Taylor Swift on Songwriting Craft, Career, and Philosophy

The Philosophy and Intensity of the Creative Process

• The Mystery of Songwriting: Songwriting is described as an enduring mystery that occurs in various ways—sometimes quickly, sometimes over long periods. Tracks may be inspired by personal life, mythology, fables, books, movies, characters, warnings, or lessons. No two songs happen exactly the same way.

• Youthful Detail and Intensity: There is a specific attention to detail that exists when a person is between the ages of $17$ and $20$. This period is characterized by intense longing and grasping for attention or love.
      * Substantive detail: The speaker notes that at this age, one notices everything, such as "candle ash on the cuff of the shirt and the button."
      * Adult perspective: As an adult, the goal is to maintain that level of detail and intensity in describing feelings without being "unhinged."

• The Foundation of Songwriting: Songwriting became the cornerstone of the speaker's life at age $12$, coinciding with a newfound love for singing and learning an instrument.

Musical Influences and Structural Foundations

• Folk and Country Storytelling: The speaker’s first love in songwriting was the "story time structure" typical of folk and country music.
      * Examples: "Harper Valley PTA," "Goodbye Earl" by the Dixie Chicks, and songs by Kenny Chesney.
      * Hypothetical Country Structure:
          * Verse $1$: A little girl learns a lesson from her mother (introduced in the chorus).
          * Verse $2$: The girl becomes a teenager and realizes her mother was right; the hook takes on a new meaning.
          * Bridge: She becomes a mother and imparts the wisdom to her own daughter.
          * Ending: Bringing back the first line of the song to close the loop.

• Lyricism and Emo Music: The speaker was deeply impacted by the lyricism of emo music, specifically Chris Carraba of Dashboard Confessional and Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy.
      * Technique: Twisting common phrases. Examples include "I'm just a notch in your bedpost, but you're just a line in a song" and swapping components of phrases, such as "drop a name, break a heart" becoming "drop a heart, break a name."
      * Specificity: The specific detail in lyrics like "Hands Down" by Dashboard Confessional is cited as a major influence.

Professional Beginnings and Nashville Traditions

• Early Career Milestones: A publishing deal was secured at age $14$ with Arthur Buenohora at Sony. The speaker specifically requested that Arthur hold her songs rather than pitching them to other artists to allow her time to secure her own record deal.

• The Music Row Environment: Music Row in Nashville is compared to the Brill Building, consisting of small cottages and bungalows (now replaced by tall buildings) where groups of songwriters write in different rooms.

• Preparation and Work Ethic: The speaker would attend school and then commute $30$ minutes downtown with her mother for writing sessions. To avoid being seen as an unprepared "little kid," she would arrive with:
      * $4$ to $5$ nearly finished songs.
      * $2$ half-finished songs.
      * $10$ hooks.

• Breaking the Fourth Wall: A Nashville tradition involves making the act of writing the song part of the song itself.
      * "Tim McGraw": The bridge reveals that the narrator wrote the song in hopes the subject hears it.
      * "Our Song": The ending lyrics describe grabbing a pen and a napkin to write down the song itself.

• Plot Twists: The ending of "The Last Great American Dynasty" is cited as a favorite plot twist. The story follows a real historical woman (Rebekah Harkness) who lived at Holiday House; the twist reveals that the house, once freed of her "madness," was eventually "bought by me."

Technical Songwriting Elements and Linguistic Patterns

• Intuition and Editing: The speaker emphasizes trusting personal intuition. Notable editors and collaborators include Liz Rose and Jack Antonoff.

• Voice Memos: Everything is recorded on voice memos during stream-of-consciousness writing because melodies can be forgotten within $2$ minutes.

• Phonetic Preferences:
      * A love for alliterations and two words starting with the same letter.
      * A dislike for a word ending with the same letter that the next word begins with.
      * Example from "Our Song": The line "when you talk real low" was changed to "when you talk real slow" because "real low" felt phonetically clunky.

• Common Phrases and Modern Vernacular: The speaker enjoys repurposing or inverting classic lines and "timeless speak."
      * "The Fate of Ophelia": Uses modern terminology but repurposes a line from Hamlet: "Locked inside my memory and only you possess the key."

• Juxtaposition and Polarity: The use of opposites within a single phrase to reflect human hypocrisy and jagged personalities.
      * Example: "Hey, what could you possibly get for the girl who has everything and nothing all at once?"

Structural Innovation and The "Rant Bridge"

• The Bridge as a Cinematic Tool: While most songs are between $3.5$ and $4$ minutes, the bridge serves as a moment to "zoom back" $20$ feet to see the entire painting/story.

• Classic Nashville Structure: Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Chorus.

• The Rant Bridge: Developed with collaborator Jack Antonoff. It involves a stream-of-consciousness outpouring of emotion, intrusive thoughts, metaphors, and shouting that crescendos.
      * Examples: "Out of the Woods," "Is It Over Now," and "Cruel Summer."
      * Structure of Rant Bridge songs: Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Rant Bridge, Post-Coda, Last Chorus (often with the Rant Bridge returned over chorus chords).

• Mirrorball: Written during COVID-19 after receiving a track from Jack Antonoff. It explores the feeling of being a performer (trapeze/tightrope) when entertainment has shut down. It touches on the idea of a public figure being a mirror for others' projections.

Origin Stories and Case Studies

• Spontaneous Inspiration ("Elizabeth Taylor"): While in a car with Travis, the speaker discussed Elizabeth Taylor's passion and eyes. Upon arriving home, she immediately recorded the line "I cry my eyes violet Elizabeth Taylor."

• Collaborative Starters:
      * Aaron Dessner or Jack Antonoff may send an instrumental track for the speaker to write a "top line" (vocal melody and lyrics).
      * "New Year's Day": Sprung from a piano part Jack Antonoff began playing.

• Restoration: "All Too Well":
      * Originated as a $21$-year-old's "emotional rant" during a soundcheck for the Speak Now tour.
      * The sound guy happened to record the $10$-minute catharsis.
      * The "$10$ minute version" was later reconstructed from diaries and old fragments.

• Character Play in "Clara Bow": This song acts as a narrative about the entertainment industry's "machine."
      * The narrator is a studio or label executive.
      * Verse $1$: Speaking to Clara Bow.
      * Verse $2$: Speaking to Stevie Nicks.
      * Verse $3$: Speaking to a new artist and saying, "You look like Taylor Swift… you've got edge she never did."

Public Perception, Criticism, and Fame

• Dealing with Criticism: Criticism is used as a "creative writing prompt."
      * "Blank Space": A response to slideshows of boyfriends and media portrayals.
      * "Antihero": A response to personal criticisms and perceived personality flaws.

• The Red/Speak Now Era:
      * "Nothing New": Written at age $22$ while feeling "washed up" and grappling with the fleeting nature of fame.
      * "Speak Now": Written at $18$ or $19$ to prove authorship after a public debate regarding whether her co-writers did all the work on "Fearless."

• The "Paternity Test" of Lyrics: The speaker finds it strange when fans treat lyrics like a paternity test to figure out who a song is about, noting "that dude didn't write the song, I did."

• Advice to New Artists: The speaker advises artists not to read comments or respond to trolls in the notes app; instead, they should channeled those feelings into art.

• Numerical Standard: The entertainment industry is described as having "$10$ years for every year you're in it."