Spotlight Artist: Taylor Swift

So, who exactly is Taylor Swift?

Queen Tay Tay, better known as Taylor Swift, (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer songwriter from Tennessee. Her music is best known for it’s story-like quality, usually centered around her personal life and experiences. At 14 years old, Taylor became the youngest artist signed by Sony/ATV and, at 15 years old, signed her first record deal. Having sold more than 50 million albums and 150 million singles across the globe, Taylor’s one of the world’s best-selling music artists of all time. She is the proud owner of 10 Grammys, an Emmy, 29 AMAs, 23 Billboard Music Awards and, most importantly, her 3 cats, Meredith Grey, Olivia Benson, and, newest addition, Benjamin Button, all of whom are seen in the ME! music video.

In November 2019, Swift was included on Billboard‘s Greatest of All Time Artists Chart at number eight, the highest placement for an act that debuted in the 21st century. On January 23 2020, Miss Americana premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was released on Netflix on January 31 to positive reviews. In February 2020, Swift signed an exclusive global publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group, after her sixteen-year old contract with Sony/ATV expired. 

In August 2019, Taylor announced plans to re-record all her albums owned by Big Machine Records label in November 2020 due to the acquisition of Big Machine Records by a third party, which she sharply criticized, stating she had been trying to buy the masters to her music for years

Music to date? 

To date, Taylor has released 7 studio albums, 1 Live album, 1 compilation album, 5 EPs, 58 singles and 44 music videos. Here, we would like to note that we have disregarded the ‘Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008’ Live album as it was released on April 23rd 2020 by Big Machine Records without approval from Taylor, who denounced it on her social media platforms.

Taylor’s 2006 self-titled debut album, Taylor Swift, was the longest charting album of the 2000s in the US. Followed by Fearless in 2008 which crossed over into pop for singles like ‘Love Story’ and ‘You Belong With Me’, it won 4 Grammys and was certified Diamond by the RIAA.

Both Speak Now (2010) and Red (2012) sold over a million copies in their first weeks in the US and Red also included her first Billboard Hot 100 Number 1 single, ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.’ 1989 became Taylor’s first entirely pop album and won 3 Grammys including Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Music Video for ‘Bad Blood’ and included the iconic singles ‘Shake It Off’ and ‘Blank Space’. Reputation (2017), made her the only act to have four albums sell one million copies each in their first week in the US and yielded her fifth number-one song on the Hot 100, “Look What You Made Me Do“. Her most recent album, Lover (2019), became the best-selling studio album worldwide in 2019 and included the singles ‘You Need To Calm Down’ and ‘The Man’.

How many times has she been to Ireland and fun memories? 

To date Taylor has brought three World Tours to Ireland: Speak Now, 1989 and Reputation. While the entire world waits for the Lover era to get its moment (a world tour), let’s dive into two of the tours mentioned previously. 

Speak Now Tour 27th March 2011: 

The first tour Taylor brought to Ireland and by gosh were we excited. My fondest memory was during her very first song that she did. It’s my favourite Taylor Swift song of all time – ‘Sparks Fly’ . I just remember not being able to sing along until “I run my fingers through your hair…” As I was literally beaming with tears welling up in my eyes and pinching myself that it was all really happening. It was an out of body experience that first song! 

I missed the 1989 tour in Ireland because I was working in America that Summer. 

Reputation Tour 15th June 2018: 

Reputation Tour, this tour had to be the icing on the cake. At the time the ticket prices were incredibly expensive and with everything that was going on in my life at that moment; I couldn’t afford to go. It seemed the entire of Ireland were running competitions for tickets, I entered A LOT of them. I wasn’t lucky enough to win them but, my friend Kathryn was and she brought it! I will forever be grateful. It was a stadium tour and were had seats on the pitch. The highlight of the night was Taylor coming out to a little stage right by our seats and the picture below. That isn’t zoomed in. I took that while, helping a little girl sit on the railing so she could see properly. As much fun as I had that night nothing will come near to the happy feeling I got for making that little girl’s first gig extra special! 

