It's the year 2022, and people are still doubting the award-winning, record-breaking songwriting savant Taylor Swift. Couldn't be me. But yeah, yesterday, musician Damon Albarn faced backlash after he claimed Taylor doesn't write her songs in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.
@DamonAlbarn I was such a big fan of yours until I saw this. I write ALL of my own songs. Your hot take is completely false and SO damaging. You don’t have to like my songs but it’s really fucked up to try and discredit my writing. WOW. https://t.co/t6GyXBU2Jd
Not only does Taylor write her own songs, but this legend will also sometimes release the footage / voice notes / texts that show her songwriting process. Here's 20 times we got to witness that genius:
1. When Taylor released her old journals and we got to see the original lyrics of her Grammy-winning masterpiece "White Horse":
2. And "Never Grow Up," which even shows some buzzwords Taylor used to come up with the nostalgic track:
3. And the first draft of "All Too Well":
🎵| Original lyrics to “All Too Well” found in Taylor’s diary in the #Lover deluxe edition
4. And "Holy Ground"!
5. When Taylor shared the voice memo of "Out of the Woods" she texted Jack Antonoff:
6. When she released the voice memo of her creating "I Wish You Would":
the 1989 voice memos live rent free in my mind yep yep yep #6YearsOf1989
7. And "Blank Space," her Grammy-nominated pop masterpiece from 1989:
Am I the only one who knows the full lyrics of the voice memos in 1989 deluxe? Plsssss are incredibles, blank space is the best one 😼
8. Aaaaaand "I Know Places":
So che si trovano su YouTube ma io non ho mai ascoltato i voice memo di 1989 e una sola parola: woah
9. When Taylor recreated the inception of "Sweeter Than Fiction," her Golden Globe–nominated song that represented her early foray into synth pop:
10. When she and Jack Antonoff wrote the iconic "Getaway Car" bridge in, like, 30 seconds.
In honor of getaway car being the next single, let’s remember Taylor and jack writing part of the bridge in a span of 30 seconds
11. When she showed how "I Did Something Bad" started with her writing at the piano...
...and turned into a bass-pounding bop with inimitable background layers:
Song i did something bad behind the scenes : before
12. And same thing with "Gorgeous," which also started at the piano with different original lyrics and then evolved:
5 years ago today, taylor swift recorded a video of her writing/making of the song “gorgeous” in nashville, tennessee. september 18, 2016
13. When she showed us how "Delicate" started with her kind of just riffing lyrics along to a beat...
Taylor showed the literal process of her finding the rhythm, proper lyrics, and flow of what would be one of her most critically acclaimed songs:
14. When she showed us how she wrote "King of My Heart" and then went back to rework the melody, production, and enunciation of certain lyrics:
5 years ago today, taylor swift writing/recording “king of my heart” september 20, 2016
15. And then when we saw Taylor and Jack make "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things":
They’re playing the making of TIWWCHNT !!! #repTourWembley
16. And the slightly different lyrics we saw during "Call It What You Want" behind the scenes:
17. When she recorded herself making a wedding "slow dance" type of song, which wound up being her Grammy-nominated song "Lover":
18. When she legit filmed her writing session of "Christmas Tree Farm":
19. When Taylor texted her collaborator Aaron Dessner the potential lyrics and melody to "Cardigan," the first single to her Album of the Year–winning masterpiece Folklore.
Looking back at @taylorswift13 's text with her original voice memo of Cardigan...still surreal...a special edition of the song with the voice memo (which has alternate lyrics) is available thru Thurs. 7/30 only on her web site and iTunes
20. And most recently, when she released the OG recording of "Willow," which also featured some different original lyrics!
