On her illusions of America in her new songs: "It's about the illusions of what I thought America was before our political landscape took this turn, and that naivete that we used to have about it. And it's also the idea of people who live in America, who just want to live their lives, make a living, have a family, love who they love, and watching those people lose their rights, or watching those people feel not at home in their home. I have that line 'I see the high-fives between the bad guys' because not only are some really racist, horrific undertones now becoming overtones in our political climate, but the people who are representing those concepts and that way of looking at the world are celebrating loudly, and it's horrific."
On reconnecting with Katy Perry: "'Katy [Perry] and I were talking about our signs . . . Of course we were . . . We were talking about our signs because we had this really, really long talk when we were reconnecting and stuff. And I remember in the long talk, she was like, 'If we had one glass of white wine right now, we'd both be crying.' Because we were drinking tea. We've had some really good conversations. We were talking about how we've had miscommunications with people in the past, not even specifically with each other. She's like, 'I'm a Scorpio. Scorpios just strike when they feel threatened.' And I was like, 'Well, I'm an archer. We literally stand back, assess the situation, process how we feel about it, raise a bow, pull it back, and fire.' So it's completely different ways of processing pain, confusion, misconception. And oftentimes I've had this delay in feeling something that hurts me and then saying that it hurts me. Do you know what I mean? And so I can understand how people in my life would have been like, 'Whoa, I didn't know that was how you felt.' Because it takes me a second. If you watch the video of the 2009 VMAs, I literally freeze. I literally stand there. And that is how I handle any discomfort, any pain. I stand there, I freeze. And then five minutes later, I know how I feel. But in the moment, I'm probably overreacting and I should be nice. Then I process it, and in five minutes, if it's gone, it's past, and I'm like, 'I was overreacting, everything's fine. I can get through this. I'm glad I didn't say anything harsh in the moment.' But when it's actually something bad that happened, and I feel really, really hurt or upset about it, I only know after the fact. Because I've tried so hard to squash it: 'This probably isn't what you think.' That's something I had to work on."
On the "Daylight" lyrics, "so many lines that I've crossed unforgiven": "That's something that does bother me, looking back at life and realizing that no matter what, you screw things up. Sometimes there are people that were in your life and they're not anymore — and there's nothing you can do about it. You can't fix it, you can't change it. I told the fans last night that sometimes on my bad days, I feel like my life is a pile of crap accumulated of only the bad headlines or the bad things that have happened, or the mistakes I've made or clichés or rumors or things that people think about me or have thought for the last 15 years. And that was part of the 'Look What You Made Me Do' music video, where I had a pile of literal old selves fighting each other. But, yeah, that line is indicative of my anxiety about how in life you can't get everything right. A lot of times you make the wrong call, make the wrong decision. Say the wrong thing. Hurt people, even if you didn't mean to. You don't really know how to fix all of that."
![On how her Reputation era actually included some of the best moments of her life: "It's weird, because in some of the worst times of my career, and reputation, dare I say, I had some of the most beautiful times — in my quiet life that I chose to have. And I had some of the most incredible memories with the friends I now knew cared about me, even if everyone hated me. The bad stuff was really significant and damaging. But the good stuff will endure. The good lessons — you realize that you can't just show your life to people."
On coming to terms with her past and moving on: "It was sometime on the Reputation tour, which was the most transformative emotional experience of my career. That tour put me in the healthiest, most balanced place I've ever been. After that tour, bad stuff can happen to me, but it doesn't level me anymore. The stuff that happened a couple of months ago with Scott [Borchetta] would have leveled me three years ago and silenced me. I would have been too afraid to speak up. Something about that tour made me disengage from some part of public perception I used to hang my entire identity on, which I now know is incredibly unhealthy."
