Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Beyoncé are looking more like the mega-rich than the relatable pop stars you loved

If you are one of the many people mourning how life is not all you hoped it would be — between this K-shaped economy, our entrenched political divisions and our expensive wars — go ahead and add what’s happening with Taylor Swift to the list of unsettled feelings about our major institutions.

The pop superstar has released “The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore” which adds four new songs to the original best-selling but critically maligned project. Much like the original album, there are mixed feelings regarding the additional tracks — “Patient Zero,” “Cleveland!,” “Pink Clouding” and “Babylon.”

Swift has always had her haters that we know are gonna hate, hate, hate, but increasingly the call has been coming from inside the house. Now, even self-proclaimed fans are expressing feelings that things are different now.

The Telegraph’s Poppie Platt gave the new project a two-star review, with the headline “I’m a Swiftie and even I think these new songs are terrible.”

Platt notes that it’s been 11 months since the original album dropped and three since the release of the single “I Knew It, I Knew You” from the film “Toy Story 5” and writes: “So Swift has done what Swift does best: write a few more songs for a ‘deluxe’ version and ‘surprise release’ it, ready to win those same fans back. What she doesn’t seem to have realized is that the music must be good to do so – and the songs on ‘The Life of a Showgirl: Encore Edition’ are just as derivative and flat as those that populated the original.”

Lest you think it’s only critics being critical, wade through the usual social media array of Swifties hunting Easter eggs and lyric dissection and you’ll find plenty evidence of discontent.

Content creator Zachary Hourihane, who goes by "theswiftologist" “ on social media, posted a video with the caption "The Encore was a bad idea," he said" adding to the cacophony.

“It’s just such an interesting way to extend an album that people already kind of didn’t like on the whole,” Hourihane laments. “People have been doubting the songwriting ability of one of the greatest songwriters of our generation because of this album. To choose to extend this instead of leaving it where it was and move it on would require that you really commit something to it that wasn’t there to begin with … . I kinda don’t think that this accomplished that mission.”

Over on X, where everyone lives for a good complaint, one person posted “the encore is actually bad like I’m not even tryna hate I actually really don’t wanna hate but Taylor swift needs new inspiration, we need a pop rock album or some other sound other than this recycled trash.”

Greek singer-songwriter Vaelis shared and cosigned a review posted on AOTY.org by user “babyforgiveme” that suggested the vibes are way off: “It’s becoming really hard to ignore that there has been a decrease in the quality of her music lately.”

When “The Life of a Showgirl” was first released, some fans complained that the songwriting lacked the emotional punch of Swift’s past songs. Think pieces abounded as to whether the then-engaged star had found her soulmate but lost her mojo.

The announcement that she was releasing this encore gave hope that fans might have the chance to begin again with the new Mrs. Travis Kelce. But maybe let’s call it more of an incomplete pass than a fumble or a touchdown.

Can you stan a billionaire in this economy?

Swift and this new-ish album are just the latest example of how celebs look more disconnected than ever even from their most devout fan base.

See the hubbub after her contemporary Beyoncé recently listed a limited edition “Bey Keeper Collection Box” for sale on her site for $948.01.

The empty box was “designed to house and display your Beyoncé vinyl collection” and was “handcrafted from solid pine wood, finished with beeswax oil, lined in deep green velvet, and fitted with a faux gator-skin leather carrying strap with gold hardware.”

Some fans complained that the price point ignored the current state of the economy where many are struggling to fill their gas tank and put food on the table.

Then there is Swift’s BFF Ed Sheeran, whose tour was rocked by his opener, rapper Macklemore, attracting the ire of billionaire businessman Robert Kraft after Macklemore shared his pro-Palestinian feelings from the stage. The result? Kraft banned the concert from his stadium — a concert that was then, after all that, canceled due to this weekend’s bad weather.

Sheeran, like Swift, has enjoyed being relatable and deeply beloved by the fans. This time, he left lots of them feeling disappointed when he declined to say something substantial about Israel or Gaza. Even his eventual on-stage apology for not taking a stance couldn’t satisfy.

A desire to please everyone now serves more than likely to anger most of us. That seems even more likely among younger fans who are used to passionately sharing their positions on everything from bringing iced coffee to job interviews to war around the world.

The genius of all three of these stars has been that they have been able to feel relatable despite the fact that as uber-wealthy celebs their lives are very different.

The average Swiftie is able to envision their favorite singer sitting on her bedroom floor, surrounded by her cats and strumming on her guitar as she composed the songs that make them love her evermore. The connection is so strong that they can forget to zoom out and realize that said room could be in any of the several expensive homes she owns around the world.

Unfortunately for her, it was Swift giving her fans what they have longed for that helped to put cracks in this foundation.

Her love story with NFL player Travis Kelce reached a fever pitch when the pair held their wedding celebrations at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Her renting out one of the most iconic venues in the US for multiple days was a reminder that for all her emotion and humanity, Swift’s lifestyle is not even close to that of her average fan.

Of course they knew that from the private jet. But seeing is very different from knowing. The world has changed. Even the rich and famous among us are going to have to try and figure it out anew.