Does Taylor Swift Write Her Own Songs?

Taylor Swift songs often characterize what the singer is going through at that time in her life. Are they written by the singer herself?

Taylor Swift writes some of her own songs. She wrote every song on her 2010 album Speak Now. On some of her songs, she is co-credited as a writer, with other writers also credited as helping to create the tracks. On her 2017 album—Reputation—every song was co-written, with both Taylor Swift and other writers.

Keep reading to learn more about the album that is entirely self-penned by Taylor Swift, as well as the singer’s writing process.

Speak Now (2010)

Taylor worked on the 14-track album Speak Now for two years, writing all the songs without any help from other writers. 

Talking about the process behind creating the album, Taylor revealed, “I actually wrote all the songs myself for this record. It didn’t really happen on purpose, it just sort of happened.”

She continued, “Like, I’d get my best ideas at 3:00 am in Arkansas, and I didn’t have a co-writer around and I would just finish it.”

What other songs has Taylor Swift written?

There are several songs on most of her albums that credit Taylor as the sole writer. More recently, “Lover,” which is the title track from her 2019 album, had no help from other writers. “Lover” reached number 10 on the chart and was appreciated by critics 

Constance Grady of Vox notes that “Lover” is “dreamier, slower, and more intimate than either “ME!” or “You Need to Calm Down,” […] “Lover” is being greeted as a return to “the old Taylor”: country Taylor, sweet-acoustic-love-song Taylor, teardrops-on-her-guitar Taylor.”

The reviewer goes on to assert that the reason “Lover” feels like a nod to the old Taylor, is because it’s the first song that she wrote entirely on her own since “This Love,” from the album 1989, released back in 2014.

Other tracks written purely by Taylor Swift include (among many others): “You’re Not Sorry,” “Love Story,” “Forever & Always,” “Today Was a Fairytale,” and “Red.” 

It’s worth noting though, that on 2017’s Reputation, Taylor had help with every song, although she is still listed as a co-writer for the entire album, as she is with every song she’s ever released. 

Although she is not usually knocked for delegating some of the song-writing burden to others, critics often note that Taylor’s most honest-sounding work tends to be that she has written on her own. 

How does Taylor Swift write songs?

Taylor Swift has been on the music scene since 2006, with her debut self-titled album. Still, though, she insists that her songwriting process is, and always has been, the same as when she was a pre-teen.

Taylor told Harper’s Bazaar that, “There are definitely moments when it’s like this cloud of an idea comes and just lands in front of your face, and you reach up and grab it.”

She continued, “A lot of songwriting is things you learn, structure, and cultivating that skill, and knowing how to craft a song. But there are mystical, magical moments, inexplicable moments when an idea that is fully formed just pops into your head.”

“And that’s the purest part of my job. It can get complicated on every other level, but the songwriting is still the same uncomplicated process it was when I was 12 years old writing songs in my room,” she concluded.

Taylor went on to talk about the people in her life that inspire her music. “I don’t know what it is that makes some people really creatively inspiring,” she said. 

“There have been people I’ve spent a lot of time with who I just couldn’t write about,” Taylor revealed. 

She continued, “I don’t know. It’s just that some people come into your life and they have this effect on you.” 

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