On how she felt like Scott Borchetta betrayed her by selling Big Machine Records to Scooter Braun: "A lot of the best things I ever did creatively were things that I had to really fight — and I mean aggressively fight — to have happen. But, you know, I'm not like [Scott Borchetta], making crazy, petty accusations about the past… When you have a business relationship with someone for 15 years, there are going to be a lot of ups and a lot of downs. But I truly, legitimately thought he looked at me as the daughter he never had. And so even though we had a lot of really bad times and creative differences, I was going to hang my hat on the good stuff. I wanted to be friends with him. I thought I knew what betrayal felt like, but this stuff that happened with him was a redefinition of betrayal for me, just because it felt like it was family. To go from feeling like you're being looked at as a daughter to this grotesque feeling of 'Oh, I was actually his prized calf that he was fattening up to sell to the slaughterhouse that would pay the most.'"](https://media1.popsugar-assets.com/files/thumbor/zSFh95XJkwdSepsOxZERVli08uo/fit-in/1024x1024/filters:format_auto-!!-:strip_icc-!!-/2019/09/18/661/n/1922398/9ef910c36124c7c0_RS1332_Taylor_Swift_by_Erik_Madigan_Heck_02/i/On-how-her-Reputation-era-actually-included-some-best-moments.jpg "On how her Reputation era actually included some of the best moments of her life: \"It's weird, because in some of the worst times of my career, and reputation, dare I say, I had some of the most beautiful times — in my quiet life that I chose to have. And I had some of the most incredible memories with the friends I now knew cared about me, even if everyone hated me. The bad stuff was really significant and damaging. But the good stuff will endure. The good lessons — you realize that you can't just show your life to people.\"
On coming to terms with her past and moving on: \"It was sometime on the Reputation tour, which was the most transformative emotional experience of my career. That tour put me in the healthiest, most balanced place I've ever been. After that tour, bad stuff can happen to me, but it doesn't level me anymore. The stuff that happened a couple of months ago with Scott [Borchetta] would have leveled me three years ago and silenced me. I would have been too afraid to speak up. Something about that tour made me disengage from some part of public perception I used to hang my entire identity on, which I now know is incredibly unhealthy.\"
On how she felt like Scott Borchetta betrayed her by selling Big Machine Records to Scooter Braun: \"A lot of the best things I ever did creatively were things that I had to really fight — and I mean aggressively fight — to have happen. But, you know, I'm not like [Scott Borchetta], making crazy, petty accusations about the past… When you have a business relationship with someone for 15 years, there are going to be a lot of ups and a lot of downs. But I truly, legitimately thought he looked at me as the daughter he never had. And so even though we had a lot of really bad times and creative differences, I was going to hang my hat on the good stuff. I wanted to be friends with him. I thought I knew what betrayal felt like, but this stuff that happened with him was a redefinition of betrayal for me, just because it felt like it was family. To go from feeling like you're being looked at as a daughter to this grotesque feeling of 'Oh, I was actually his prized calf that he was fattening up to sell to the slaughterhouse that would pay the most.'\"")
![On her illusions of America in her new songs: "It's about the illusions of what I thought America was before our political landscape took this turn, and that naivete that we used to have about it. And it's also the idea of people who live in America, who just want to live their lives, make a living, have a family, love who they love, and watching those people lose their rights, or watching those people feel not at home in their home. I have that line 'I see the high-fives between the bad guys' because not only are some really racist, horrific undertones now becoming overtones in our political climate, but the people who are representing those concepts and that way of looking at the world are celebrating loudly, and it's horrific."
On reconnecting with Katy Perry: "'Katy [Perry] and I were talking about our signs . . . Of course we were . . . We were talking about our signs because we had this really, really long talk when we were reconnecting and stuff. And I remember in the long talk, she was like, 'If we had one glass of white wine right now, we'd both be crying.' Because we were drinking tea. We've had some really good conversations. We were talking about how we've had miscommunications with people in the past, not even specifically with each other. She's like, 'I'm a Scorpio. Scorpios just strike when they feel threatened.' And I was like, 'Well, I'm an archer. We literally stand back, assess the situation, process how we feel about it, raise a bow, pull it back, and fire.' So it's completely different ways of processing pain, confusion, misconception. And oftentimes I've had this delay in feeling something that hurts me and then saying that it hurts me. Do you know what I mean? And so I can understand how people in my life would have been like, 'Whoa, I didn't know that was how you felt.' Because it takes me a second. If you watch the video of the 2009 VMAs, I literally freeze. I literally stand there. And that is how I handle any discomfort, any pain. I stand there, I freeze. And then five minutes later, I know how I feel. But in the moment, I'm probably overreacting and I should be nice. Then I process it, and in five minutes, if it's gone, it's past, and I'm like, 'I was overreacting, everything's fine. I can get through this. I'm glad I didn't say anything harsh in the moment.' But when it's actually something bad that happened, and I feel really, really hurt or upset about it, I only know after the fact. Because I've tried so hard to squash it: 'This probably isn't what you think.' That's something I had to work on."
