On Swift: *Shirt, Jason Wu; leggings, L'Agence; shoes, Christian Louboutin.*She looks as if she's dancing at home in front of a mirror: At her Glamour photo shoot in Nashville, 20-year-old Taylor Swift is skipping, jumping, shimmying her shoulders and lip-synching the words to Phoenix's pop song "1901." In truth, she's vamping for the photographer, and what I am seeing before me is a pro, an artist who seems to have matured by leaps and bounds since 15 months ago, when I interviewed her on the set of her Fearless tour in Biloxi, Mississippi. Not that I should be surprised: This has been the Year of Taylor Swift. Apparently, it wasn't enough to have the top-selling album of 2009, or to become the female artist with the most Top 40 singles this decade (take that, Kanye!). No, this year she topped even herself: She was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world, won four Grammys, including Album of the Year, met Bill Clinton and sang onstage with Stevie Nicks.
After Swift finishes the shoot and sits down, she's out of breath, but for her that's the new normal. A full four days after moving into her brand-new condo, she's logged precisely 10 minutes of downtime in her home. Tonight is no exception: She'll be meeting Paul McCartney, who is playing in Nashville for the very first time. "I can't wait!" she says. With her new album, Speak Now, about to drop, she opened up to Glamour and filled us in on everything that's happened—and everything that's to come.
GLAMOUR: This has been a crazy year for you: Have you had time to appreciate what you've achieved, or is it too much to take in?
TAYLOR SWIFT: I've gone through a few different phases of gratitude. When it's happening, you're all about [what's next] and trying not to make a misstep. When it came time to lock myself away and make my next album, I had a feeling of, Wow, that really was something, wasn't it? I drive down the same streets I used to drive years ago, when I was just dreaming about stuff like this. So I feel total happiness and anticipation for the next thing.
GLAMOUR: What is next?
TAYLOR SWIFT: My next album is something I'm really proud of. I can only write about what I've been through. And a lot has happened in the past two years.
GLAMOUR: Like that song about Kanye [who famously dissed her at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards]?
TAYLOR SWIFT: [Laughs.] Everything that happens to me gets put into a song. For some reason, I'm really comfortable talking about my personal life in songs. There, I don't hold back: names, dates, times, expressions on people's faces, exactly where we were and how it felt, what I wish I would have said to them in the moment. So I'm not only excited about sharing the songs with fans; I'm also pretty interested to hear the response from the guys I've written about on this record.
GLAMOUR: They always respond, don't they?
TAYLOR SWIFT: I'm sure they will for this one.
GLAMOUR: Because some of these guys are well-known—like Taylor Lautner?
TAYLOR SWIFT: [Laughs.] I write about everything that happens to me.
GLAMOUR: In your new song "Mine," you wrote the line "You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter." Would you describe yourself as careful in love?
TAYLOR SWIFT: I don't seem to have any real strategy or pattern when it comes to love…. At times I've been really guarded and careful and afraid to trust someone. But other times, you want to jump in headfirst. I've had moments of thinking, This is who I love and I don't care what anyone says. Those moments are beautiful and wild and exciting, but I've learned that those moments can end up hurting you in the end. I've been careful in love. I've been careless in love. And I've had adventures I wouldn't trade for anything.
GLAMOUR: Many of your songs are about the lessons you've learned in relationships. What's the most important lesson you've learned in love?
TAYLOR SWIFT: I've learned that you can't predict it or plan for it. For someone like me who is obsessed with organization and planning, I love the idea that love is the one exception to that. Love is the one wild card.
GLAMOUR: Are there qualities you look for in a guy now that you wouldn't have looked for when you were younger?
TAYLOR SWIFT: When I'm getting to know someone, I look for someone who has passions that I respect, like his career. Someone who loves what he does is really attractive. In high school, I used to think it was "like sooooo cool" if a guy had an awesome car. Now none of that matters. These days I look for character and honesty and trust.
GLAMOUR: OK, so tell me what a typical day is like for you now. What are you doing tonight?
TAYLOR SWIFT: Today I woke up in my new place; that's always a good start to my day. I got to this photo shoot and did this sixties, retro thing. It has been great, because I'm on my way to go see Paul McCartney in concert tonight. When I found out I was going to get to meet him, I couldn't talk—I was so stoked. I'm bringing my whole band with me; they are geeking out!
GLAMOUR: Any chance you'll sing with him?
TAYLOR SWIFT: That kind of thing would have to be planned in advance, because I'm very organized. You should have seen the text I sent to Katy Perry before she came up onstage with me at the Staples Center. I wrote, "At this [specific] point in the song during the second measure, you will walk out…" She just texted back, "You're crazy. See you tonight."
GLAMOUR: Tell me about your new house. Who decorated it?
TAYLOR SWIFT: I did. It was a blast. The two guest rooms are inspired by my two best friends in Nashville: One is Caitlin, my fiddle player; she's very earthy. So "her" room has a quilt on the bed. Liz, my other best friend, is very trendy and kind of princess-y, so in her room, there's a French Victorian-looking silver bed. I had so much fun with it. The condo is at the top of a building and very modern, but it feels like a pirate ship: There's a spiral staircase going up to a tree house birdcage thing, and a pond with lily pads in the middle of the living room. I want to get fishies! Everything is mismatched: the pillows, the fabrics, the paintings, the dishes. That takes the pressure off me—it means I don't have to match.
GLAMOUR: You and your mom are so close: What has it been like not living with her?
TAYLOR SWIFT: I've always been independent, but I still see my mom a lot. And since I've been working solidly every single day since I've moved in, I've never spent a day alone in the place. When I get home [at night], there's that quiet. Except for the sound of trickling water in the pond and fountain.
GLAMOUR: A girl once told me one of the reasons she loves you is that she's never felt abandoned by you, like she has by Miley Cyrus. And you hear artists say things like, "When I turned 21, the record label made me over into a sexualized creature." But you seem to exert a lot of control over your career. Could you see yourself going in that direction?
TAYLOR SWIFT: I have no idea who I'm going to be in the future, but right now, that's not me. I like to write about relationships. I like it when my friends come over and we crowd around the piano and sing Journey songs at the top of our lungs…. And I like things that make me feel seven again. I don't ever look down on people for the way they choose to have fun; it's just not necessarily the way I like to have fun.
GLAMOUR: I have a few questions from Glamour readers. Rochelle Darling of Buffalo, New York, wants to know, "What keeps her grounded?"
TAYLOR SWIFT: Well, recently I stopped reading articles about myself.
GLAMOUR: But I've never seen anything negative written about you.
TAYLOR SWIFT: Even if it's not bad, I think actively caring about people's daily perception of you makes you second-guess everything. I am very happily not paranoid right now.
GLAMOUR: Christina Gossett of Fort Eustis, Virginia, asked, "Are she and Taylor Lautner still friends?"
TAYLOR SWIFT: Absolutely! He's one of my best friends.
GLAMOUR: Is it hard being close with an ex?
TAYLOR SWIFT: He's wonderful, and we'll always be close. I'm so thankful for that.
GLAMOUR: Another reader, Jewel Lopez of Denver, asked, "Don't you think it will eventually come back to haunt you, writing dirt about all of your exes?"
TAYLOR SWIFT: I do write nice songs about the guys who are nice to me! Eventually, I'm sure one of them will write a response—that's a pretty scary concept, actually! But I make sure I only write bad songs about the ones who deserve it.
