Taylor Swift recently moved out of her parents' home into her own condo here. Now she's declaring her musical independence, too.
The country singer wrote every song by herself on her new album "Speak Now," the first that she's completed without co-writers. The lyrics deal with real people—including rapper Kanye West, who famously interrupted her acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. "I write songs that are like diary entries," Ms. Swift says, adding: "I have to do it in order to feel sane."
Ms. Swift released her self-titled debut in 2006 at age 16. Her follow-up, "Fearless," was the best-selling album in the U.S. in 2009, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and this January it won the Grammy for album of the year. On her new album, due out Monday, the 20-year-old Ms. Swift is looking to appeal to a more mature audience, even if it means leaving some of the Disney/Nickelodeon set behind.
"Speak Now" features a TMZ-style attack on an unnamed starlet. "She's an actress / she's better known for the things that she does on the mattress," Ms. Swift sings on the track "Better Than Revenge." In the song "Never Grow Up," she writes about moving into a new apartment. "It's so much colder than I thought it would be," she sings.
Ms. Swift came for an interview to Café Coco, a spot she frequents with her girlfriends. Accompanied by a security man complete with earpiece, she armed herself with a Rice Krispie treat and talked about her fans, her critics and her album.
The Wall Street Journal: Your voice has sometimes been criticized for not being all that strong, especially in live performances. How do you feel about that?
Ms. Swift: I don't really have a standard criticism policy for how I handle it. Because it seems like it's always something different that's being said in a different way by a different person…There are some times when I can just brush it off and be fine after I hear something negative. But there are times when it absolutely levels me.
Tell me about the song "Mean" on your new album.
"Mean" is about this—I'm used to criticism because that's part of what I do, taking criticism. When it's constructive I have an appreciation for it, but when it crosses a line, and becomes mean, I write songs like that about it.
With a young audience following you, is it hard to grow up and write honestly about adult experiences?
Factoring in millions of people when I'm writing a song is not a good idea. I don't ever do it.
What about in your day-to-day life?
When I was 8 years old, it mattered what my favorite singer said and wore and expressed opinions about. And if I have a chance to matter to the growth and hopes and wishes of little girls, that's something I can't take lightly. So I do factor them in when I'm thinking about what to wear, and what to say, and whether or not to go out to bars even though I'm not 21.
Why did you go without co-writers on "Speak Now"?
It originally was inspired by circumstance. I would get inspired to write a song at 3:30 in the morning. There's no co-writer around.
Were you trying to prove something to the world as an artist by writing everything yourself?
I just felt like all these crazy things were happening in my life.
Can you give me an example?
Different relationships. Realizations you come to based on the beginning and ending of those relationships and everything you learn in between. You have people come into your life shockingly and surprisingly. You have losses that you never thought you'd experience. You have rejection and you have learn how to deal with that and how to get up the next day and go on with it.
Are you going to scare boyfriends away because they might end up in one of your songs if things don't go so well?
The only thing I can say about that is that this is not a surprise that I do this. Everyone has had fair warning. This is my third album. I've never been shy or secretive with the fact that if you walk into my life, you may be walking onto a record.
The title song on the album is about a woman who dreams about interrupting the wedding of a guy she likes. Is that based on anything in your real life?
Well, I've never interrupted a wedding. But if I did, that's how I would do it. A few of my friends had ex-boyfriends who were getting married. And I went through that with them in venting sessions…And of course I started having dreams about what if my ex-boyfriend got married to someone else? So a lot of the songs on this record are pulled straight from my life. Then there are songs like "Speak Now" that are an extension of my feelings and hypothetically what I would do.
Do you feel that your early fame has cut you off from experiences that might have fed into your songwriting? Any regrets that you became so successful so young?
I heard a quote from Dolly Parton one time and she said that regrets aren't fair to you because you couldn't possibly have known then what you know now. And a lot of times I wish I could live life more like her. Just this clarity about how to process regret. But on this particular subject about the path that I chose in life I do not regret anything. I'm very aware and very conscious of the path I chose in life, and very aware of the path I didn't choose.
So what was the path you didn't choose?
My parents were in finance. They thought I was going to be a stockbroker and go to business school and college—and my brother's at Notre Dame. All my friends are at college. I keep one eye on the path I didn't choose every day. That's why I go and attend journalism classes at my friend Abigail's college. Because I just want to sit there and see what it's like for a day. That's why I go to Notre Dame and visit my brother and sit in his dorm room. The life I chose is very different from theirs.
