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00:11Hi! That was nice. Oh, it's great to be here. This is amazing.
00:15Now, we were talking before. You've actually been here before. Is that right?
00:18Yes, I came here, I think, about five years ago. I was 16 and just about to release my first
00:24single,
00:25Tim McGraw. We were traveling up the West Coast in a rental car in a Taurus. I was doing my
00:35homework
00:35in the backseat. I was homeschooled in 10th grade. That was when we made this trip to San Jose and
00:41came to see you guys for the first time. It's wonderful to be back here and have so many of
00:45you come out this time around. It's amazing. We're a very forward-thinking company, apparently,
00:50having you here when you're 16. So, I want to thank you for being here, first of all,
00:55from all of us. This is really an honor and a treat. Now, you're in the middle of your tour
00:59for Speak Now, and I know that you've posted some videos to your channel sort of outlining
01:05your tour and specifically your trip to Asia. And I want to show a clip from when you were
01:10in Singapore. Now, you're in Chinatown, but the Chinatown of Singapore. Is that right?
01:15Yes. We started out the year going on tour and started up in Asia, and then we were in
01:21Europe for two months. So, it was like three months of major worldwide touring. So, Singapore
01:26was the first place that we went on the tour.
01:28Cool. All right. Let's roll that clip.
01:37They're everywhere. I'm sort of fascinated by the waving cats because, you know, of course,
01:44as long as you keep fresh batteries in them, they're always going to be saying hello to you.
01:48Just always just symbolize forever, I think, these waving cats. What's better than a cat that's
01:55just always like, hey, there's nothing better than that.
02:02So, this, of course, has all the makings of a viral video. I mean, there's a big celebrity.
02:07It's a global thing. There's a cat in the video.
02:10That'll do it. I think that you just said it. That's the essential ingredient is a cat.
02:16Now, your YouTube channel is very popular. I know you have over half a million subscribers
02:20that get your vlogs when you post them, which is really cool. I wanted to ask you off the bat,
02:25how important is your channel and social media in general as a tool for expression but also
02:30for connecting with your audience?
02:32I think we've all seen the effects of social media and how that can connect people.
02:37And for me, I grew up when that was just about to set fire to the world. You know, I
02:44was,
02:44I think, in seventh and eighth grade when everybody started having a profile online and everybody
02:50was, you know, it was all about who's your friend and who's commenting on whose page.
02:54And then it became the YouTube generation where everybody's looking at videos.
02:58Everybody's making video blogs and, you know, makeup tutorials or this or that or back-to-school
03:06outfit shopping. You know, everybody is kind of catching on to communicating by making videos
03:12and learning how to edit them. And it's, I think it's fantastic because it's just a new
03:18skill set for this new generation.
03:19Mm-hmm. And I would be remiss if there were a YouTube video interview and I didn't ask
03:24you if you had any favorite, I know you're really busy, but do you have any favorite YouTube
03:26videos or channels that you like to watch?
03:30Yes. I have watched this one like three times this week because it makes me so happy. And
03:34it's got these like five or six lion cubs. And there's the lion trainer and you're like,
03:41oh, the lion cubs are cute. And they're walking around and then they jump up on the lion trainer
03:46and they start hugging him. And then they're like making all these little lion sounds that you
03:51don't know. You don't even know what the sounds are that lion cubs make, but it's amazing. It's
03:55this like, like, they're like hugging him. And he's like, oh, you always go for my hair. You keep
04:02going for my hair. And then he's like, oh, you're telling me stories.
04:05What? Where, where was this zoo? It's amazing. It's cause he's like Scottish and they're like
04:11hugging him and they love him so much. And I don't know. It's you got, just watch it.
04:17Well, I guess everybody's going to run. That's going to be popular now. Um, so, well, this
04:23isn't just our interview, right? This is also your fans interview and you have some very rabid
04:26fans of Swifties, right? I believe is how they call themselves. Um, I know, I think it's so cute.
04:31They came up with that. They're very serious by the way. They don't, they don't mess around.
04:36Um, they, uh, they submitted 30,000 questions, um, to this interview and, uh, and over, uh,
04:44So many questions. They're so curious. Yeah. So we only can do a few of them and we also have
04:49some from Google, but, um, uh, the biggest topic by far was songwriting. Cause I think that a lot of
04:54your fans have a big connection to, um, the stories that you tell in your songs. And so let's start
04:59with
04:59that topic. And this one comes from panda bear lover 13. I mean, a lot of the usernames are
05:05not meant to be read out loud. So we just have to, uh, she's, this is from Florida. Uh, which
05:10comes first for you as a songwriter, the music or the lyrics?
