Taylor Swift Full Interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers

Our first guest tonight is an 11-time Grammy-winning musician and one of the biggest stars in the world. Her album, "Red (Taylor's Version)". .

. -[ Cheers and applause ] -. .

. is out tomorrow. She's also returning to "SNL" this week as musical guest along with host Jonathan Majors.

Please welcome back to the show the one, the only. . .

Taylor Swift, everybody. [ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪ ♪♪ Welcome back to the show. -Thanks for having me back.

-We love having you in the building, especially when it means we get to see you on "SNL" this coming Saturday. Your fifth time as a musical guest. -Yes.

What a dream. -And -- And a one-time host. An incredible host back in the day.

-Thank you! -And I'm wondering. You -- -Back when I was teen.

-That's crazy how young you were. -Yeah, I was -- Yeah. -Because you're young now, and that was a long time ago.

-That is so -- Thank you. -You're very welcome. I can say it honestly because I've also aged.

-What a -- What a friend. No, you haven't. -Thank you very much.

-That's -- Those are lies. Don't say lies. -Having been a one-time -- and a first-time host, obviously, when you hosted, do you have any advice for Jonathan, your first-time host this week?

-Well, I -- I met him, and I just want to say he seems like one of the coolest people on Earth. -Yeah. -I think that everyone needs to watch and just like -- He's amazing.

I mean, his work is obviously so incredible, and I'm a big fan, but meeting him, you just get such a good -- Very real, very, like -- abnormally talented normal personality. -Yes. -Those people are unicorn-special.

-Yes, it's so -- it's a very -- very nice combination. -Those are special, special people. So, like, you know, I -- I don't -- You know, what's weird is I didn't get any advice from anyone when I was hosting, which is actually weird, because I was like 19.

-Yeah. -So I should've been given advice. -Yeah.

Real ball drop on our -- our end. -Right? -Yeah.

-There should have been, like, a tip -- like -- like a number people call to give me advice. But, no, it's -- it's -- you know. I think it's just gonna be amazing.

I'm so happy to get to be there, to perform and to sing. You know, I -- I haven't played with my band in years. And we're all like -- We all find it hard not to, like, cry that we get to play together.

Like, we're all like, "Did you guys make it through that last pass? " We're in rehearsals, just, like, embarrassing ourselves. So it's just a dream to get to do it.

-Well, I think it must be emotional just to get back together, but also, part of the emotion is you're singing songs from -- You know, you're re-recording. This is your second re-record. -Yes.

I feel like -- I know that everybody has busy lives, so I -- I do feel the need to, like, explain what I'm doing because it's not normal. -Yeah. -Basically, like, music -- I've always wanted to own my own music since I started making music, and if -- You probably don't know this, but most of your favorite artists do not own their work.

The music industry is, uh -- Eh, you know? Certain corners of it. But I think that there was -- There was something that happened years ago where I -- I made it very clear that I wanted to be able to buy my music.

That opportunity was not given me, and it was sold to somebody else. And so I just figured, I was the one who made this music first. I can just make it again.

-Yeah. -So that's what we're doing. [ Cheers and applause ] -I have to say.

. . -So that's what we're doing.

So when something says "(Taylor's Version)" next to it, that means I own it, which is exciting. [ Cheers and applause ] -It's -- It's quite -- It's quite a clever loophole, Taylor. -Oh, thank you.

-I really tip my cap. -Oh, thank you. It's -- You know, it's also interesting to kind of go back and relive this nostalgia with fans who are the reason why I get to do this and why I get to, like, sit here and, like, have this lovely chat with you.

Going back and -- and reliving these things with the fans. And this time around, I get to really -- I get to do things that I know they wish I would have done the first time. -That's really good.

-Because I'm always listening and I'm always lurking. And I'm always listening to their opinions and their theories. And what -- You know, they'll -- they -- They will let me know which songs should have been singles.

-Yeah. -They let me know which songs did not get videos and should have gotten videos! And so I just like -- You know what?

