TAYLOR SWIFT EXCLUSIVE
The star’s huge year
It’s hard to believe Taylor Swift has turned 30. A decade ago she became the youngest person to take home the Album of the Year Grammy. Now the singersongwriter, who celebrated her milestone birthday on December 13, is breaking records – and her silence – like never before. Just before she released her seventh studio album, Lover, in August, she took on her former record label Big Machine and its new owner Scooter Braun over the rights to her previous recordings.
With the dawn of a new decade and a coming tour, Swift, who is happily three years into her relationship with actor Joe Alwyn, is as excited about her future as she is protective of her past.
“This is the first time I’ve been able to put out music that I feel is connecting with people yet look back on everything I’ve made and feel a quiet sense of pride,” she says. “I’m proud of the things I’ve withstood, and I’ve been able to carve out a life for myself.”
You’ve had a lot of big years, but this one was a little different?
This year feels more special to me than any before it. A lot of people will tell you that when they had their breakthrough year, they weren’t able to enjoy it because they were hustling or stressed. 2009 was a breakthrough year for me in country, then 2014 was a big year in pop. Fifteen years into doing this, being able to look around and acknowledge that it’s special, I’m really stoked this moment can happen when I’m 30. That’s one of the benefits of starting when you’re 12!
Were you feeling creatively supercharged for Lover?
I had this strange feeling of ‘I could write anything I want now’. There was so much theatricality in the darkness of Reputation. It was secretly a love story, but was also filled with angst, rebellion and this vengeful taking back of your life. Lover ended up being the album [where I was no longer] answering to something. In the past I’ve definitely used my criticism as a jumping-off point for creativity. With Reputation I’d said everything I needed to say.
What would 13-year-old Taylor say about Lover?
This is the most I’ve ever leaned into who I really am. For this album
“I’ve always found romance in life’s small moments”
I went through my old diaries as a kid. I’ve always found romance in life’s small moments, tiny details that are beautiful. Lover, in a lot of ways, is that.
Do you feel more protective of yourself these days?
In this job people are constantly sceptical and evaluating whether you deserve to be there. There are tests every day, but I try to be susceptible to my feelings on it and be resilient, but I don’t ever want to become closed off in a way that I can’t access sadness, loneliness, anxiety and despair.
The best thing I have to offer people is the music I write.
Your Change.org petition in support of gender equality has nearly 600,000 signatures, and your 'You Need to Calm Down' music video, featuring many LGBTQ+ stars, has more than 164 million views. Was it gratifying to see these numbers after finally breaking your political silence?
When you advocate for something, it has to be completely disconnected from what people say about you advocating for it.
‘It’s been a huge positive change in my life realising what I have to provide’
That being said, when numbers do come in that are promising and petitions are signed in the hundreds of thousands, it’s a good feeling. It reinforces your feeling that there really is good in the world.
Has speaking out, whether about politics or owning the rights to all your songs before Lover, made you feel stronger at the end of the day?
It makes me feel like my fans are able to know me more. What I believe in and what people know I believe in are aligned. That’s a great sense of relief. When Lover came out, it was this sense of being so thankful that after so long of being denied the rights to music that I made, I finally felt like I was in a place where I had aligned myself with generous people. The label that I’m at now, there’s not a single person in that sphere that wants to deny me of what I created. It’s nice to know I can say what I believe in and disconnect from if people don’t like that. And I can sleep really well at night.
How do you feel about turning 30 and the next few years?
Really happy! There are certain parts of my brain that I don’t visit as often, like stressing out about my body, stressing out about being on-trend, stressing out about people thinking I’m cool, stressing out about people thinking really anything about me. You have to toss out things that don’t serve you.
Can you remember the last really great day off that you had?
Oh, yesterday was amazing. My friend Cazzie [David] came over, and we swam. My friends and their kids were staying with me, so I was playing with a 3 and a 5-year-old. Then I picked a paint colour for my living room wall, which is really gonna warm up the whole vibe. My parents and my brother came over, and I cooked this whole dinner. Cooking, reading and seeing friends are things that make me feel like my life was never anything but normal, so I spend a lot of time doing those things. I just want to make sure I’m living my life in a way that makes me feel happy and fulfilled.