05:13I think for me, it, it more comes as a general idea. Um, and my favorite thing about songwriting
05:19is that it's so spontaneous and unpredictable. What's going to hit me first, whether it's going
05:24to be a general thought. Um, like for example, um, you know, I'll be going through something.
05:31Um, when I wrote the song love story, that's a song I wrote sitting on my bedroom floor because
05:36I liked a guy and my parents didn't want me to date him. And so I got this idea in
05:41my head.
05:42It just popped into my head. You were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles. And my daddy said,
05:46stay away from Juliet. And I didn't know where in the song that was going to fit, but I just
05:50started there and I built out from there. And, um, it's crazy how the fastest songs that I write
05:57end up being my favorites. Um, the ones that just happen in just a surge of idea, um, a surge
06:03of
06:03inspiration. And it's usually something I'm going through at the time. It's very hard for me to, um,
06:09come up with just some random metaphor for a situation if I'm not going through it or haven't
06:15recently just gone through it. But, um, you know, I think when I was growing up, my mom was all,
06:20my mom talks in metaphor a lot. And so I think I grew up just understanding metaphor and just kind
06:28of loving that, how you could take something you're going through and speak about it in a
06:34different way that, um, applies how you're feeling to, um, something completely different,
06:41but connects it. So, um, I think for me, it starts as an idea and a feeling and an emotion.
06:48Yeah. We had a lot of questions about, about the process from, um, budding songwriters,
06:52um, who submitted questions that are big fan of fans of yours, um, from Buffalo and a bunch of
06:57different places. And, um, I mean, you know, we're wondering, is there, uh, one favorite part of the
07:03songwriting process that you have? I mean, is it when you get that idea or when you're sitting on the
07:07floor in the bedroom or, you know, when you're in the studio, there are, there are several moments
07:12in a song. Um, and I won't finish a song if I don't have these moments where you go,
07:18Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, Ooh. Like after you write a line. Um, and it's always that same feeling of like,
07:23Oh, that's that, that's exactly what I meant. Um, you know, if you're in a co-writing session,
07:27I'm always the one who will like be like sitting there for a second and then I'll say a line.
07:33And if it's
07:34that moment where you're just like that, that's the one, that's the line. I have to have about four
07:39or five of those lines in a song for me to put it on a record. Yeah. Like lines where
07:43I'm just like,
07:46yes. Um, so that's my favorite part is then when the song goes into its phase of being recorded and
07:53then being put on an album. And when you're playing it for people for the first time, when it comes
07:56across those lines that you really feel are like, I don't know, like zingers or like say it really well.
08:02Um, I love watching people's reactions if they, if they, if it comes across, like if they get those
08:08lines, I'm like, yes, I knew it. Um, we'll, we'll get back to the co-writing thing in a second.
08:14Cause, um, there were some questions about that as well. But, um, uh, and here's another question.
08:18This is from music maniac in Los Angeles. Uh, you've said you're already writing for the next record.
08:24Can you tell us anything about it? Well, um, yeah, for me, I never, um, really switched the, the writing
08:32switch off. It's always on because I kind of have always felt like to make an album that I am
08:39proud
08:40enough of to give to my fans and, and say here, you know, allow this into your life. It has
08:46to be like,
08:46it has to be two to two and a half years of writing. And that way, you know, you have
08:51your best stuff
08:51because I'm so tough on myself. I drive myself insane writing records and albums because it's
08:57like, I'll write like 40 to 50 songs and then 13 or 14, make it. That's a lot of paring
09:04it down and
09:05making sure you're getting to the best stuff. Um, so for me, it takes a while. And, um, I've been
09:12writing ever since I stopped writing the last album and there's been a lot that's happened. And, um, I
09:18never really talk about my personal life, but I write about it. Yeah. So that's basically what the album is
09:23about as always. Yeah. Um, the unreleased thing was something that came up a lot. And one of the top
09:29voted questions, um, was about, uh, you know, would you ever make a CD of your unreleased songs? It's from
09:34Tay Swift, Fearless in, uh, Missouri. But, um, I mean, what happens to those songs that don't make it to
09:41the
09:41album? And, you know, would you ever release some of the songs you wrote, especially when you're younger,
09:44like 14, 15? Well, I'm very, I'm, I'm obsessed with the latest song that I've written. I'm very
09:52guilty of that because like my favorite thing is always the newest thing that I've written. But
09:56lately I've become a little more self-aware because I had this song that I wrote when I was 16
10:03and,
10:04um, it's called Sparks Fly. And I played it, um, in a few shows, this, these little bar shows when,
10:10you know, when I was playing to crowds of like 40 and 50 people and being psyched about that many
10:16people showing up. Um, and I played it a few times and it got on the internet. And when I
10:22was putting
10:22together the Speak Now album, the fans just kept saying over and over again, Sparks Fly, we want
10:27this to be on the record. And so I went back and I revisited it and I kind of rewrote
10:31some things
10:31and updated it. And, um, when we put it out as a single, it's, it's been one of the fastest
10:38rising
10:38songs we've had on the record. So it's kind of taught me a lesson about the old stuff, maybe
10:42possibly, uh, being good enough to put on new projects. Yeah. I'm sure there's a lot of people
10:48that would love to hear some of that stuff. Um, let's move on to some of the released songs.