Like, I'm listening and I'm making the videos and I'm doing the things. -[ Cheers and applause ] -That is really cool. I want to ask -- I mean, I have emotional connections to songs I listen to for the first time ten years ago.

I can only imagine what it's like for you, having written them. Like, is it -- is it cathartic to go back and re-record them? Or does it -- When they're about painful things, do you, like, feel it all over again?

-I mean, I think -- for -- One thing that I noticed about this -- just this week in general is that I think back to the release week of "Red," which is the album that is, you know. . .

Just in case anybody missed it. So this originally came out -- -This is it. It's this.

It's Taylor's Version. -Yeah, it came out originally about a decade ago. And I was 22, and that release week was so stressful because nobody's heard any of the music.

There are like 14 different genre's on this album. It's a real patchwork quilt of genre. I was really experimenting.

-A lot of 22-year-olds are going to bounce around on genres. -Hopefully. Yeah, you know.

That's what we want for them. -Absolutely. -But I think that -- I was so focused on, like, "Is anyone going to like it?

" And then I was also, like, at the time, like, honestly, really sad. 'Cause I had actually gone through, you know, the stuff that I had sung about. But this time, I'm just like -- I got, like -- I have, like -- got sunglasses on and, like, a mojito and just like -- It's chill this time.

It's really nice to be able to put this album out and, like -- and not be sad, not be, like, taking breaks in between interviews to cry. It's very -- I'm telling you, it's much better this way. -Yeah.

-Much better. -We -- I think we're all happy. -Yeah.

-With that said. . .

-You get some time passing, you know? -Yeah. -You're -- You're reliving your experience from your 20s when you're in your 30s.

It's really the way to do it. -Yeah. I wonder if -- if there are people who might think that they were the one you were singing about, if it's easier or far, far worse for them ten years later.

-I haven't thought about their experience, to be honest. -I think that's the -- that's the biggest burn. [ Laughter ] [ Cheers and applause ] I think there's nothing they'd rather hear less.

[ Laughs ] Hey. I have so many more questions for you. We'll be right back with more from Taylor Swift.

Welcome back to "Late Night. " We're here with Taylor Swift. And we were talking during the break.

Some very exciting collaborations that you are now able to do because you're re-recording these songs -- Chris Stapleton, Ed Sheeran, Phoebe Bridgers. Is that -- -Yeah. [ Cheers and applause ] -It must be so nice to have a wish list, and then reach out to these people.

-It really, really was. Essentially, there are songs on this album that I've called "from the vault" tracks, because in my mind, there's a metaphorical vault of songs that I love that I've written -- I write a lot of songs for albums, and then I pare it down. But these were songs that didn't make it on the album because I wanted to save them for the next album.

And then, it turned out, the next album was, like, a whole different thing, and so they get left behind. And you always think back on these songs, and you're like, "What would have happened? I wish people could hear this.

" But it belongs in that moment in time. So now that I get to go back and revisit my old work, I've dug up those songs from the crypt they were in, and I have, like -- I've reached out to artists that I love and said, "Do you want to sing this with me? " You know, Phoebe Bridgers is one of my favorite artists in the world.

I just think she's -- Like, if she sings it, I will listen to it. [ Laughter ] It's -- I just love her voice, and then I also love that she's a very funny person. -Do these people believe it when they get a phone call, saying, "Hi, it's Taylor Swift.

I want you to sing a song with me? " -Well, I try not to cold call people. -Right.

[ Laughter ] That's a good instinct, yeah. -It can go very bad. -Sure.

-But, you know, I do send, like, a very long text that I've crafted over many days. And I'll send the song, because I don't want them to ever feel pressured to say yes to something creatively if it doesn't gel with what they want to do. So, with Phoebe, I reached out, and I sent her this song called "Nothing New," which I wrote when I was 22.

And it's really, really special to me because it was the first time I was not a shiny new artist. I was on my fourth album, and I felt -- Like, I think this happens to a lot of artists, where they have their breakthrough moment. And then, the moment after that is really hard for them because they're just not getting the same -- It's like the first time you walk into a room at a party and everyone's like, "Oh, Kevin's here!

