58 Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Taylor Swift's Music
To celebrate the fact that today marks 10 YEARS since Taylor released her debut album.
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1. Taylor woke up at 4 am one night with the entire concept for 1989 in her head. She says she knew instantly that the title would be 1989, that it was going to be purely pop, '80s-inspired, and that she wouldn’t be taking no for an answer when she presented the idea to her record label.
2. But the decision to completely change tack with 1989 actually stemmed from the fact that Red lost out on the Album of the Year award at the 2014 Grammys.
3. The clip of Taylor looking momentarily excited after thinking she'd won the award when she hadn't went viral. And it turns out that she really was expecting to win.
4. She’s explained that everyone kept telling her Red was a dead cert for the award, and when the presenters announced that Random, Access, Memories had won, they dragged out the “Rrrrrr” in "Random", making her think they were going to say “Red”.
5. Taylor was devastated after losing and decided against going to any Grammys after-parties. Instead she "went home, ate In-N-Out, and cried.”
6. She realised her failure to make sonically cohesive albums was the reason for not winning Album of the Year. Taylor has said that although the songwriting on Red was widely acclaimed, the fact that it was marketed as a “country record” despite featuring pop and dubstep influences meant it was critically referred to as “multiple personality”.
7. The concept for 1989, therefore, was a direct response to that.
8. And had she not written "I Knew You Were Trouble" for Red, she may not have had the confidence to write a solely pop album. In fact, Taylor describes that song as a “signal flare” for 1989’s sound. Her record label were unsure about including "...Trouble" on the album or releasing it as a single. But when it was released, it remained at No. 1 for seven weeks – and signalled that she did have the ability to write a successful non-country record.