10:53Um, this is a question from cookie 13 cupcake. Um, this is in the United Kingdom. This is
11:01going to be a long one. Uh, all right. So out of all your release songs, uh, which song took
11:05the longest to write?
11:07Uh, I think that, um, the song Sparks Fly, the fact that it technically was started when
11:16I was 16 and ended up on an album, uh, in sort of a different form in 2010 that took
11:23a while
11:23for it to turn into what it was going to be. Um, so I'd say that was probably the longest
11:29developing song that I've ever, um, put out because most of them, and especially having
11:35written this entire new record without any co-writers, it all happened really fast cause
11:40I'm very impatient. Like if I don't have a song finished, I'll obsess over it. I won't sleep
11:45that night and I'll just edit constantly to the point where I can't focus on a conversation
11:51and everyone around me is annoyed because they're like, clearly you're working on something.
11:54Just finish it. Um, so, um, that, that one was a long time to kind of get where it needed
12:01to be.
12:02Cool. So let's talk about that co-writer thing for a second. You, as you mentioned,
12:06this album, um, was all you, um, as far as it first speak now. Um, and, but you do often
12:12work with, with co-writers and, uh, how do you decide if you're going to write a song
12:15with a co-writer or whether you're going to tackle it yourself?
12:18Well, there are a bunch of different circumstances that could bring about a co-write. If, if I'm
12:22writing for somebody else's project, that's always exciting for me. Like I love to put myself
12:28in somebody else's shoes and, um, you know, think about their style of music incorporating
12:35their storyline, what they're feeling. It's really fun for me to do that. So I love, you know,
12:40writing for other people and, um, then, you know, if I'm working on an idea, but there's
12:46like a stopping point where I can't really figure out like where this course is going
12:51or if I'm right, if my hunch is right about the hook or things like that, if there's a
12:57definite stopping point, I'll bring it to a writer that I trust or a writer that I admire
13:01and, um, just ask them what they think. A lot of times co-writing, you know, I write really
13:08well with people who don't even play instruments or sing. Um, because, you know, a lot of times
13:13my best co-writers are just really great at giving advice. Like, do you think this course
13:20is too long? Yes. Like, thank you.
13:23Yeah. Is there anybody you're working with right now that you could talk about?
13:29Yes. Um, you know, for me since I write so much and I don't know what's going to end up
13:35on the record, it's, um, I never want to say, well, you know, wrote with this person and,
13:40because then what if it doesn't make it on the record, but, um, and then writing for some
13:44other people's projects, um, in which case I feel weird talking about it because it's
13:48like their project. So, um, so yes, but yeah.
13:52Okay.
13:53Um, this was a, a popular, uh, a lot of votes for this question. This is from Quadratic Formula
14:01in Michigan. It's appropriate for the Google.
14:04Wow.
14:05Um, do you sing your own songs in the shower?
14:13Yeah.
14:17Awesome. That's great.
14:23Um, is it, do you have like any sort of favorite place for writing songs?
14:27No, actually, I kind of have become, you have to adapt yourself to a million different
14:34places to write when you're always on the road, because I just, I don't have the luxury
14:39of, uh, saying, well, I have to be in this certain room at this certain part of town and
14:46it has to be, you know, all one color tone and there has to be smart water in there.
14:52You know, like it's just, you're never ever anywhere from more than two and a half seconds.
14:57So, you know, I've written songs in airport bathrooms on paper towels.
15:02I've written songs, which, what song was on a, on a bathroom towel at one point.
15:07Oh, it hasn't come out yet.
15:09Oh, okay.
15:10Um, you know, in the bus bunk, you'll wake up in the middle of the night and you'll have
15:14this idea. And then, so you write it and you're up at 4 AM or, you know, I get awakened
15:21by song ideas.
15:21All the time. And it's just, it's like, I wake up and I'm just like, oh, great.
15:26Because I know I won't forget, I won't remember it in the morning.