" When you have your breakthrough moment, like, "Kevin! " And then, the next time, you walk in, they're like, "'Sup? " -Yeah.

[ Laughter ] -And then, the third time you walk in, they're like, "Um, so what do you want to do tomorrow? " and they're just talking. And you're like, "But I'm here, and you used to --" So I was dealing with that moment in my life, and so that song's really special to me.

And I sent it to Phoebe and said it would mean the world to me if you would do this as a duet. 'Cause I really wanted another female artist who I loved to sing it with me, because I think it has a very female-artist perspective, that we go through that experience. And her response was, "I've been waiting for this text my entire life.

" [ Laughter ] It was like, "Yes! " -That's a very -- I'm sure she was waiting for that. I think a lot of people are waiting and excited for the fact that you have recorded -- There's a 10-minute version of a song -- [ Cheers and applause ] I mean, I-I just want to say.

-That was a really nice reaction. -I haven't heard a gasp like that. .

. -That was great. -.

. . since I said, "Now it's time for 'A Closer Look.

'" -That was very powerful. [ Laughter ] -So, tell us about -- But this was -- So you've always had this version. -Yes.

This is the original thing that I wrote. So, there's a song called "All Too Well" that was never a single. [ Cheers and applause ] You guys are really -- This is very nice, what you're doing out there.

[ Laughter ] This song was never a single, it never had a video, and somehow, the fans just turned it into the song from this album. And when I -- I used to get so sad when I would sing it that I could barely, like, get through the song. And then, over time, I realized the fans were just, like, screaming the words back to me so loudly that it made it a very joyful experience for me to sing this song.

And since -- It has been a joyful thing for me to sing. I play it all the time in concert. And it's just so fun to hear them scream the words.

So this song originally was -- It's a very long song, as it is, but it was originally 10 minutes long. And I just kept -- I was just like -- [ Laughter ] I couldn't stop. But I was like, "Oh, you got to fit something on an album, so that's unreasonable for it to be 10 minutes long.

" And so I had to cut out certain verses and parts of the bridge and lots of different things that I really loved. Left some of my favorite lines on the cutting-room floor, and I'm really happy that people get to hear them. I'm so proud of this version of it.

I think this version is the version of the song that was meant to be heard. [ Cheers and applause ] -That is really thrilling. And then, on top of all that, there's a short film that you wrote.

-Yeah. -That you directed. [ Cheers and applause ] Two fantastic young actors -- Dylan and Sadie, who I believe -- I hope this is correct -- also huge fans of yours.

It must have been a big deal for them to do this. -It was really wonderful working with Sadie Sink and Dylan O'Brien. They're just absolutely -- I'm just blown away by what they did in this short film.

I wrote this short film and wanted to direct it, and the only two people that I imagined playing the two characters -- it was Sadie and Dylan. If Sadie -- She was the first one I went to. And if Sadie had said no, I don't think I would have made it.

I don't think I would've made the film. I think I would've just been like, "This is a sign," like, you know. But she -- I do like working with friends, or people who I think would be excited about working with me.

I don't really want to have to convince someone. I'm not very interested in that at all. If somebody -- I've never made a short film before.

I've directed some music videos. But I kinda needed to reach out to people who were like -- would maybe believe that I would be capable of it, and Sadie just -- Sadie got it immediately. Dylan was like, "Yep.

" And I watch everything he's in. I'm a huge fan of his. And both of them, they just -- they went out, and they just left it all on the field there in that short film.

They really just acted their asses off. -Well, it's terrific. And I can only imagine what the next couple of days are gonna be like for your fans.

You have done them -- -I hope good. I hope good -- [ Cheers and applause ] -I feel very confidant about that. It's so lovely to see you again.

-You're lovely. -Thanks for being here. You guys, that's Taylor Swift.

[ Cheers and applause ] "Red (Taylor's Version)" is out tomorrow.