She scored No. 1 pop and country smashes with 'Love Story' and 'You Belong with Me,' and sold out New York's Madison Square Garden in less than a minute -- so Taylor Swift can't help but remember what everyone told her when she first came to Nashville with a guitar and a teenage dream to write and sing her own songs. They told her it was impossible for a country artist to sell country music in cities like Los Angeles and New York. Obviously, Taylor has tapped into something magical, and shattered musical boundaries -- and stereotypes -- with the songs she's been writing, straight from the most secret corners of her tender 19-year-old heart.
"I don't sing about tractors and hay bales and things like that, because that's not really the way that I grew up," Taylor tells Variety. "But I do sing about the lessons I've learned. When I look back on my albums when I'm 80, I hope (they) will be like diary entries."
And even as Taylor has shown enough vulnerability to give the world a peek into her most private thoughts when writing about real-life young love and breakups, she has purposely avoided projecting a sexualized image beyond her years or a bad-girl persona that has been a trap (or a sales tactic) for other singers her age.
"I hope someday when people look back on what I've accomplished, the thing that comes to the forefront -- the thing that sticks out -- is that I was a kind person," she says.
Taylor still has plenty to look forward to, including the CMA Awards on Nov. 11, where she's up for Entertainer of the Year.