15:29So you have to record it. And then it's this whole thing where you check your phone
15:33and it's like mumbling and you don't understand, you thought it was great at the time.
15:39Yeah, actually, uh, one of our, our, our Googler questions, uh, was about, um, about you recording songs into your
15:45cell phone.
15:45Is that something that you do regularly?
15:47Yeah. The ideas, um, always end up in my phone because it has a great recording thing in there.
15:54And, um, you know, for me, it's like, you just write wherever, whenever you can.
16:00And, um, that's been really fun for me because sometimes I'll walk into a hotel room and I'll be like,
16:05I've been here.
16:07I wrote back to December here. Like it's, it's fun because you have these memories of writing songs all over
16:13the world.
16:13Yeah. Cool. Um, so I know a lot of your songs are very personal songs and, um, a lot of
16:19your fans are very interested in that stuff.
16:21But, uh, this one came from Mikayla K in South Florida. Um, has any guy asked you not to write
16:27a song about him before you went on a date?
16:32Not at that point in the relationship because at that point they're thinking that, you know, I would never have
16:40any reason to write a bad song about them.
16:42And then it's when, you know, when they start to, you know, treat me in a way that wouldn't reflect
16:50well on them in a song, if I were to be honest about it.
16:54Oh, okay. Yeah.
16:54I've had a guy be like, you're not gonna write about this, are you? I'm like, yeah, I am.
17:03I think that's interesting. That's a point in a relationship that you would have to have is this is the
17:08part where I tell her not to write a song about me, you know?
17:10Well, and you'd think that they would decide that before asking me on the date or before we become a
17:16couple or before all this stuff happens.
17:19But it only occurs to, it only, well, him, it only occurred to him when, um, when it, when he,
17:25it occurred to him that it wouldn't be a good song.
17:27I see. Um, do you always write about, um, you know, people that you know?
17:34Yeah. Um, because I feel like in a song, I, I love it when a song is a story and
17:39the story develops.
17:40And, uh, my favorite stories have really beautiful characters.
17:44And I feel like you can most accurately describe a character if you know them.
17:49Um, one of my favorite songs that I've ever, um, put out is called 15.
17:54And it's about my freshman year of high school and it kind of chronicles my best friend, Abigail and, and
18:01me and the way that we went through our freshman year of high school and the lessons we learned.
18:05And, um, that's kind of how I like to tell a story is from the point of view of really
18:10knowing what you're talking about and knowing where you're coming from because you were there.
18:14Yeah. Um, so let's actually go to another video, uh, our first video question. Um, and this one comes from
18:22Cleveland, Ohio. So let's roll it.
18:27Hey Taylor, I have a question for you. I know a lot of us can relate really strongly to your
18:33songs and your lyrics.
18:35And considering I've gotten choked up a couple of times just listening to your songs, I wonder if you ever
18:41get choked up on stage or what you're thinking about when you're on stage.
18:46She's pretty. Um, I, I'm really in it when I'm on stage and, um, you know, I go through a
18:55roller coaster of emotions when I'm performing my show because, um, these are all songs about people who have been
19:02in my life who a lot of them, some of them aren't in my life anymore.
19:06And, um, you know, sometimes that'll hit you in just the right way. And when, when an emotion hits you
19:14strongly, it doesn't matter if you're in front of 20,000 people, it hits you.
19:19And, um, you know, for me, I'm, I'm in those songs, fully feeling all of it. Um, until I hear
19:26the crowd start screaming at the end of the song, at which point I'm just like,
19:31like can't stop smiling because my favorite sound in the world is, um, the sound of thousands of people screaming
19:38all at once.
19:39It's, it's a really amazing sound. And, um, so I'm completely feeling all the sadness and frustration and anger and
19:46hurt. And then the crowd starts screaming and then everything is right in the world.
19:50Well, well, we'll talk about the tour and some of that stuff in a second. I want to ask one
19:55more Googler question about songwriting.
19:56And that was, has that process that you sort of talked about earlier, has that changed, uh, over the years?
20:02Cause, um, you know, you've grown up a lot and everybody's heard you sort of grow up.
20:06Yeah, I think it really has. I think that you can only hope that as a writer, you start trying
20:11different things and you try different chords or different structures of songs, different beats that you've never really explored that
20:18path before.
20:19Um, you know, and I think having always been a writer first, I'm obsessed with the syncopation of, of the
20:29way that words sound when they're said a certain way.
20:32And, um, once I've kind of done something once, I always want to go to a different direction and never
20:37repeat myself.
20:38So, um, as a writer, I think that I've always hoped that my music would constantly be changing because, um,
20:46you never want to make the same album twice, the same song twice.
