Once Upon a Time Taylor Swift (and Her 15 Fans)

I confess: I met Taylor Swift in 2010, when nobody cared about her. It went like this. They proposed that I interview “a very young country singer” who “is certainly not well known in our country and there is not the slightest possibility that country will become a strong genre here”, but in America she sells records, she is only 20 years old and over there her third album is about to come out, Speak Nowfor the second (Fearless) won the Grammy for “best album” and Lady Gaga says she sings her songs in the shower. Here in Italy, however, they insist on specifying for safety’s sake that his surname is pronounced “suift”«like the more famous Jonathan, the one from Gulliver’s Travels», and to make me understand her musical genre she starts making surreal comparisons («don’t think of Dolly Parton, she’s more of an “Avril Lavigne”, country but also pop and a little punk»). In fact I remember seeing this blonde girl with the guitar in a news report about the Grammys a few months before… I go on the Internet and a detail pops up: in our country, young girls go crazy for the Jonas Brothers, and their film Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience is becoming popular: Taylor was engaged to Joe Jonas. Plus, or maybe most importantly, there are some crazy photos of Annie Liebovitz. The director says yes, let’s make a note of the appointment, we will meet her.

Taylor Swift’s first concert in Italy will come only a year later, in November 2011, but until then she was just another twenty-year-old who writes (melancholic) love songs. Now that she is in Milan on July 13th and 14th for the Italian leg of the Eras Tour, and it is the second time she has come to play in Italy, eras have passed, geological ones almost, the fans are millions, the latest tickets range from 800 to over 4 thousand euros, she is the one who made the film of the most viewed live concert in the world, concerts cause earthquakes due to how many people they concentrate, the US GDP is driven by her, she influences elections, all the newspapers ask for interviews, they put her on the cover (Time) as person of the year, and talk shows are asking how many votes he shifts.

“Maximum 5 thousand keystrokes,” they tell me in the editorial office. “Maximum 15 minutes,” they tell me before the interview. The disproportion is immediately noticeable: outside the hotel that hosts Taylor Swift I only see 15 fans between the ages of 12 and 16 (plus one guy dressed as a cowboy who is a DJ for a country web radio). But the reality of the singer-songwriter is already different: the staff that revolves around her is a war machine. At least ten people take care of her musical instruments (which she carries with her), makeup, hair, clothes, (healthy) food, travel, interviews, tantrums. Even her mother accompanies her everywhere on this promotional tour, for the first time outside the States. They tell me this and it immediately makes me feel tender, but I’m wrong: it’s not a question of insecurity, «I’m the one who prefers to have her with me», she explains, with the air that Elvis might have had in 1975 surrounded by jackals. «It is important to have at least one sincere person in the room.someone who really tells you the truth, and not a mass of people who agree with you”. A coming and going of press officers lets it slip that they are very afraid of the questions I can ask her, they hope I don’t put her in difficulty because “she is extremely sensitive”. But she is very relaxed. And she talks. And she laughs often. Here is our dialogue in front of a bowl full of fruit, 7 minutes reading time, 7 thousand words in the end.

She called these songs “open letters.” Sent to whom?
“They are 14 songs written for, or about, people I’ve had relationships with. They talk about pain and love, relationships you’re in, or relationships that have ended.”

He must have had a lot of them.
“I’ve always been a shy girl. At parties I was always the one in the corner and no one invited to dance. That’s what I wrote my first songs about. Then success came and I met a lot of people. Some acquaintances turned into love, and I learned a lot, making a lot of mistakes.”

Guy?
«Sometimes you think you can change the person you like, and you think that only you can do it, so you insist and continue to hope for changes that never come: instead it would be better to let it go, and listen to your friends who tell you “that person is not for you, they are not like you”».

So, what did he learn?
“The first and most important thing: that I know nothing compared to what I could know tomorrow, or in five minutes.”

He knows he doesn’t know, like Socrates.
“Exactly. Keeping in mind that I know nothing is important: on the one hand it allows me to be open to new things, to let myself be surprised by life, on the other it doesn’t make me dwell on the present. You know, those very feminine paranoias, like: will he call or not? If he doesn’t call it’s because surely… Well, I’ve banned “surely” from my vocabulary.”

Speaking of calls, there’s a rumor that Joe Jonas, who she had an affair with while filming the Jonas Brothers movie, dumped her over the phone. Is that true?
«Very true: in 27 seconds. Let’s say that, that time, I was 18 and I felt very bad, I hadn’t learned the lesson yet. And for a long time, afterward, it was impossible not to think about it: the image of the Jonas Brothers is everywhere, from posters on the street to pen holders, a nightmare. But now it’s water under the bridge and I don’t want to talk about it anymore».

Is there a song dedicated to him too?
«Yes: in this album I talk about my experiences of the last two years. But it’s not just about those who left me. In the new songs I’m the one who was hurt, but also the one who hurt. Being on both sides of the fence teaches you a lot about love. When someone cheats on you, you say: he’s a bastard, I would never have done it, I really loved him. When you happen to cheat, you become more tolerant, and you understand that it’s not all black and white. After a while, with more detachment, you can say things that you couldn’t say at the time, because you didn’t know them».

She is recovering now.
“I’m lucky enough to be able to write songs to make amends, but to everyone else, you can always do it. If you have to apologize, or tell someone you love them, but you can’t bring yourself to talk, sit down and write a letter. Do it now.”

After Joe, she said she wanted to find “the right man.” Did she succeed?
“I think it’s important to be open to find someone. But it’s hard for me to trust, especially now that I’m in the spotlight: you never know if someone approaches you because they’re sincere or because you’re famous.”

She’s in love?
“I don’t know. It’s really hard to say.”

Is he in a couple?
“I don’t even know that. “It’s complicated,” as they say on Facebook. But, the way I am, I don’t worry about it. I’m not one to wake up and think about it. Love, fortunately, can’t be planned.”

You are from Pennsylvania and grew up on a farm where they cut and sold Christmas trees. What is your relationship with the Holidays today?
“It would have been easy to hate Christmas, right? I had fir trees all year round, and since my birthday was December 13th, my birthday parties always involved Christmas presents. Instead of rebelling, though, I became obsessed. I love snow, sweaters, scarves, and everything that makes Christmas a holiday.”

What gift would you like for December 25th this year?
“A pair of Oxford shoes, or a hat. If she thought I’d say, ‘More time for my family,’ I have to disappoint her. A couple of days here and there are enough, but I don’t need much free time. When I had it, I went crazy, I was bored. I like being busy, feeling tired in the evening.”