Taylor Swift is the eponymous debut studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Under Big Machine Records, it was released in North America on October 24, 2006, and elsewhere on March 18, 2008. Swift had signed with Sony/ATV Tree publishing house in 2004, at age 14, to pursue a career as a country musician. Her contract with Big Machine Records in 2005 enabled her to work on the album during her second year of high school.
Swift is credited as a writer on all 11 of the album's tracks, three of which solely; Robert Ellis Orrall, Brian Maher, Angelo Petraglia, and Liz Rose have co-writing credits. Drawing on her personal life, the songs reflect Swift's outlook on life as a teenager, dealing with romantic relationships, friendships, and insecurity. Produced by Orrall and Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift is a country record with pop and pop rock elements, incorporating acoustic instruments such as guitars, banjos, and fiddles.
Five singles supported Taylor Swift, including the Hot Country Songs number-ones "Our Song" and "Should've Said No", and Swift's first top-15 entry on the Billboard Hot 100, "Teardrops on My Guitar". Swift promoted the album through social network Myspace, which journalists found atypical for a country musician's marketing strategy. She embarked on a six-month radio tour in 2006 and opened tours for other country artists throughout 2006 and 2007. Critics praised the album's mainstream sensibility and Swift's songwriting at a young age for earnestly depicting adolescent sentiments. Taylor Swift was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2008 Academy of Country Music Awards.
The album spent 24 weeks at number one on Top Country Albums and peaked at number five on the Billboard 200, where it became the longest-charting album of the 2000s decade. Certified seven times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), it made Swift the first solo female country artist to write or co-write every song on a platinum debut album. Journalists attributed Taylor Swift's success to Swift's online marketing via Myspace, which ushered in a younger demographic in-country audiences who had mainly consisted of middle-aged listeners. The album's crossover appeal shaped the country pop style of Swift's next two albums, and its autobiographical narratives about love and heartbreak inspired a subsequent generation of singer-songwriters.
Background
Swift developed an early interest in the performing arts.[1][2] After watching a documentary about country singer Faith Hill, Swift felt sure she needed to move to Nashville, Tennessee—widely regarded as the home of country music[3][4]—to pursue a career as a country singer.[5] At age eleven, Swift traveled to Nashville with her mother to pitch demo tapes of karaoke covers to record labels for a contract.[6][7] She was rejected because record labels believed country music's middle-aged demographic would not listen to music by a teenage girl, which Swift firmly disbelieved.[8][9]
Returning to her hometown in Pennsylvania, Swift realized she had to distinguish herself from other aspiring country singers.[8] To this end, at age 12, she started writing songs herself and learned to play the guitar with the help of a computer repairman who had fixed her family's computer on one occasion.[9] Swift's love for country music alienated her from her peers.[10] Her performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the 2003 US Open caught the attention of music manager Dan Dymtrow, who helped 13-year-old Swift get an artist development deal with RCA Records in Nashville.[11] To assist Swift's artistic endeavors, her father transferred his job to Nashville, and her family relocated to Hendersonville, a city close to Nashville, in 2004.[12][13]
Development and production
Among Swift's inspirations were 1990s female country musicians—Shania Twain, the Chicks, Faith Hill, and LeAnn Rimes.[14] She signed with the Sony/ATV Tree publishing house at age 14 to become a professional songwriter, the youngest signee in its history.[15] After the signing, Swift commuted from Hendersonville to Nashville every afternoon to practice with experienced Music Row songwriters.[16]Liz Rose became an important collaborator and formed a lasting working relationship with Swift in her future career.[17] Swift had productive sessions with Rose because she respected Swift's vision and did not want to put her in the "Nashville cookie-cutter songwriting mold".[18] Rose spoke highly of Swift's songwriting abilities: "Basically, I was just her editor...She had such a clear vision of what she was trying to say. And she'd come in with the most incredible hooks."[19]