20:50And, um, you know, my greatest hope has been that as I grow, um, my fans will grow up with
20:57me and as I change and my life changes, my music will change as well.
21:02So, um, wish me luck there.
21:05Um, let's talk about your fans a little bit more. This is a question from Canada from YouTube.
21:10Um, what was the funniest thing a fan has ever done to get your attention?
21:14Well, there's a lot of that lately because we have this thing called the tea party room.
21:18And, um, you know, I have like four or five meet and greets before the show.
21:23Um, but after the show, there's a meet and greet for surprise, uh, people who did not know that they
21:30were going to get a meet and greet.
21:31Because they were picked for the tea party room, which means that they were like going crazy, dancing the whole
21:38time, dressed in some absurd, crazy costume from one of my music videos.
21:43Or just knew every single word and were just screaming the whole time.
21:47Like people get picked for different reasons, but it's, it's been crazy lately because a lot of people have been
21:54going for the costume route.
21:56Really?
21:57So we'll look out and like my guitar player will like lean over to me and be like, that girl
22:03is dressed like a chicken.
22:06And I, and like, I'm trying to find the meaning.
22:10I don't know why, but you know, we'll look out and there's like a Santa Claus.
22:16And those, these are just the person who had a Santa Claus outfit?
22:18Or like people who've like duct taped their entire body in neon duct tape.
22:21Or people who have just like made giant cupcakes around themselves and they're like, they're this big.
22:29Or people who have like dressed up from the mean video or something like that.
22:33But then there's just these ones where like the girls dressed as like, there's like a clown and a starfish.
22:40And we're like, I don't know why, but I love it.
22:44Like, and so there's, there's been a lot of costume stuff going on lately on the tour.
22:50So if you look around and you see someone dressed up as a giant cow and you don't know why,
22:54we don't know why either.
22:55But it's, it's welcome.
22:58Now, this is a, I love Swift one from Toronto, another Canada question.
23:02Has a fan ever made you cry?
23:06Yeah.
23:08You know, for me, like, it's never going to be okay, no matter how many times I see little kids
23:15with cancer.
23:16Like there's, there's at no point do you ever become accustomed to it.
23:21At no point do you ever just brush it off and say, oh, well, there's another kid who's dying.
23:26You know, and I, over the years I've toured in these places and you see like a little girl who
23:33come through and she's like so full of life, but she's lost her hair.
23:38Um, and then you come through a year later and you're like, hey, Lexi, how are you doing?
23:43She's like, I'm doing good.
23:45And then they, her parents update you and, and then you come by like a year and a half later
23:49and she's not there.
23:50So it's.
23:52Yeah.
23:53Yeah.
23:54Um, you have all these fans, uh, all over the world of all different ages and types.
23:59And, uh, you know, when you were young, did you think there would be any other career paths that you
24:03were going to take that you might not have ended up in this way?
24:06Yeah.
24:06I mean, ever since I was a little kid, ever since I was like eight years old, my dad has
24:11been telling me to save my money or invest in utilities.
24:17Um, and, uh, cause my dad is a stock broker and he lives and breathes it.
24:22I mean, he's like, my dad is so passionate about what he does in the way that I'm passionate about
24:27music.
24:27This guy lives for being a stock broker.
24:31That is his thing.
24:33Like, and anybody who talks to him, like he'll talk about me for the first five minutes and then it's
24:39like, well, say, what are you investing in?
24:41Like, and I mean, it's just like, he loves it.
24:44And so I thought like, I didn't know what a stock broker was when I was eight, but I would
24:49just tell everybody that's what I was going to be.
24:50Like, you know, it would be at like, you know, first day of school.
24:54And they're like, so what do you guys want to be when you grow up?
24:57And everybody's like, I want to be an astronaut or like, I want to be a ballerina.
25:00I'm like, I'm going to be a financial advisor.
25:05And I don't know.
25:07I, I love my dad so much because he's so gung ho for his job.
25:10And I just saw how happy it made him.
25:13And I just thought like, I can broke stocks.
25:16Like Taylor Swift, commodities trader.
25:20All right, let's talk about music videos for a second.
25:22There's a lot of questions about your music videos.
25:24As I mentioned before, the music videos that you have on YouTube have been seen over half a billion times.
25:30Was there, what was your favorite music video to make and why?
25:33That's from Sophie Carey in London.
25:36My favorite music video to make.
25:38Um, okay.
25:39Well, I love, um, I loved making the video for mine because it dealt with this whole storyline.
25:45And it's like got flashbacks and flash forwards.
25:49And, uh, there were also a bunch of little kids on the set and they're so fun.