Although tour memories hold a dear place in our hearts, when it comes to Taylor it is the small things that leave a big impact. From planning out the subtle T-Swift reference in your tour outfits to drawing 13 on your hand and making a lyric t-shirt. Some of our favourite memories with a music artist are with Taylor.

Reading the lyric books closely to find the hidden meanings hidden within the songs. Let’s be real, this one will be top of the list for many Swifties. My favourite memory of this was with the Red Album. I got up really early to stop into OMG Zhivago in Galway at 9am to pick up the album before heading for a lecture at my university at 10am. I spent half an hour finding the hidden messages within the lyrics before class. 

When it comes to fun memories, Taylor Swift and Swifties; you have to mention the online forms. Taylor Connect was an amazing website that I (Niamh) found amazing to connect with fans from all around the world when I didn’t know many fans of Taylor in my day to day life. 

Niamh-Enchanted-To-Meet-You was my username back in the day. 

For me (Emma), even though I’ve never been able to see Taylor live, I think my favourite memory involving Taylor’s music was having my phone plugged into the radio of the car while my older brother was driving. Shake It Off came on and my brother was singing along to every word (including the “hey hey hey just think…” section). That’s how I realised my brother is a closet Swiftie when it comes to Taylor’s singles. 

How Long have you been a fan of Taylor Swift?

E: I found Fearless in a music store in around 2010ish and I recognized Love Story among the list of song titles so I picked up the album and Tay Tay has been a queen in my eyes ever since. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait very long for a new album.

N: I am a big fan of tuning into American Country music radio stations online. One day back in 2009, I heard ‘Our Song’ for the very first time from doing this. One song and a few YouTube searches later and boom; my love for Taylor’s music was born. 

Top 5 favourite Taylor Swift songs: 

E: 5. …Ready For It? 4. Out of The Woods 3. Wonderland 2. Style 1. The Story of Us

N: 5. Long Live. 4. Paper Rings. 3. Superman. 2. Stay Stay Stay. 1. Sparks Fly

Most underrated Taylor Swift song? 

E: ‘All You Had To Do Was Stay’ – I adore this song and never hear enough about it.

N: ‘Starlight’ – honestly this song is stunning and so sweet. It’s one that should be found at weddings. 

Favourite Taylor Swift music video? 

E: ME! – just the perfect summation of the Lover era, pastels everywhere and with snakes turning into butterflies. When I saw this video, I got so excited to see what the Lover era had waiting for us. Plus I think Taylor was absolutely every Swiftie when she said “JE SUIS CALME!”

N: Look What You Made Me Do – This one still makes me giggle watching it, trying to take in all the little things while thinking Taylor you absolute genius… Also, ‘What Are You Doing?’ ‘Getting Receipts!’ 

Which album is your favourite?

E: For me, the choice was between reputation and 1989 and it came down to which album has the most overall listens and the songs that I just can’t live without so my winner is 1989!

N: For this one I had to write out each of the albums and find out which album had the songs I adored most. So *Drum Roll Please* Speak Now – Deluxe Edition. Deluxe Edition because that one holds three songs I adore: ‘Superman’, ‘Ours’, ‘If This Was A Movie’. 

Favourite Movie Song of Taylor’s?

E: ‘Crazier’

N: ‘Today Was A Fairytale’ 

What is your favourite song off each album?

E:      Taylor Swift: ‘A Place in This World’

          Fearless: ‘Hey Stephen’ 

          Speak Now: ‘Mean’

          Red: ‘Red’

          1989: ‘How You Get The Girl’

          Reputation: ‘Delicate’

          Lover: ‘I Forgot That You Existed’

N:      Taylor Swift: ‘I’m Only Me When I’m With You’

          Fearless: ‘You Belong With Me’

          Speak Now: ‘Sparks Fly’

          Red: ‘Stay Stay Stay’

          1989: ‘Wonderland’

          Reputation: ‘Gorgeous’

          Lover: ‘Paper Rings’

Favourite lyrics? 

E: “Cause, darling, I’m a nightmare dressed like a daydream”

N: “Love Is A Ruthless Game Unless You Play It Good And Right”