The Recording Academy has released the entirety of the Icon Sessions With Taylor Swift: A 20-Year Retroactive!
The actual event took place on August 18 at the Grammy Museum event and with interviewer Harvey Mason Jr. Fans can now watch the conversation and Taylor‘s surprise mashup performance themselves right here or at the video embedded below.
Taylor reveals “I Knew You Were Trouble” began as a sad ballad
Taylor initially brought Max Martin and Shellback a much quieter, piano-based version of her hit song with no drums. She called it a “really, really sad ballad.”
“[It] ended up being the best thing for it, and I think as a collaborator, my favorite people to be in the room with are ‘Yes, and?’ people,” she said.
Listen to Taylor‘s emotional 21-minute speech from the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.
The producers proposed taking it in a different direction, one that involved dubstep that would define the version eventually released. It was a significant moment for the “Opalite” singer because it appeared on her Red album and represented a big shift away from her country roots.
Taylor performs a three-song mashup
She also performed a mashup during the event, including her Toy Story 5 hit, “I Knew It, I Knew You,” “August,” and “All Too Well,” tracks from Folklore and Red, specifically.
“I never turned to music to forget my human experience,” Taylor shared. “I turned to music to remember it. And so in songwriting, I find myself drawn to consequences, stakes, and the passage of time so we can see those decisions through.”
Taylor addresses how she handles critics
At another point during the interview, Taylor revealed the clever way she claps back at critics.
“Sometimes when people are mocking me, it’s really fun to mock them back. Sometimes I like to just use words that they have to look up in order to talk shit about.”
Learn all about Taylor‘s secret show in Los Angeles last week and who was invited.
Posted To:Music Taylor Swift