25:53They make it so much fun because, um, there's a lot of sitting around and waiting on, um, sets.
25:59And we were in Maine, so we're sitting around and waiting on a beach.
26:03And so all of a sudden you're just playing with like 10 kids and they're like wrestling with each other
26:08and throwing sand and like playing catch.
26:10And it just makes the whole thing much more fun.
26:13Um, so I think that was my favorite one to make.
26:16Yeah.
26:17Were there any cool locations or anything, um, from any of those videos?
26:20Well, yeah, we went to Kennebunkport, Maine, which was this little town that I've always dreamed of going to.
26:25And so shooting a video there was amazing.
26:27It's this little coastal town and it was, it was really awesome.
26:30I loved it.
26:31Yeah.
26:32Um, so let's talk about the tour for a second.
26:35Um, you're in the middle of the Speak Now tour.
26:37And, um, very famously you've had some really cool, uh, surprise duets, um, that you've done.
26:42And, uh, you also do, um, some very classic, uh, you do covers of some classic songs, um, all the
26:48time pretty much every night.
26:49How do you choose, uh, what covers you'll end up doing in any particular concert?
26:54Well, I, um, I go online and I just kind of Google like what people, uh, what famous musicians are
27:01from a certain area.
27:02And, um, I just pick my favorites because, you know, I've, I've loved so many different kinds of music and
27:10I've never really been genre specific as far as what I listen to.
27:13So there's always like a favorite song of mine for, from a certain area.
27:17And, um, you know, it's really fun to do like a few every night.
27:22Like, you know, in California I do like God Only Knows by the Beach Boys and then Sweet Escape by
27:29Gwen Stefani.
27:29It's like, it's just been really, really fun because it's just me and my guitar during the acoustic set.
27:35And you can just do whatever because it's just you and your instrument.
27:39It's a really spontaneous part of the show.
27:41Yeah.
27:41Have you done any particularly unusual ones?
27:44Yeah.
27:46Um, you know, it's kind of unusual, unusual when I rap.
27:53You know, people don't really like, I, I guess people don't see that coming, but I, I love Lose Yourself.
27:59And so, um, we were in an area where we were like, I think we were in Michigan and I
28:05just started, like, I started playing acoustically Lose Yourself.
28:09And I just started off with like, yo.
28:11And everybody's just like, what is happening?
28:14This is really weird.
28:15But, um, I just, I love a great song.
28:18I don't care what genre it's in.
28:20And I don't care if it's completely opposite from what people think is, you know, country music.
28:25And I just, I love a great song.
28:27Yeah.
28:28Um, one of the, uh, Googler questions that we got, um, was about, uh, which song of yours, um, is
28:36the most fun for you to perform?
28:38Um, I really like Better Than Revenge.
28:41It's a song off of the album Speak Now.
28:43And, um, it's about a girl who stole my boyfriend.
28:48And I got mad.
28:51And I wrote a song about it.
28:53And, um, we do this, like, just, it's just furious and angry and fun.
29:00And, like, we have this gigantic bridge that drops down from the ceiling.
29:04And me and my, my two backup singers are on the bridge just, like, throwing our hair around and headbanging.
29:11Um, and so that's a really fun one to do.
29:13And, um, for me, they're all, they're all really, I think Dear John has a fun payoff.
29:20Yeah.
29:20Um, if you go see the show, I really love singing that because in the end it's got this, you
29:25know, pyro-filled payoff in the end.
29:29Would you say those are two of the songs to get the crowd going the most or are there other
29:32ones?
29:33Um, I'd say, you know, you gotta come to a show because the crowds are really kind of steadily, ear
29:42-piercingly loud throughout the whole show.
29:45They're amazing.
29:46Like, it's really hard to gauge, like, which is the moment that, that they're the loudest because they're just really,
29:52really loud.
29:54All the time.
29:56Um, here's a, a, a funny question.
29:58This is from Allie Law in, um, Dunlap, Tennessee.
30:02Uh, you seem like the kind of person that would name their guitars.
30:06Do you name your guitars and what are their names?
30:08I do seem like that kind of person, but I, I haven't done it yet.
30:11I kind of think back on, um, the situations when I got them.
30:16Like, when, when I fell in love with that particular guitar.
30:19Like, there's one of my guitars, it's an acoustic and it's blue and it's got koi fish swimming up the
30:25neck.
30:26Mm-hmm.
30:26And, like, inlays.
30:27It's just beautiful.
30:28And it was, um, Bob Taylor sent it to me for my 18th birthday.
30:32Oh, wow.
