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Highlights

• Taylor Swift surprised fans with her accessibility, hosting private listening parties, and taking their feedback seriously.
• Swift's transition from country to pop with '1989' was met with opposition from her record label but proved to be her most successful album.
• Refusing to write snarky breakup songs, Swift opened up about her positive romantic experiences, shifting her songwriting focus.

Taylor Swift has been a musical force in the entertainment industry for over a decade. However, she released her most successful album to date one decade ago.

When Swift's "1989" album was released in 2014, she made a brave transition from country to pop. This was one her record label didn't want to follow through with at first. She also invited fans over to her houses for private listening parties, surprising everyone with her accessibility.

However, one of the things Swift also surprised audiences with was her lack of breakup songs. In the past, Swift became known for writing lyrics biting back at ex-boyfriends. With "1989," Swift took a different approach and revealed her reasoning to David Letterman.

David Letterman Asked Taylor Swift Why She Stopped Writing About Her Ex-Boyfriends

In 2014, Swift appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman to promote her album "1989." During the interview, Letterman asked Swift if she still writes "snarky" songs about her relationships. He jokingly wondered if she would ever write a "snarky" song about him.

"I would never write a snarky song about our relationship," Swift said. "You're my favorite person to talk to."

Letterman then got more specific, asking Swift about her refusal to write about "lousy" ex-boyfriends.

"Well, I just haven't had any lousy boyfriends in the past year and a half," Swift said. "It's been good."

She also told Letterman about inviting Swifties to her houses for listening parties of her "1989" album. Letterman seemed particularly concerned about the security risk and questioned Swift about her screening process.

"The screening process was like, a girl taking a selfie and I could see she's got my poster in the background and she writes me a cute comment on Instagram," Swift said. "Or somebody saying, 'I've been to five shows, I've never met you before.' None of these people who came to 'The Secret Sessions' had ever met me. So I wanted to meet them in a situation where they never felt rushed, they weren't waiting outside..."

When Letterman pressed further about security and whether Swift's young fans were with their parents, Swift said the parents were present if a fan was under the age of 18.

Swift was very clear that she wanted real fans to be invited to the event. She further discussed her preparation for the listening parties to Graham Norton.

Taylor Swift Was Visibly Emotional Over The Audience's Reaction To Her Intro On The Late Show With David Letterman

"I would go online and I would look at their Instagram pages, or their Twitter or their Tumblr or whatever and I just kind of watched them for months and months," she said.

The listening parties would become a tradition for Swift and her fans. She held other "Secret Sessions" when her albums "Reputation" and "Lover" were about to be released.

Swift's Move From Country To Pop Caused Her To Butt Heads With Her Record Label

Prior to her album "1989," Swift had already been delving into pop territory. Even though her brand of country music always incorporated pop elements, she was starting to stray away from country with her album "Red" in 2012. She scored big hits with the singles "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," "22," and "I Knew You Were Trouble."

Among her collaborators on "Red" was pop songwriting genius Max Martin. Swift enlisted him again for "1989," as she told Billboard in 2014.

"Max Martin and [Karl Johan] Shellback [Schuster] were the last people I collaborated with on 'Red,' and I wished we could have done more and explored more," Swift said. "So going into this album, I knew that I wanted to start with them again."

She continued, "Then I thought, 'Wouldn't it be amazing to work with Ryan Tedder?' And then I was with Jack Antonoff and Lena Dunham at the beach, and we started talking about our favorite ’80s music. All of this started happening organically, and I found myself gravitating toward pop sensibilities, pop hooks, pop production styles."

While Swift was happy with the album, not everyone on her team was as enthusiastic.

Even David Letterman Was Taken Aback By Taylor Swift's Ability To Speak Japanese During Their Interview

"When I knew the album had hit its stride, I went to Scott Borchetta and said, 'I have to be honest with you: I did not make a country album. I did not make any semblance of a country album,'" she said. "And of course he went into a state of semi-panic and went through all the stages of grief — the pleading, the denial."

Ultimately, Swift stuck to her guns and "1989" became the most successful album of her career.

Taylor Swift Announced The Re-Recording Of '1989' Live On Stage During Her 'Eras Tour'

Swift stopped the final Los Angeles show on her "Eras Tour" to speak to the audience. She began by thanking them for their support, particularly in regard to the recent re-recordings of her past albums.

"Since I was a teenager, I wanted to own my music," Swift told the crowd. "The way to do it was to re-record my albums, and the way that you have embraced ... that you have celebrated, that you really decided that it was your fight too, and that you were 100% behind me ... I will never stop thanking you for that."

Then, Swift announced something Swifties everywhere had been awaiting a long time.

"There's something I've been planning for a really, really, really, ridiculously, embarrassingly long time. And instead of telling you about it, I think I'll just sort of show you," she said before the screen behind her revealed the cover art and release date for "1989 (Taylor's Version)."

Swift continued to discuss the re-recording on Instagram, writing that the album "changed my life in countless ways."

"To be perfectly honest, this is my most FAVORITE re-record I've ever done because the 5 From The Vault tracks are so insane," she teased. "I can't believe they were ever left behind. But not for long!"

"1989 (Taylor's Version)" was released on October 27, 2023. When the album was released, fans were initially disappointed that Kendrick Lamar (who previously appeared on a remix of "Bad Blood") didn't re-record his vocals for the new "Taylor's Version."

Matt Healy And His Family Respond To Taylor Swift's Diss Tracks In Shockingly Different Ways

However, shortly after the album was released, Swift announced that Lamar did in fact re-record his vocals and the new remix would be available on a deluxe edition.

"The reality that Kendrick would go back in and re-record Bad Blood so that I could reclaim and own this work I’m so proud of is surreal and bewildering to me," Swift wrote.

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