After one year on RCA's development deal, Swift was held off an official record deal; she felt the label was not confident in her self-written material.[20][21] Swift parted ways with RCA: "I figured if they didn't believe in me then, they weren't ever going to believe in me."[11] She recalled in 2009 in The Daily Telegraph: "I genuinely felt that I was running out of time. I wanted to capture these years of my life on an album while they still represented what I was going through."[22] At an industry showcase at Nashville's Bluebird Café in 2005, Swift caught the attention of Scott Borchetta, a DreamWorks Records executive who was preparing to form an independent record label, Big Machine Records. She had first met Borchetta in 2004.[23] Swift became one of Big Machine's first signings, and her father purchased a three-percent stake in the company.[24]
Of the standard edition's eleven songs, Swift is the sole writer of three and a co-writer of eight. Rose shares the writing credit on seven. Robert Ellis Orrall and Angelo Petraglia co-wrote "A Place in This World", and Brian Maher co-wrote "Mary's Song (Oh My My My)".[25] After experimenting with different producers, Swift persuaded Big Machine to recruit Nathan Chapman, who had produced her demo album in a "little shed" behind the Sony/ATV offices.[7][26] Big Machine was skeptical about hiring Chapman because he had never produced a commercially released studio album, but ultimately agreed because Swift felt they had the "right chemistry".[7] Before approaching Chapman, Swift conceptualized how her songs should sound: "I know exactly where I want the hook to be and ... what instruments I want to use."[27] Chapman was confident in Swift's abilities, saying that she "knows what she wants to say with her music".[27] He has sole production credits on all songs but one, "The Outside", on which he is credited as an additional producer, and Orrall as the main producer.[7] Recording took place for four months near the end of 2005.[7] When the recording and production wrapped, Swift had finished her first high school year.[28]
Composition
Lyrics
Swift wrote Taylor Swift from her personal life experiences as a teenager. While she adhered to the confessional songwriting associated with country music, she did not write about stereotypical themes such as "tractors and hay bales because that's not really the way I grew up".[29] She instead wrote about her observations and reflections on matters from romantic relationships to friendships, striving to convey her teenage perspectives as honestly and personally as possible.[30] Because her inspirations came from immediate feelings and emotions, Swift wrote songs anytime and anywhere, from studio sessions to school breaks.[17] This practice resulted in straightforward lyrics, which The Daily Telegraph noted were "brimming with an earnest naiveté".[31]
The songs on Taylor Swift are from the perspectives of a girl in an American small town, within the bounds from high school hallways to rural backroads; Billboard noted that Swift's personal thoughts within a small confinement fostered a contemplative nature.[32] Most songs on the album are about romantic relationships, some of which were based on Swift's observations rather than real experiences.[7][16] The lead single and first track, "Tim McGraw", was inspired by Swift's relationship with a senior boyfriend during her first year of high school. The song is about Swift's hope that the boyfriend, after ending the relationship and leaving for college, would reminisce about her every time he hears their mutual favorite Tim McGraw song;[33] according to Swift, "Tim McGraw" was inspired by McGraw's 2004 song "Can't Tell Me Nothin'".[34] Swift wrote "Our Song" for her high school talent show.[35] She talked about the inspiration: "I wrote it about this guy I was dating, and how we didn't have a song. So I went ahead and wrote us one."[36]
The songs "Picture to Burn" and "Should've Said No" depict a vengeful attitude toward those who do not reciprocate the protagonist's feelings;[39] on "Picture to Burn", Swift sings about burning photographic evidence of an ex-boyfriend's existence.[40] The original version included the lyrics, "Go and tell your friends that I'm obsessive and crazy / That's fine; I'll tell mine you're gay."[38] On the radio edit and subsequent versions, Swift modified the lyric to "That's fine; You won't mind if I say."[41] Heartbreak is another aspect Swift explored—"Teardrops on My Guitar" was about her experience with a classmate whom she had feelings for, but this classmate was in love with someone else.[40] On "Cold as You", Swift laments a fruitless relationship: "I've never been anywhere cold as you." She said it was her favorite song lyrically on the album: "I love a line in a song where afterward you're just like... burn."[38]
