Taylor Swift may be one of the biggest music acts in the world, but there was a time when she feared her glowing career was already fading.
The Grammy-winning musician reflected on that period in her life during “The Icon Sessions With Taylor Swift: A 20-Year Retrospective.” The Recording Academy released the full conversation on August 24.
While discussing a song she wrote during her popular Red era, Taylor Swift admitted that she was worried she was gradually becoming irrelevant at just 22 years of age.
Swift’s revelation came while she discussed “Nothing New,” a song she originally wrote while working on her 2012 album, Red. The track did not make the original album.
However, years later, while recording Red (Taylor’s Version), she returned to the song. It would eventually be recorded as a collaboration with Phoebe Bridgers.
Reminiscing on the time, Swift explained that the song captured her fear that she was becoming somewhat obsolete in the industry.
“I wrote it when I was 22,” Swift recalled. “And I was like, ‘I’m washed up and boring, and everyone’s over me.’ It’s sad, and so I kind of get why i didn’t put it on Red.”
The singer also acknowledged how dramatic those fears appeared when viewed from the perspective of a 22-year-old.
To her, the feeling was akin to the type one would have during a particularly difficult night.
“… that’s kind of a passing thought when you’re 22. Like that’s a sad night with a bottle of wine,” she said. Still, the song took on a whole different meaning when she returned to it years later.
Revisiting ‘Nothing New’ Years Later Changed The Song For The Pop Star
Swift was around 30 when she began revisiting material from the “Red” era for her rerecording project, and by then, her relationship with ‘Nothing New’ had changed.
She recalled realizing just how good the song was, the second time around.
“But when I was like 30, and I was rerecording it, i was like, ‘Oh no, this hits. This hits,’” she noted. “Nothing new” later appeared as a vault track on Red (Taylor’s Version) back in 2021.
The multiple Grammy winner’s fears were apparently unfounded as her career has continued through several musical reinventions after Red, including 1989, Reputation, Lover, Folklore, and Evermore.
Taylor Swift Has Learned How To Handle Fame When It Gets ‘Unmanageably Big’
Swift may have once worried about fans losing interest in her, but years later, she has faced the opposite problem.
During the same retrospective, the singer discussed what she does when her fame begins to feel bigger than she can manage.
“I go through several processes and coping mechanisms that I’ve gone through over the years,” Swift said. “And one of them is saying, ‘You chose this. You chose this every day. You could have opted out of this any day before it got unmanageably big.’ And I decided not to because I love it that much.”
The 36-year-old explained that the attention and activity surrounding her career remains worth it “as long as I get to still make music.”
As part of her growth, her approach to public opinion has also changed. She reiterated that her focus is on creating music for people who might connect with it in the same way she connected with music.
“I think that if you can actually go through all those checkpoints and realize that putting out music you’ve made that you love so much is not the path to universal validation, if you’re still doing it, then you love it for the right reasons,” she said.
The Singer Sometimes Enjoys ‘Mocking’ Her Critics Back
The 14-time Grammy winner has also developed a humorous approach to handling some of the criticism surrounding her career.
During the “Icon Sessions” conversation, she admitted that there are occasions when she enjoys responding to those who mock her.
“Sometimes when people are mocking me it’s really fun to mock them back,” she said, speaking to Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr.
“Sometimes I like to just use words that they have to look up in order to talk sh-t about,” she finished, laughing.
However, Swift made it clear that while criticism “Fuels” her sometimes, it is not the main reason she creates music. Her larger motivation remains connecting wth listeners and continuing to write.
Taylor Swift Has Returned To The Stage Following Her Wedding To Travis Kelce
Swift’s retrospective also included another major moment in her personal and professional life.
The singer performed publicly for the first time since she married Travis Kelce on July 1.
During the Grammy Museum event, Swift returned to the piano for an Eras Tour-style mashup.
Her electric performance connected several different stages of her songwriting career, providing a fitting conclusion to an event centered on her 20-year career.
