Taylor Swift recently got back from a quickie tour in Europe, as you could probably tell from the multiple photo op sightings of Swifty over the past few weeks. For some reason, I wouldn’t think that Swifty’s… er, “talent” would translate to other countries very well. I mean, I get why American girls like her music, and more importantly, I get why those girls’ moms like Swifty’s music, but it seems like Swifty isn’t really singing to a global audience. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe she’s huge in Amsterdam, Paris and Prague (?). Anyway, while she’s on tour, she doing press here and there, and now we’ve got a new interview she did with The Telegraph. I’ll admit it, at this point, I’m totally over Swifty. But she said a few things in this piece that made me like her, especially when she talked about her fans. I’ll give her an enormous amount of credit for that alone: this girl respects her fans, and she takes time for her fans. I totally respect that. Of course, the songs about boys and ponies and how many times she got dumped over the phone… I don’t respect that. The full Telegraph piece is here, and here are some excerpts:
‘I always write songs about my life,’ says Taylor Swift. ‘And if you’re horrible to me I’m going to write a song about you and you are not going to like it. That’s how I operate. I’m the only person who knows who [my songs] really are about and there’s comfort in that,’ she says with a hint of a smile.
On not wanting to promote a “sexy” image: ‘I don’t want people to think of me as sexy. It wasn’t a career decision… it’s just a life decision. I like wearing pretty dresses and I like trying out new styles but I don’t feel comfortable taking my clothes off. I wouldn’t wear tiny amounts of clothing in my real life so I don’t think it’s necessary to wear that stuff in photo-shoots.’ Do people ever try to talk her into it? ‘Not anymore, no.’
Meeting with fans for hours at a time: ‘I’ve had some hilarious conversations in those meet-and-greet lines,’ she says, laughing. ‘I’ve met many of the girls more than once. I mean, I’ve been on tour since I was 16 and I always do meet-and-greets before and after shows so you kind of build these friendships with people. I have girls come up to me and tell me exactly what’s going on in their love lives. They always come out with these bold confessions, like’ – Swift puts on the voice of a wronged, righteous woman – ‘“I’m so glad I’m at your concert tonight. My boyfriend just left me.”’ What do you say to that? ‘Um… Well, I’ll commiserate with them but it depends how they said it and how all right they seem. If they seem like they’re really upset about it then you’ve gotta give them a hug.’ Have you given many hugs? ‘Yes!’
Keeping up with fans: Her MySpace page has had 116,878,768 visitors and she has 18,869,687 Facebook ‘friends’. Does she have people looking after the sites for her? ‘No, it’s just me,’ she says, laughing when she sees my incredulous stare. ‘Yeah. I spend a bit of time online every day but it’s worth it because that’s how [the fans and I] keep in touch. And what else am I doing? I’m jet-lagged every single day and awake at 4am, so…’
Getting a job as a songwriter at the age of 14: Sony/ATV Tree asked her to join its writing team, composing songs for its artists. So her family upped sticks: her father, who is a stockbroker, her mother, who is a housewife (‘But,’ Swift says, ‘she was a working professional before that, so my parents are both really smart people’) and her younger brother, Austin, all said goodbye to Pennsylvania. She now lives ‘two blocks away from Music Row and I drive those streets every day. It’s so crazy to think that now things are a lot different.’
Needing to be in control: She doesn’t drink – ‘I worry I might come off in a way that I can’t control.’ It’s also why she doesn’t raise her voice – ‘If you’re yelling you’re the one who’s lost control of the conversation’ – and it’s the reason she called her last album ‘Speak Now’.
On her privacy: ‘I don’t typically talk in great detail about my personal life in interviews,’ she says, ‘but this album reveals a lot about my life in the last two years, things that people didn’t necessarily know before it came out. So if you’re not saying anything about certain details in interviews but you’re saying it in an album…’ You’re choosing when and where to speak? ‘Yes. So calling it “Speak Now” seemed appropriate.’
Is she writing anything at the moment? ‘I always have to be writing. I’m writing in my hotel rooms and on tour buses.’ What about? ‘Ugh,’ Swift groans. ‘Lots of different things. You’ll hear.’
[From The Telegraph]
Um, what was that part about her mother? “She was a working professional before that, so my parents are both really smart people.” Did Swifty just say that stay-at-home moms aren’t as smart as working moms? You in danger, girl! Seriously, what the hell? It seems like a totally bizarre aside about one’s mother. I think it’s the “so” that’s messing me up. “She was a working professional before that… my parents are both really smart people.” See, that’s a bit better.
Wait, isn’t Swifty’s mom super-involved in her life? Yeah, her mom is his momager, managing Swifty’s every burp, fart and song about ponies, boys and glitter. Her mom even gets a say in boyfriends, and The Jake Gyllenhaal Cuddlefest Debacle might have even been Mother Swifty’s doing. Oh, momager. Are you ever a good idea?
Oh, and this is just a random observation that I finally realized – Swifty weara false eyelashes ALL THE TIME. Like, as daywear, nightwear, going to the grocery store, she’s always wearing false eyelashes and pastel eyeshadow. THAT is what gives her the heavy-lidded, sneaky, contemptuous look (that I attribute to her).
Photos courtesy of Fame & WENN.
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