In other songs, Swift sings about insecurity and self-consciousness. "The Outside", which Swift wrote at age 12, describes the loneliness she felt when her love of country music alienated her from her peers.[42] In a similar sentiment, "A Place in This World" expresses Swift's uncertainty about where she truly belongs.[32] Swift wrote "Tied Together with a Smile" the day she learned one of her best friends had an eating disorder.[43] The lyrics describe a girl hiding her inner turbulence; Swift commented, "I always thought that one of the biggest overlooked problems American girls face is insecurity."[43]
Elements of crossover pop are apparent on many songs.[47] In retrospective articles, critics disagreed on to what extent the Taylor Swift songs are fully country. Jon Caramanica from The New York Times called it a "pop-minded country" album,[48] while Rolling Stone critic Chuck Eddy observed that Taylor Swift blended "pop-rock and Dixie Chicks-style twang".[49] Another album review on Rolling Stone, meanwhile, felt the songs were inflected with rock.[50] Grady Smith from the same magazine listed the singles "Tim McGraw", "Teardrops on My Guitar", "Our Song", and "Picture to Burn" among Swift's "countriest songs", which evoke "classic country" in terms of instrumentation, themes, and song structure.[51] J. Freedom du Lac from The Washington Post noted that the "rhythmic, rap-influenced phrasing" on "Our Song" was atypical to country music.[52]
James E. Perone, an academic in music, cited "Tim McGraw" as an example of Swift's crossover appeal. "Tim McGraw" follows the I-vi-IV-Vchord progression, which is typically found in late-1950s and early-1960s rock and roll. The refrain consists of repeated motifs built within a small pitch range, which gives the song a catchy tune. Additionally, the refrain—and to a lesser degree, the verses—makes heavy use of syncopation at the sixteenth-note level, which brings about a production reminiscent to non-country genres such as alternative rock and hip hop. Perone argued that these melodic qualities laid the groundwork to Swift's pop radio-friendly discography enjoyed by both pop and country audiences.[44]
Release and promotion
Swift opening for Brad Paisley in 2007. To promote her first album, Swift opened tours for other country musicians in 2007–2008.
Taylor Swift was released on October 24, 2006, through Big Machine Records.[54] Swift was involved in the album packaging, designing doodle graphics herself.[25] She included hidden messages with hints at the subjects of her songs in the lyrics printed in the liner notes, inspired by the Beatles' hiding secret messages in their records.[55] She executed the same technique on her subsequent albums.[31][56] Swift said the messages could be interpreted by tracking the capital letters in the order they appear in the lyrics printed in the liner notes.[7] In addition to the eleven-track standard edition, a 15-track deluxe edition contains three new original songs—"I'm Only Me When I'm with You", "Invisible", and "A Perfectly Good Heart", and an alternate version of "Teardrops on My Guitar".[57] An "enhanced version", which includes the music videos for "Teardrops on My Guitar" and "Tim McGraw", was released on March 18, 2008.[58]
In addition to traditional radio promotion, Swift extensively used her Myspace profile to communicate with her audiences, sharing her daily blogs and song information. Her online marketing strategy boosted the album's popularity among teenagers and young adults.[21] Swift and Big Machine decided to release "Our Song" as a single because of the positive feedback it received on Myspace.[21] Throughout 2007 and 2008, four more singles supported Taylor Swift: "Teardrops on My Guitar", "Our Song", "Picture to Burn", and "Should've Said No", all of which peaked within the top forty of the Hot 100 and the top ten of the Hot Country Songs chart.[71] "Teardrops on My Guitar" peaked at number two on the Hot Country Songs chart and had a crossover release to pop radio; it peaked at number seven on the Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs) chart, and number 13 on the Hot 100.[72][73] "Our Song" and "Should've Said No" reached number one on the Hot Country Songs chart.[71] With "Our Song", Swift became the youngest person to single-handedly write and sing a Hot Country Songs number one.[74] All singles were certified platinum or more by the RIAA, with "Teardrops on My Guitar" (3× Platinum) and "Our Song" (4× Platinum) selling over three million copies each.[62][75]
