Taylor Swift Reveals Real-Life Experiences That Led Her to Write “Love Story” and “Elizabeth Taylor”

Taylor Swift is opening up about her songwriting process. The New York Times Magazine recently named the pop star one of the 30 greatest living American songwriters, and she sat down for a video interview with the mag in honor of the distinction.

Videos by American Songwriter

During the chat, Swift recalled the real-life situation that led her to write “Love Story,” the 2008 hit that appeared on her sophomore album, Fearless.

“I think the first time I felt I don’t care if people hate this because I love it so much was when I wrote the song ‘Love Story’ when I was 17,” Swift said. “[I was] sitting in my bedroom, mad at my parents because they wouldn’t let me go on a date with a guy who was too old so I shouldn’t have been on a date with him anyway.”

“And this is why you need to discipline your kids,” she added, “because they might write songs that go [to] No. 1.”

Much of Swift’s early work came from her teenaged and early adult experiences, something that was by design for the singer.

“I have this very strong opinion that when you’re young you feel things on such an intense and detailed level,” she said. “There’s an attention to detail when you’re 17-22 years old and you’re longing or you’re reaching and grasping but you’re never holding someone’s attention or someone’s love or someone’s dedication. You can’t understand why you spend all day thinking about it.”

Taylor Swift Reveals How Inspiration Struck for “Elizabeth Taylor”

As Swift grew, she began writing in a different way, building characters and worlds within her songs. Still, though, real life provided inspiration too. That was seen on “Elizabeth Taylor,” Swift’s latest single off of her 2025 album, The Life of a Showgirl.

“I’m riding in the car with [fiancé] Travis [Kelce]. I go on and on in explaining to Travis why I love Elizabeth Taylor so much,” Swift recalled. “She fought for artists’ rights. She was exploited in so many ways, and yet she kept her humanity. She kept her humor. She kept her passion for life. I was just going on and on.”

“I was like, ‘Her eyes were violet. Some people said they were blue. Some people said they were violet. I think they were violet,’” she continued. “We get home. He gets out of the car and I’m just in my head just this intrusive melody… And I’m just scrambling to open my record app on my phone.”

Throughout her two-decade career, Swift said she’s learned to trust what she loves, even if it doesn’t catch on with audiences right away.

“Oftentimes when I love it to a certain degree, that tends to match up with people. And it could be that it doesn’t match up with the way people feel till six years later,” she said. “I loved the Reputation album. I was like, ‘You guys say what you want. I know what I did. I love it. Go with God. Sorry. You can come around if you want. It’s OK if you don’t.’”

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