Taylor Swift Talks Songwriting in YouTube Interview

Posted on September 4, 2011

YouTube held a 42-minute long interview with singer Taylor Swift. YouTube trends manager Kevin Allocca moderated the Q&A with Taylor Swift. Taylor's fans submitted a staggering 30,000 questions for the interview.

Songwriting was one of the biggest topics among the 30,000 questions. Taylor starts talking about songwriting around the 7 minute mark in the video.

Taylor says her songs start with an idea, which are usually about something she is currently going through or recently experienced. She says she wrote the song "Love Story" on her bedroom floor. She started with a lyric she knew she wanted to use and built out from there. Taylor says she has to have several lines in a song she feels really strongly about for her to put it on a record.

Taylor says, "It's crazy how the fastest songs I write end up being my favorites."

Taylor says she never switches the writer in her off. She says she is very tough on herself. She writes 40 to 50 songs and uses just 13 to 15 of them for an album.

Taylor Swift says "Sparks Fly" is the song that took her the longest to write. She started writing it when she was 16. She says she will obsess over a song if she doesn't have it finished.

Taylor Swift also addressed co-writing. Taylor says she loves writing for other people. Taylor did not use co-writers on Speak Now, but she says she will bring in a writer she trusts or admires if she hits a stopping point when writing a song.

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