Taylor Swift received generally positive reviews from critics.[86] Though some deemed the lyrical themes unsophisticated and lacking depth, most critics praised Swift's songwriting for using familiar techniques in ways that sounded original and novel.[87] On Metacritic, which assigns an aggregated score out of 100 to reviews from publications, the album earned a score of 67, based on five reviews.[80]
In a review for Country Weekly, Chris Neal deemed Swift a success compared to previous aspiring teenage country singers because of her "honesty, intelligence and idealism".[83] Reviewers were impressed by Swift's maturity while retaining a sense of youthful innocence in her lyrics, including Ken Rosenbaum of The Toledo Blade,[88] Nick Cristiano of The Philadelphia Inquirer,[84]Jeff Tamarkin of AllMusic,[81] and Rolling Stone.[50] In a review for The Palm Beach Post, James Fontaine felt Swift's honest depiction of her teenage experience made the album compelling, and lauded the "musical maturity" for effectively communicating the sentiments.[45]The Morning Call's Keith Groller said that the album was not groundbreaking but could appeal to a wide-ranging audience with its adolescent earnestness.[89]
Critics commented on the album's pop sensibility—Neal and Rolling Stone found it appealing to a mainstream audience.[50][83] Tamarkin commented that Swift's "considerably strong voice" straddled the precarious boundary between country and pop, and criticized producer Chapman for applying "a gloss that not all [songs] really require".[81] In the Chicago Tribune, Chrissie Dickinson described Taylor Swift as "a slick package, pleasant enough but devoid of anything resembling gritty traction".[46] In a mixed review for PopMatters, Roger Holland complimented the production quality of certain tracks, but deemed the album overall a misstep for Swift's true appeal: "It's to be hoped that when she finds both her place and her full grown voice, she's able to find an accommodation between the country tradition and her very obvious pop sensibilities."[85]Robert Christgau rated the album a "cut" score (), and selected "Tim McGraw" and "Picture to Burn" as highlights.[82][note 2]
Retrospective reviews have remained favorable toward Swift's early songwriting. Maura Johnston from Pitchfork described the album as an honest record about teenage perspectives, which set Swift apart from the manufactured albums that "weighed down former teen sensations".[37] Jonathan Bradley from Billboard lauded how Swift captured immediate emotions and feelings with "details... so sharp at so small a scale".[32] In July 2022, Rolling Stone ranked Taylor Swift at number 32 on its list of the "100 Best Debut Albums of All Time".[93]
Commercial performance
Taylor Swift was a sleeper success in the United States.[16][94] It debuted at number 19 on the Billboard 200 chart dated November 11, 2006, with first-week sales of 40,000 copies.[95] Because albums often drop in sales after their initial release, Swift did not expect her album to remain long on the chart: "I would be incredibly lucky to see this album certified Gold."[16] Contrary to her expectations, Taylor Swift kept selling at a fairly consistent pace.[16] By November 2007, the album had sold over a million copies.[96] It reached its highest sales week on the Billboard 200 chart dated January 5, 2008, when it sold 187,000copies and charted at number eight.[97]
The album reached its peak at number five on the chart dated January 19, 2008, in its 63rd week of charting.[98] Spending 157weeks on the Billboard 200 by October 2009, Taylor Swift marked the longest stay on the chart by any album released in the 2000s decade.[99] It has spent a total of 280weeks on the chart as of August 2023.[100] On Top Country Albums, Taylor Swift peaked at number one for 24 non-consecutive weeks.[101] By January 2024, the album had sold 5.871million pure copies in the United States.[102] It had been certified seven times Platinum by the RIAA for earning over seven million album-equivalent units in the nation.[103]
Ms. Swift ... has quickly established herself as the most remarkable country music breakthrough artist of the decade. In part that's because ... [her] career has been noteworthy for what happens once the songs are finished. She has aggressively used online social networks to stay connected with her young audience in a way that ... is proving to be revolutionary in country music, ... helping country reach a new audience.
