Taylor Swift relieved songwriting doesn't rely on misery

Taylor Swift performs on stage in concert at Wembley Stadium in London. Picture: AP

Taylor Swift performs on stage in concert at Wembley Stadium in London. Picture: AP

Published Nov 5, 2019

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Taylor Swift is relieved her new album "Lover" has proved her songwriting talent isn't "tied to [her] own personal misery".

The "Blank Space" hitmaker - who is dating actor Joe Alwyn - admitted many writers worry about finding "stability" in case it impacts on their creativity so she was pleased to find inspiration from her own happiness for her latest album "Lover".

She said: "That's exactly what's happened with this album! I think a lot of writers have the fear of stability, emotional health and happiness.

"Our whole careers, people make jokes about how, 'Just wait until you meet someone nice, you'll run out of stuff to write about'.

"I was talking to ['Cats' director] Tom Hooper about this because he said one thing his mother taught him was, 'Don't ever let people tell you that you can't make art if you're happy'. I thought that was so amazing.

"He's a creator in a completely different medium but he has been subjected to that same joke over and over again that we must be miserable to create.

"'Lover' is important to me in so many ways, but it's so imperative for me as a human being that songwriting is not tied to my own personal misery. It's good to know that, it really is!"

Earlier this year, Taylor was left upset when Scooter Braun bought her former record label, Big Machine, meaning he acquired the rights to her master recordings.

The "Me!" hitmaker explained she was so vocal about the situation because she wanted to shine a light on what had happened so other artists don't find the same thing happening to them in years to come.

Asked if she thinks the attention means artists won't find themselves in this situation in the future, she told trade publication Music Week: ""I hope so. That's the only reason that I speak out about things.

"The fans don't understand these things, the public isn't being made aware.

"This generation has so much information available to them so I thought it was important that the fans knew what I was going through, because I knew it was going to affect every aspect of my life and I wanted them to be the first to know.

"And in and amongst that group, I know there are people that want to make music some day. It involves every new artist that is reading that and going, 'Wait, that's what I'm signing?'

"They don't have to sign stuff that's unfair to them. If you don't ask the right questions and you sit in front of the wrong desk in front of the wrong person, they can take everything from you."

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