My advice to first-time songwriters would be you know the person you are writing the songs about. First know that. Then write a letter to them, what you would say if you could. That’s why I listen to music. It says how I feel better than I could. And it says what I wished I had said when that moment was there. So I would say be as direct as you possibly can. If you need to dial it back later, then, I guess, do that — but for me, the more details the better.
What would you have majored in at college if you went?
I would not have majored in music because when music becomes technical for me I don’t like that part of it. I can’t read music. I can a little bit. When you’re reading music for me it turns into math. I like for it to go the way it’s going to go. I’m not as much into technique as I am into the emotion of it.
- Taylor Swift, Rolling Stone 2009 interview
(Source: Rolling Stone)