Taylor Swift was released in a time when female country artists were gaining momentum in popularity.[37][50] Nashville industry experts nonetheless disapproved of Swift's debut as a teenager[12][18] because they considered the album's adolescent themes inappropriate for country music's middle-aged key demographic.[71][115]Jim Malec of American Songwriter observed that contrary to industry expectations,Taylor Swift's success on country radio, particularly with the track "Our Song", established Swift as one of the few teenage female artists to be equally successful with male counterparts in a format dominated by men.[71]
Though critics questioned the album's country-music categorization,[116]Rolling Stone remarked that following the Dixie Chicks' 2003 controversy, which left "a huge space opened up in the heart of the country audience", Swift "has completely filled it ... with a sound that's not just rock-informed but teen-poppy too".[50]Jon Caramanica of The New York Times observed that, although the country-pop crossover sound was facilitated by previous successful singers, Swift was the first country artist to embrace the status of a pop star.[72]Taylor Swift made her the first female solo artist in country music to write or co-write every song on a platinum-certified debut album.[74][117] Its production laid the groundwork to Swift's subsequent country-pop discography, whose chart success straddled the perceived boundary between the two genres.[116][118][119]
Music journalists attributed the album's success to Swift's songwriting and online marketing strategy.[12] While online promotion was familiar to pop and hip hop artists, she was the first country artist to promote her songs on social media services like Myspace;[71][72] she also relied on social media to promote her subsequent releases, which brought her a loyal fan base.[115][120] Her social media presence ushered in a younger audience consisted of mostly teenage girls who listened to country music—a previously unheard demographic.[12] The autobiographical narratives on Taylor Swift defined Swift's songwriting over the next decade,[31][32] which Billboard noted to inspire a new generation of aspiring singer-songwriters.[115]Consequence stated Taylor Swift was the blueprint for songs focused on unrequited love and suffering, paving the way for "future teenie boppers" such as Conan Gray's "Heather" (2020) and Olivia Rodrigo's "Drivers License" (2021).[121]Rolling Stone opined, "if Taylor Swift retired right after dropping her debut album, she'd still be remembered as a legend today [...] Taylor debuted with complete mastery of a genre she was also completely transforming."[93] According to Entertainment Weekly, the commercial success of her debut helped the infant Big Machine go on to sign Garth Brooks and Jewel.[122]
Track listing
All tracks are produced by Nathan Chapman except where noted.
Upon its release, a special enhanced CD version of the album was released, featuring the "Tim McGraw" music video and performance at the Grand Ole Opry.[127]
In addition to the bonus tracks, the deluxe edition also contains the single versions of "Teardrops on My Guitar" and "Our Song", replacing the original versions. It was released with the bonus DVD disc, featuring more than an hour of video content. A special deluxe edition, released at Target, contains an extended DVD content.[124]
The 2008 edition replaced the original editions after being released, and was the first and only edition to be released in many countries. In addition to the new versions of "Teardrops on My Guitar" and "Our Song", which had initially replaced their original counterparts on the deluxe edition, the 2008 edition also replaces "Picture to Burn" with the radio edit.[128] In the United States, the new edition contains enhanced content, featuring the music videos of "Tim McGraw" and "Teardrops on My Guitar".[129]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter. Her reinventive artistry, distinctive songwriting and entrepreneurship have been widely publicized and influential.
