the Antichrist (a charming young lad from Oxfordshire) and the coming of Armageddon, but the heart of the story is the 6,000-year-old friendship between angel Azirophale (Michael Sheen), the guardian of Eden, and demon Crowley (David Tennant), the serpent who started all the fuss in the Garden to start with. Sheen and Tennant are marvelous together, and the rest of the cast do a wonderful job of grounding an immensely complex story in believable relationships in spite of the absurd situations they all find themselves in. The wit and clever humor of Gaiman and Pratchett are present in each and every episode. This series alone is worth the price of Prime membership.
#3: Unbelievable (Netflix)
This is the best series on Netflix that few of you, I'm betting, have seen. You need to watch it, and start as soon as you finish reading this blog, please. A teenage orphan, trapped in the disinterested and dismissive foster care system, is awakened in the night by an intruder, who carefully and systematically rapes her. She reports her attack, only to find herself attacked by the police, her various foster parents, her employer, and the residents of the halfway house where she lives. Literally no one believes her story except for us, the viewers, and eventually, two female detectives, one reflective and empathetic, played by Merritt Wever, the second incisive but jaded, played by Toni Collette. Wever and Collette work tirelessly to identify and capture the insidious serial rapist, and in the process, reveal the truth of the orphan woman's account. Inspired by true events, this series is not only one of the best of the year, it's one of the finest limited-run series I've ever seen.
#2: The Mandalorian (Disney Plus)
Will someone please tell me why John Favreau wasn't put in charge of the recently concluded third Skywalker trilogy? Because, my friends, Favreau is a true fan who GETS what Star Wars is all about. This amazing series redefines the whole Star Wars universe to perfection. In the wake of the fall of the Empire after the destruction of Death Star 2 (Force Lightning Boogaloo) at Endor, the New Republic is still struggling to establish a New Order (see what I did there?). Essentially, much of the galaxy is like the Wild West. The Mandalorian is Clint Eastwood, the man with no name (literally...most of the characters call him "Mando" because his given name is a secret). Baby Yoda (don't even bother trying to call him anything else) is The Kid, an orphan adopted by the hard-edged loner. Favreau takes the best elements of Star Wars and American Westerns and blends them into such a perfect series that I'd pay twice what Disney's currently charging for a D+ subscription just to see season two. Favreau is so money...and I guarantee with this, he KNOWS he's money.
#1: The Good Place (NBC)
Mike Schur's afterlife comedy about Hell and human ethics keeps raising its own bar, then leaping way above it to set an even higher bar. There's no way this show should work, considering all these strange, unpopular elements (everybody hates moral philosophy professors, right?), but this series has become something like the Rosetta Stone for the Meaning of Life not only for its fans but for the cast and crew, as well. This is, quite literally, a life-changing experience, but like so many others, not everyone gets it. But besides that, it's a hilarious show with tremendously appealing characters played by equally appealing actors, most notably Kristin Bell and all-time TV MVP Ted Danson. The writing is also equally inspired, blending the philosophical with the whimsical and silly. Watch this clip for an example of what I mean. Chidi has just found out that he died and went to Hell, and it's 100 percent guaranteed that he's going there again:
I swear to God, if I'm ever approached by a drug dealer, my response will be a quote from Nietzsche. There are five more episodes to go until this series reaches its planned conclusion. Again, like most of the precious things we discover in this life, it didn't last long enough, but it was so wonderful to experience. If they stick the landing, which is so hard to do with entertainment (see: Lost, Game of Thrones, etc.), you can chisel this in stone as my favorite series of all time. For today, at least, it's at the top of 2019.
Let's get one thing straight right off the top...no one is EVER allowed to remake An American Werewolf in London. Don't mess with perfection. Having said that, I could fill an entire list like this with Stephen King movies, but since most of these are all getting remade anyway (most notably The Stand, which will appear on CBS's All Access pay-to-stream service in the next year of so), I limited myself to the one I would most like to see remade (honorable mention: Firestarter). Thanks for joining me this week in this bit of revisionist fun, and thanks for all the comments and debate...Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all!
Ghosts sold separately
Christine
One of the first Stephen King books I ever read (and one of the only ones to really scare me as a reader), the movie version was a good effort but flawed in several fundamental ways, most notably casting. It's like the people casting movie versions of books never bothered to read the books, although the recent "IT" movies did an outstanding job for the most part. This movie deserves to be worthy of its original material.
Bad doggie...