30:32So I remember the first time I, like, opened up this guitar case and I'm just like,
30:36there's fish on the guitar.
30:38It's like this gorgeous guitar.
30:41And, um, so that's what I remember about that.
30:43And then there's this sparkly guitar that I play that has hundreds of tiny little crystals on it.
30:50And it looks like we had it specially made, but really we just glued them on.
30:54Oh, really?
30:55Yeah.
30:56And, and sometimes little ones fall, they fall off.
30:59And so we'll have to super glue more on with tweezers.
31:03Mm-hmm.
31:03Um, so that's always what cracked me up about that because it's like, everyone's like,
31:08where did you have your guitar specially made?
31:10I'm like, super glue.
31:13Like...
31:13Um, how many, how many guitars do you use in a show?
31:16How many of those do you go through?
31:17Oh, okay.
31:18Well, um, that was a weird sound I just made.
31:21That was weird.
31:22Sorry.
31:23Um, the first one is electric.
31:26The second one is acoustic koa.
31:33Then there's the 12 string.
31:34Then there's the blue koi fish one.
31:37And then there's like four or five.
31:40Yeah.
31:40Wow.
31:41And then there's a ukulele and a ganjo.
31:43Of course.
31:44And a piano.
31:44Yeah.
31:45Yeah.
31:46Um, obviously you're on tour a lot and you, um, you're, that's where you spend a lot of
31:53your time.
31:54Um, but there were a lot of questions about what you do when you're not performing and you're
31:58in between gigs besides writing songs, um, like you do.
32:01Um, and so, you know, I guess first question, are there any movies that you like to watch while
32:06you're, um, on tour?
32:07I, I watch a lot of TV, like a lot of TV.
32:12Um, and my favorites are like the crime shows where it starts out and, you know, you can't
32:18miss the first scene or else you miss like the discovery of this crime scene.
32:22And, and then, you know, the, the like twists and turns of it all.
32:25I love, um, CSI, uh, Law and Order SVU, Without a Trace, NCIS, uh, Lock Up Raw.
32:35I'm like...
32:36Uh, wow.
32:37I just am really afraid of getting in trouble.
32:39You have no idea.
32:42All right.
32:42So that's who watched his Lock Up.
32:43It's Taylor Swift actually.
32:45Yeah.
32:46That's awesome.
32:47Uh, no.
32:47Um, but also, uh, one of the questions that we got was about what books that you read,
32:52um, in your free time.
32:54Oh, mostly history.
32:56I'm obsessed with other time periods and like, I just, I'm always looking up museums or like,
33:03the historical society or, um, like historical landmarks that we can go to in a particular
33:08city where we are.
33:10Um, and recently I've been reading a lot of books on like John Adams and Abraham Lincoln.
33:15And, um, I read this like 750 page book called The Kennedy Women.
33:19And it dates back to like the, the, the lineage of, um, the first Kennedy, um, woman who came
33:27across from Ireland on the boat and like the 1860s.
33:30And it's just this crazy interesting read.
33:33Um, so that's what I've been reading lately.
33:36I'm, I'm sort of obsessed with history.
33:38Yeah.
33:38Well, let's talk about books for a second.
33:40One of the questions that we got actually from one of the, uh, future Googlers, uh,
33:45in the, in the audience, uh, was that about how you wrote a novel when you were 11 years
33:49old.
33:50I was 14.
33:5214?
33:53No, wait.
33:54You were younger?
33:55I was like 13, I think.
33:57Yeah, but I did.
33:59I was, um, I was, I have a lot of different epiphanies.
34:03I'm always have different ideas as to like, Ooh, you know, this would be a good idea.
34:08And, um, one summer I was, um, I was at the shore.
34:12We used to spend our summers in Stone Harbor, New Jersey, and all my friends were back in
34:16Pennsylvania.
34:16And so I had nothing to do.
34:18And so I had this epiphany.
34:19I'm going to be a novelist.
34:21Um, and I'm going to write novels and that's going to be my career path.
34:24Um, and, uh, so I would write different chapters of this book and send them back to my friends.
34:32And, um, I'd write them into the, into the book under different names, but totally describe
34:37their personalities.
34:38And, um, it was a really fun way to spend the summer.
34:41And my parents were so frustrated cause I would never go outside.
34:44I'd just be like locked in this little study with my computer.
34:47Um, but I've always been a writer first.
34:49It's, it's my favorite thing is how you can convey a thought or a story or completely
34:55distract, describe a character or a situation through words and the right combination of
35:01words and the whole process of editing and re-editing and rethinking and imagining.
35:06And you get these little mini, um, just epiphany ideas that come to you.