On the "Daylight" lyrics, "so many lines that I've crossed unforgiven": "That's something that does bother me, looking back at life and realizing that no matter what, you screw things up. Sometimes there are people that were in your life and they're not anymore — and there's nothing you can do about it. You can't fix it, you can't change it. I told the fans last night that sometimes on my bad days, I feel like my life is a pile of crap accumulated of only the bad headlines or the bad things that have happened, or the mistakes I've made or clichés or rumors or things that people think about me or have thought for the last 15 years. And that was part of the 'Look What You Made Me Do' music video, where I had a pile of literal old selves fighting each other. But, yeah, that line is indicative of my anxiety about how in life you can't get everything right. A lot of times you make the wrong call, make the wrong decision. Say the wrong thing. Hurt people, even if you didn't mean to. You don't really know how to fix all of that."](https://media1.popsugar-assets.com/files/thumbor/-Ssbdue8dUmLnye2CcC7kYCJXfo/fit-in/1024x1024/filters:format_auto-!!-:strip_icc-!!-/2019/09/18/661/n/1922398/cbcb34e57550c6ac_RS1332_Taylor_Swift_by_Erik_Madigan_Heck_03/i/On-her-illusions-America-in-her-new-songs-It-about.jpg "On her illusions of America in her new songs: \"It's about the illusions of what I thought America was before our political landscape took this turn, and that naivete that we used to have about it. And it's also the idea of people who live in America, who just want to live their lives, make a living, have a family, love who they love, and watching those people lose their rights, or watching those people feel not at home in their home. I have that line 'I see the high-fives between the bad guys' because not only are some really racist, horrific undertones now becoming overtones in our political climate, but the people who are representing those concepts and that way of looking at the world are celebrating loudly, and it's horrific.\"
On reconnecting with Katy Perry: \"'Katy [Perry] and I were talking about our signs . . . Of course we were . . . We were talking about our signs because we had this really, really long talk when we were reconnecting and stuff. And I remember in the long talk, she was like, 'If we had one glass of white wine right now, we'd both be crying.' Because we were drinking tea. We've had some really good conversations. We were talking about how we've had miscommunications with people in the past, not even specifically with each other. She's like, 'I'm a Scorpio. Scorpios just strike when they feel threatened.' And I was like, 'Well, I'm an archer. We literally stand back, assess the situation, process how we feel about it, raise a bow, pull it back, and fire.' So it's completely different ways of processing pain, confusion, misconception. And oftentimes I've had this delay in feeling something that hurts me and then saying that it hurts me. Do you know what I mean? And so I can understand how people in my life would have been like, 'Whoa, I didn't know that was how you felt.' Because it takes me a second. If you watch the video of the 2009 VMAs, I literally freeze. I literally stand there. And that is how I handle any discomfort, any pain. I stand there, I freeze. And then five minutes later, I know how I feel. But in the moment, I'm probably overreacting and I should be nice. Then I process it, and in five minutes, if it's gone, it's past, and I'm like, 'I was overreacting, everything's fine. I can get through this. I'm glad I didn't say anything harsh in the moment.' But when it's actually something bad that happened, and I feel really, really hurt or upset about it, I only know after the fact. Because I've tried so hard to squash it: 'This probably isn't what you think.' That's something I had to work on.\"
On the \"Daylight\" lyrics, \"so many lines that I've crossed unforgiven\": \"That's something that does bother me, looking back at life and realizing that no matter what, you screw things up. Sometimes there are people that were in your life and they're not anymore — and there's nothing you can do about it. You can't fix it, you can't change it. I told the fans last night that sometimes on my bad days, I feel like my life is a pile of crap accumulated of only the bad headlines or the bad things that have happened, or the mistakes I've made or clichés or rumors or things that people think about me or have thought for the last 15 years. And that was part of the 'Look What You Made Me Do' music video, where I had a pile of literal old selves fighting each other. But, yeah, that line is indicative of my anxiety about how in life you can't get everything right. A lot of times you make the wrong call, make the wrong decision. Say the wrong thing. Hurt people, even if you didn't mean to. You don't really know how to fix all of that.\"")