Wolfen
There's practically zero chance that any of you ever saw this 1981 film starring Albert Finney and Gregory Hines, but let me assure you that the original was a great late-night HBO scare-fest, especially one death scene toward the end that will literally haunt your dreams. An updated version with a new cast and modern effects would be the perfect vehicle for the still-resonant theme of what happens when the upper-class continuously oppresses a disadvantaged minority. Wait, what makes this a horror movie. Dude, it's a psychological thriller about Native American werewolves. Take that, Team Jacob!
That's an Excedrin headache
Scanners
Yes, this is the 1981 David Cronenberg movie where a guy's head explodes, but there's so much more to this weird, creepy, unsettlingly good horror film. It's about a small group of psychically powerful people ("Scanners") who are telepathic and telekinetic, and one of them is trying to organize them into a force to take over the world. Another one tries to stop him. Because it's Cronenberg, it's uber-weird. It's also super low-budget, so an update done right would just be epic. It would also be fun to bring Michael Ironside back this time in the Patrick McGoohan role.
The Lost Boys
Get past all the hype and the MTV gloss, and what do you have? A single mom with two teenage boys moves in with her weird, old beach bum dad in California. The younger son falls in with a bunch of geeky nerds who turn out to be vampire hunters (or so they claim). The older son falls in with a bunch of good-looking motorcyclists who turn out to be vampires. After years of romantic vampires (Twilight) and sexy-cool vampires (The Vampire Diaries), I'm ready for some good, old-fashioned scary-as-hell vampires, and remaking this Eighties film that had more flash than substance (with some memorable moments, for sure) might be just the ticket.
The Hidden
I'll bet cash money that none of you reading this have ever seen this gem from the Eighties. Kyle MacLachlan plays a human body inhabited by an alien being in pursuit of a criminal from his planet, a parasite who moves from one human body to the next in an ongoing spree of indiscriminate theft and murder. Michael Nouri is the human cop who teams up with the alien, eventually coming to believe the unbelievable. A great story that did the best they could with a very low budget, this entertaining sci-fi thriller would be a great big budget remake, especially for an innovative action director like someone from the MCU films.
If there is any genre of movies from the Seventies, Eighties and early Nineties in more dire need of a modern treatment that includes state-of-the-art special effects combined with the highest quality of acting, directing, cinematography, and production design, it's science fiction. Here's five of my picks for science fiction films that would make a huge splash if given the "Marvel Comics" treatment (i.e., treating a genre film like a serious, big-budget production)
Flash Gordon
A veritable fondue buffet of cheese, the original Eighties version is operatic in badness. In fact, it's so bad, it's good, and that's what makes it fun. Everything about this movie, with the exception of Queen's soundtrack, is laugh-out-loud ridiculous, which is absolutely part of its charm. Don't even try to replicate it. Instead, go back to the original black-and-white serials and update it for the 21st Century. Think about Raiders of the Lost Ark...inspired by serial movies from the Forties but given a modern seriousness without losing the original fun. In fact, let's get Spielberg to do this one, too.
Logan's Run
A lot of purists are going to complain about this pick, and I know where you're all coming from. I love this movie, too; it's one of my favorite sci-fi films of all time. But just think of what an A-list director could do with a top-flight cast of young actors (everyone dies at age 30) and the latest in effects technology. The story is compelling all by itself with little adjustment. A big budget remake has been in discussion for decades; it's long overdue to get this one done!
Johnny Mnemonic
With the Keanu Reeves renaissance that everyone is so blissed out about (and deservedly so...Keanu is not only an icon but also a genuinely wonderful human being, by all accounts), this high-concept film about a data courier who is carrying a computerized time bomb in his head sounded great, but the execution on the screen was a mess. Keep Keanu in the primary role and fix everything else.
Demolition Man
Another great concept ruined in the execution. Sylvester Stallone played a Nineties-era cop frozen in suspended animation and brought back to consciousness in a peaceful, crime-free future to track down his former ultra-violent nemesis. A classic "fish out of water" tale, this should have been much better than it actually was. My casting suggestions are straight out of social media heaven: Ryan Reynolds as the cop; Hugh Jackman as the criminal mastermind. Who wouldn't want to see their vicious online rivalry (phony or not, it's hilarious) on the big screen?
Timecop
One last chance to remake a good idea that didn't live up to its potential, this one suffers from the acting limitations of its star, Jean-Claude Van Damme. But the idea is amazing...a police force that regulates time travel to maintain the integrity of the time line is forced to defend himself from a corrupt politician who wants to control time for his own lust for wealth and power. Again, put together an A-list cast (this has Tom Cruise written all over it) and today's special effects, and this could be a blockbuster.