35:13And, um, I think that that's what I loved about writing the novel and that's what I love
35:17about poetry and it's what I love about songwriting.
35:19Yeah.
35:21Um, and, uh, while we're on this topic of things you do while you're on, you're on tour
35:24and, and, and stuff, we had a lot of questions about what it is that you like to do, um,
35:28when
35:28you're on tour and you're not performing.
35:30Is there any other things that you like to spend your time doing?
35:33What I love to do, um, you know, I, I watch a lot of TV.
35:39Mm-hmm.
35:39Right.
35:40Crime shows.
35:41Yeah.
35:42Crime shows.
35:42That's pretty much the, the hobby list.
35:45Uh, so we, uh, have another question from a Googler here.
35:50Um, and, uh, this is, it says, uh, as a father of a teenage daughter, it's great to see that
35:55solid songwriting and hard work can get recognized.
35:58Do you have any advice for young aspiring musicians?
36:01Absolutely.
36:02I think that, um, you have to love it more than anything else.
36:06And you have to love it for so many more reasons other than your idea of what the end result
36:11could be.
36:12Like you don't make an album so that you can get a platinum record to hang on your wall.
36:17Right.
36:17And you don't go on tour so that you can, um, hang the sold out plaques up in, you know,
36:25your bedroom.
36:25It's like, it's, it's so many little stepping stones and so many people have this idea that
36:31it's like you get discovered and then you get the record deal and then you record the
36:35song and then the song goes number one.
36:38And then, you know, and it's like, it's never like that.
36:40Like it very rarely is it like one thing leads to another, which leads to another end result.
36:46It's, it's so many dead ends and switching directions and going back and replanning and
36:52rethinking.
36:53And so many interviews and strategy meetings and management meetings and PR meetings.
36:59And so many things that are so outside of music that you have to love music so much that
37:06just your hour and a half to two hours on stage every night is worth everything else that you're
37:11going to go through.
37:12Um, and also I would say play your own instrument cause it's easier than dragging around like a
37:17karaoke machine, you know, like when you're starting out, you have to provide your own
37:22background music and it's just so much easier to play your own instrument.
37:26Okay, cool.
37:28Um, all right.
37:28So we're gonna, we have one last question.
37:30This is a, um, this is a video question, another video question.
37:33And, uh, it comes from Chicago, Illinois.
37:35It's a little bit different than some of the questions we've been talking about.
37:38Um, so let's roll that.
37:40Hey Taylor.
37:42It's Nick.
37:42Um, I have a question for you.
37:44What does being beautiful mean to you?
37:47I mean, define your definition of beauty, what beauty means in your eyes and why?
37:55Oh, I love him.
37:57Um, I think for me, beauty is sincerity.
38:01I think that there are so many different ways that someone can be beautiful.
38:07You know, someone's so funny that they're, it makes them beautiful no matter how they
38:11look because they're sincere in it.
38:13Um, or somebody is like really emotional and like moody and thoughtful and stoic, but
38:18that makes them beautiful because that's sincerely who they are.
38:21Or you look out into the crowd and you see someone so happy that they're smiling from ear
38:27to ear and that sincerity comes through.
38:29Um, I think that's what makes somebody beautiful.
38:31And I've never, uh, felt like there's just one way to be beautiful, you know, tall or short,
38:39straight hair or curly or, or, or whatever.
38:41Some people have their definitions of their types.
38:44You know, for me, I think that when I meet someone and there's that magical thing about
38:51them that makes them unforgettable, it's that they're sincere and honest in whoever they are.
38:57Be that funny, happy, sad, you know, going through a rough time, sarcastic.
39:04I think that these personality traits that come through when somebody is really sincere
39:08is what makes them beautiful.
39:10Cool. I think that's a great note to end this on.
39:13Um, since this is a YouTube interview, there's a, there's sort of a tradition that we have.
39:18Um, that, uh, where, where are they? Oh, there they are.
39:24So, you, it's honorary for me to give you a pair of the YouTube tube socks.
39:32Um, and, uh, I'm sure you're going to be able to...
39:40I can wear these with sandals and...
39:41You're going to be wearing those.
39:43They're going to look so great.
39:45They'll be really great for you on tour.
39:47Um, now we actually, uh, some, we handed out some tube socks to people that were coming in,
39:51who got tube socks, uh, here.
39:54So, uh, we actually, there's a thing inside.
39:57Uh, everybody that, all of you guys that got tube socks,
39:59you're actually getting tickets to Taylor's show tonight.
40:02So...
40:02I will see you later.
40:05So, uh, let's hear it one more time for Taylor Swift.
40:07Thank you for being here.
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