"Tim McGraw" is the debut single by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, who wrote it with Liz Rose for her self-titled debut studio album (2006). Big Machine Records released the song to US country radio on June 19, 2006. Produced by Nathan Chapman, "Tim McGraw" is an acoustic guitar-led country ballad that incorporates the '50s progression and elements of alternative rock. In the lyrics, Swift's character pleads with her ex-boyfriend to remember her every time he hears her favorite song by the country musician Tim McGraw, the song's namesake.
Beautiful Eyes is the second extended play (EP) by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. The EP was released on July 15, 2008 by Big Machine Records exclusively to Walmart stores in the United States and their MP3 service. In later years, after the MP3 service got closed down, Walmart transferred the rights to Amazon for their Amazon MP3 service, where it remains exclusively available. The limited release EP has a primarily country pop sound and features alternate versions of tracks from her self-titled debut album (2006), and two original tracks, which Swift had composed as early as 2006. "I Heart ?" was previously released for digital download with the purchase of the Best Buy-exclusive version CD of Swift's self-titled debut album in 2006. A DVD, featuring music videos of singles from her self-titled debut album, is also included on the physical release of the EP.
"Teardrops on My Guitar" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the second single from her self-titled debut album (2006). Swift wrote the song with Liz Rose, and Nathan Chapman produced it. Big Machine Records released "Teardrops on My Guitar" to US country radio on February 20, 2007. The song was released to US pop radio as a crossover single in November 2007. It was included on the international edition of Swift's second studio album, Fearless, and released in the UK in 2009.
"Picture to Burn" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the fourth single from her 2006 self-titled debut studio album. Big Machine Records released it to US country radio on February 4, 2008. Written by Swift and Liz Rose, the lyrics were inspired by a narcissistic classmate of Swift and depict a protagonist's vengeance against an ex-lover. Nathan Chapman produced the track, which is an incorporation of country rock and alternative rock that features plunking banjo and distorted electric guitars.
"Our Song" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the third single from her self-titled debut studio album (2006). Swift wrote "Our Song" for a high school talent show during ninth grade; the lyrics are about a young couple using the regular events in their lives to create their own song. She included the song on the track list because it was popular among her classmates. Big Machine Records released the song to US country radio on September 10, 2007. Produced by Nathan Chapman, "Our Song" is an uptempo banjo-driven country track incorporating fiddles and drums.
The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection is a Christmas-special extended play (EP) by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. The EP was first released as a Target exclusive on October 14, 2007, by Big Machine Records. It was released to other retailers on December 2, 2008 and was re-released to Target on October 6, 2009.
Fearless is the second studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Under Big Machine Records imprint, it was released in the U.S. and Canada on November 11, 2008, and elsewhere on March 9, 2009. Written predominantly by Swift while she was promoting her 2006 self-titled debut album in 2007–2008, Fearless features additional songwriting credits from Liz Rose, Hillary Lindsey, Colbie Caillat, and John Rich. Swift wrote seven of the standard edition's 13 tracks by herself and, in her debut as a record producer, co-produced the album with Nathan Chapman.
"Love Story" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released as the lead single from her second studio album, Fearless, on September 15, 2008, by Big Machine Records. Inspired by a boy who was unpopular with her family and friends, Swift wrote the song using William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet as a reference point. The lyrics narrate a troubled romance that ends with a marriage proposal, contrary to Shakespeare's tragic conclusion. Produced by Swift and Nathan Chapman, the midtempo country pop song includes a key change after the bridge and uses acoustic instruments including banjo, fiddle, mandolin, and guitar.
"You Belong with Me" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and is the third single from her second studio album Fearless (2008). Big Machine Records released the song to radio on April 20, 2009. Swift was inspired to write "You Belong with Me" after overhearing a telephone call between a touring band member and his girlfriend; she and Liz Rose wrote the lyrics, which discuss an unrequited love. Swift and Nathan Chapman produced the track, which has a banjo-led country pop production and incorporates fiddle, mandolin, and rock-influenced bass and electric guitars. Although the single was promoted on country radio, some critics categorized it into 1980s pop subgenres such as pop rock and power pop.
