Taylor Swift is one of the most talented, young performers on the country charts today. At sixteen years old,she wrote or co-wrote all of the 11 tracks on her self titled debut CD released on Big Machine Records. At present, the first single entitled "Tim McGraw" is a Top 20 hit. And with her 12 string guitar, she does a fabulous job of blending modern country with the traditional.Taylor Swift is only sixteen years old. But don't let her age fool you! She writes and sings with the passion and conviction of a veteran of country music. She loves what she does, and she gives it her all. And that shines through on her self titled debut CD. She wrote or co-wrote all 11 songs on this CD with her writing partner Liz Rose. The first single entitled "Tim McGraw" is a Top 20 hit. Taylor said that the idea for this song came to her while she was sitting in math class. She had spent a wonderful summer with a great guy whom she really loved. But now that summer was coming to an end, they would be going their separate ways. She wrote the song as a reminder that when he heard Tim McGraw to think of her and their summer together. "Picture To Burn" is one of those fun, up tempo 'you were a jerk and you done me wrong' kind of songs. And now "you're just another picture to burn." The ladies will love this one! One thing that makes this CD a joy to listen to is that all of the songs are written about her own personal life experiences. They weren't just picked out and handed to her to sing and put on an album.Taylor SwiftBig Machine RecordsThe song "Teardrops On My Guitar" can best be described this way. OK, there's this guy that you have this huge crush on. Problem is, he's all wrapped up in this other girl. He's going on and on about how smart she is, how pretty, how perfect. And you have to sit there with your happy face on telling him how glad you are for him. But never meaning a word of it, and it kills you inside to see them together. "Cold As You" is coming to terms with the fact that there are just some people who will never love you. It's coming to the realization that someone isn't the person you thought they were, and to stop making excuses for their bad behavior. With lyrics like "and now that I’m sitting here thinking it through, I’ve never been anywhere cold as you."One of the more emotional songs on the CD is the song "Tied Together With A Smile." What you might see is a beautiful young girl. All the guys want to be with her. And all the girls want to be like her. But beneath the beauty lies a troubled person dealing with an eating disorder. Taylor said that this song was tough for her to write because it wasn't just another sad song. This was about the lives of her friends and their personal, private struggles."Mary's Song (Oh My My My)" was actually inspired by her next-door neighbors. Taylor said that they had been married forever. They talked about meeting as kids, falling in love and getting married. She said that it was so refreshing to see this happy couple because all you read about in the tabloids is who's breaking up, who's cheating on who and who's getting divorced. Taylor said That it was really comforting to know that all she had to do was look next door to find a perfect example of forever."The CD closes with a fun song called "Our Song." It's actually about a young couple who don't have a song of their own, so the events in their lives become "their song." She also likes this song because it has a banjo, and you can't go wrong when you have a banjo. Taylor said that she wanted this song to be the closing track on the CD because the very last line of the song says "play it again." So, take that as the not so subtle hint to, well, play it again.Song List
"Tim McGraw""Picture to Burn""Teardrops on my Guitar""A Place in this World""Cold As You""The Outside""Tied Together With a Smile""Stay Beautiful""Should've Said No""Mary's Song (Oh My My My)""Our Song" "I'm only me when im with you" "Invisible" "A Perfectly Good Heart" "Beautiful Eyes" I Heart ?" "Fearless" "Fifteen" "Love Story" "Hey Stephen" "White Horse" "You belong with me" "Breathe" "Tell me why" "You're Not sorry" "The way I loved You" "Forever and Always" "The Best Day" "Change" "