Taylor Swift has 11 studio albums, but a former friend claims to have unreleased tracks that show how her talent sparkled from a young age.
Taylor Swift ’s music has dominated the charts for almost two decades – but her love life and her public feuds have at times threatened to obscure her huge talent. Now, a new Channel 4 documentary reveals how Taylor’s songwriting prowess and ability to connect with her audience has always been her superpower, enabling her to clap back at her critics with lyrical precision.
When Taylor was just 13 years old, she and her friend Robert Ellis Orrall worked together to create a demo that included three tracks called Invisible, Just South of Knowing Why, and Need You Now.
Robert recalls their studio sessions, reiterating that Taylor had Taylor directed the session right away. In the first two days of our relationship, we recorded three songs, two of which are included on Taylor Swift’s debut album. Her father said, “Here’s another 15 that she wrote,” after we’d written a few songs.
Robert reveals that he has sixteen more Taylor-written songs that have never been heard by the general public while holding up a CD for the camera.
On the show, which features interviews with many of Taylor’s early collaborators, he declares, “I have tons of these from way back.” 16 of our songs are copyrighted in 2003, the same year we began writing. You have never heard of any of those.
Robert credits Taylor with having all the original ideas, claiming that she was a powerhouse even in her early years, when she co-wrote the book. Robert was able to identify her as a huge star when he first met her while he was working with her. On her debut album, Place in This World, Robert was one of the co-writers, and he was confident that it would appeal to listeners. Millions of kids could relate to that, according to Robert. She “had a plan,” she said, “and she wasn’t going to change it.” She would not be halted. Right and center, she was being told “no” by people, but she was not doing that.
Taylor was encouraged to sing at The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville because he had a regular slot there thanks to Robert’s assistance in getting her discovered. Scott Borchetta spotted her at that time, and he gave her her a signed Big Machine Records label.
Taylor talks about her big break in the documentary’s audio. She claims, “I’m looking out and seeing all these faces, and one guy has his eyes closed and I kept noticing him, and he said, “Hi, I’m Scott Borchetta. The good news is that I want to start my own record labels and that I want to have one of my first artists, he says.
The pair worked together for 12 years and released six albums. Then in 2016 Taylor’s ongoing feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian blew up and threatened her career. Kanye’s song Famous contained sexual lyrics about Taylor which she publicly took issue with. Then, Kim released clips of a video of a phone call appearing to show Taylor approving the lyrics. The backlash from this was not kind and when Kim called her a snake, #TaylorSwift IsASnake went viral.
Taylor’s mother Andrea was the subject of a video that shows how the fallout affected the young star. She is portrayed as saying, “I’ve been doing this for 15 years, I’m tired of it,” in the video. At this point, it seems like it’s more than just music; on average, I’m like “OK,” but occasionally I’m like “it just gets loud.” Taylor retreated from the public eye, but she soon made a comeback, this time with the snake motif, which was prominent on her Reputation album from 2017 and subsequent tour.
In 2020, the full video of the Kanye call was released, proving Taylor had not fully approved the lyrics. Also in 2017, Taylor’s life away from music made headlines once more when she won a sexual assault civil case against DJ David Mueller.
She stated at the time, “I acknowledge the privilege that I enjoy in life, in society, and in being able to bear the high cost of defending myself in a trial like this.” I want to assist those whose voices should also be heard. I’ll be making donations to a number of organizations that support sexual assault victims’ self-defense in the near future.
In 2019, fans were again supportive of Taylor when she spoke out in fury after she parted ways with Scott Borchetta and he sold her back catalogue to Scooter Brau n. Taylor asked fans to weigh in on her behalf.
However, Channel 4 ’s new documentary sees her first manager Rick Barker slam her behaviour. He says, “No one stole her music, no one made her sign a bad record deal.” This year, Taylor, now 35, announced her engagement to American football star Travis Kelce. And even her former manager Rick is wishing her well. He tells the film crew, “I hope what comes next for Taylor is that she has found her person and that she gets to experience the things that most people get to experience and that some people give the girl a break.”
