Taylor Swift Opens Up On Career Controversies

Posted by Valerie Wire on 10/19/2010
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With Taylor Swift’s new album, Speak Now, days away from being released on Oct. 25, Swift is taking the album title to heart and speaking out for herself. For the first time, she is answering questions that were once off-limits for the Country megastar. She has recently opened up about her unspoken fears and the feeling she has when people describe her as "pitchy," as well as her song selection for the MTV Video Music Awards.
 
Swift, just over a year ago, was caught in the unwanted controversy Kanye West brought to stage when he interrupted her acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video. Swift refused to tackle the topic until the 2010 VMA’s with a performance of her song ‘Innocent.’ The lyrics spoke more than Swift ever had revealed as she sang, “Who you are is not where you've been" and "Time turns flames to embers / You'll have new Septembers / Everyone of us has messed up, too.”
 
However, the song was not intended to be an insult directed toward West. If anything, it was Swift’s way of extending her forgiveness and placing the past in the past.
 
"That was a huge, intense thing in my life that resonated for a long time,” Swift said. “It was brought up to me …everywhere I went, and in a lot of times in my life, when I don't know how I feel about something, I say nothing. And that's what I did until I could come to the conclusion that I came to in order to write 'Innocent,'” Swift said. “Even then, I didn't talk about it, and I still don't really talk about it. I just thought it was very important for me to sing about it."
 
Swift has been no stranger to criticism, however, especially after her 2009 performance with Stevie Nicks at the Grammy’s. Swift will be the first to admit, though, that she was not up to par with her performance that given night. "That's one of the areas that I have definitely put a lot of work into," Swift said. "I care about what everyone thinks of me, and I'm not afraid to say that. There have been times when it's absolutely leveled me and ruined my day. Then there are times when I can hear it and I'm kind of like, 'Oh, I've heard that before,' and I just continue on with my day."
 
With the release of her new album and the anticipation of a new tour, anxiety and fear are something Swift has learned to embrace. "I have a lot of anxiety about things on certain days, but I have anxiety because I care," Swift said to Billboard magazine. "It's not anxiety that's crippling. It's a five-minute conversation with myself about if a [sales] number really defines this piece of art that I've created and what that means, and what the number's going to be. I try to predict what it's going to be, and then I realize that I can't predict what it's going to be, and then I sit there and say something to myself like, 'Well, you're happy today. Enjoy this and be proud of the music that you've made.'"
 
As for her upcoming tour that is expected to follow the Speak Now CD release, no official locations are set. As for Swift, she could not be more anxious to get back out on the road. "I already have drawings in my journal of what the stage should look like. I know a few of the set list orders, [and] I want there to be an entire wedding scene on the stage."
 
Though her life is constantly organized chaos, Swift doesn’t wish it to be any different. "When you spend so much time daydreaming about things like that, when that actually happens, you don't ever complain," Swift said to The Boot. "When I go to a restaurant, do I know a line will form at the table? But didn't I always wish for that? Yeah, I did. So I never want to be the girl who wanted something so bad her whole life and then when she gets it, she complains about it. I'm not gonna be that girl."
 
To commemorate the release of Speak Now, Swift will be in New York to perform on the steps of the United Nations building. She will also be appearing on numerous television shows, such as Today, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Live! With Regis and Kelly, The Late Show With David Letterman and Dancing With the Stars. For more information on Taylor Swift and her CD visit www.taylorswift.com.
 
Source: TheBoot.com