"White Horse" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the second single from her second studio album, Fearless (2008). Big Machine Records released the track to US country radio on December 8, 2008. Swift wrote "White Horse" with Liz Rose and produced it with Nathan Chapman. An understated country pop ballad, the song is driven by a finger-picked guitar and includes piano and cello accents. The lyrics incorporate fairy-tale imagery of princesses and white horses: the narrator is heartbroken upon realizing that her boyfriend is not an ideal figure like she thought, and in the end she leaves her town with hopes of finding somebody more worthy.
"Fifteen" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for her second studio album, Fearless (2008). Inspired by Swift's high-school freshman year, the lyrics narrate how she and her friend Abigail Anderson, both at 15, experience teenage heartbreak and realize life aspirations. Swift included the track on the album after Anderson consented to the personal references. She and Nathan Chapman produced "Fifteen", a country pop song with a prominent pop melody. Big Machine Records released "Fifteen" to US country radio on August 31, 2009, as the fourth single from Fearless.
Elisabeth Wagner, known professionally as Liz Rose, is an American country music songwriter, best known for her work with Taylor Swift. She has co-written 17 of Swift's officially released songs, including "You Belong with Me", which was nominated for the Grammy Award for Song of the Year; "Teardrops on My Guitar"; "White Horse", which won both Swift and her a Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 2010; and "All Too Well ", which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2021 and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 2023. She works regularly alongside songwriters Lori McKenna and Hillary Lindsey, collectively calling themselves The Love Junkies and notably writing songs for Little Big Town and Carrie Underwood, among others.
Speak Now is the third studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on October 25, 2010, through Big Machine Records. Swift wrote the album entirely herself within two years while touring to promote her second studio album, Fearless (2008).
Nathan Paul Chapman is an American record producer who works in the field of country music. He is best known for his work with American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift during the earlier courses of her career. His first production credit was on her debut album Taylor Swift (2006); he served similar roles for her following releases Fearless (2008), Speak Now (2010), Red (2012) and 1989 (2014).
"Mine" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the lead single from her third studio album, Speak Now (2010). Big Machine Records released the song for download and to radio on August 4, 2010. Produced by Swift and Nathan Chapman, "Mine" is a country pop and pop rock song. In its lyrics, it discusses the ups and downs of young love, inspired by Swift's tendency to run away from love for fears of heartbreak.
"Back to December" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for her third studio album, Speak Now (2010). Big Machine Records released the song as the album's second single on November 15, 2010. Produced by Swift and Nathan Chapman, "Back to December" is a country pop power ballad that incorporates a string section. Inspired by Swift's relationship with the actor Taylor Lautner, the lyrics are about a remorseful plea for forgiveness from a former lover.
"Red" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the title track of her fourth studio album (2012). The song was produced by Dann Huff, Nathan Chapman, and Swift. Big Machine Records released the song onto the iTunes Store on October 2, 2012, as Red's second promotional single, and to U.S. country radio on June 24, 2013, as an official single. Musically, "Red" combines country, roots rock, pop rock, soft rock over acoustic banjo, guitars, and electronic vocal manipulation. Lyrically about a tumultuous relationship, the refrain likens the conflicting emotions to a spectrum of colors, including the color red which symbolizes the ensuing intense feelings.
"Highway Don't Care" is a song recorded by American country music singers Tim McGraw and Taylor Swift on vocals, featuring Keith Urban on guitar. It was released to US country radio on March 25, 2013, as the third single from McGraw's first album for Big Machine Records, Two Lanes of Freedom (2013). The song was written by Mark Irwin, Josh Kear and Brad and Brett Warren. McGraw and Swift recorded their parts separately. To date, this is Swift's seventh number one hit on Billboard's Country Airplay chart.
The American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift has appeared in 61 music videos, 13 of which she self-directed, and five documentaries. She has acted in a number of films and television shows, and directed a concert documentary and short film.
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