Born in West Reading, Pennsylvania, Swift relocated to Nashville, Tennessee in 2004 to pursue a career in country music. She broke into the country music scene with her eponymous self-titled debut studio album, Taylor Swift in 2006, which included the singles "Teardrops on My Guitar" and "Our Song". Swift also released the holiday album, Sounds of the Season: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection, later titled as The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection in October 2007.
Swift rose to mainstream prominence with her sophomore studio album, Fearless (2008), a country pop record with crossover appeal. Aided by the top-five singles "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me", Fearless was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Swift's third studio album, Speak Now (2010), blended country pop with elements of rock and featured the top-ten singles "Mine" and "Back to December".
Drawing inspiration from various pop, rock, and electronic genres, Swift's fourth studio album Red (2012) saw her transcending her country roots. She completely moved to pop with her synth-pop fifth studio album, 1989 (2014), and expanded the electropop sound on her next two studio albums, reputation (2017) and Lover (2019), which respectively embraced urban and retro styles. The four albums spawned a string of international top-five singles, including "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", "I Knew You Were Trouble", "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", "Bad Blood", "Look What You Made Me Do", "ME! (feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco)", "You Need to Calm Down", and "Lover".
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift experimented with folk and alternative rock on her eighth and ninth studio albums, folklore and evermore (both 2020), whose lead singles "cardigan" and "willow" topped charts around the world. She also released the critically acclaimed documentaries Miss Americana and Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions that year. Swift's tenth studio album, Midnights (2022), marked her triumphant return to pop after two folk albums. The album set the record for biggest first day and first week ever on Spotify, spawned the hits Anti-Hero and Lavender Haze, and sold over 1.5 million copies in its first week becoming not only the biggest debut of the decade but also Swift's biggest debut ever. She would make history by becoming the first artist to occupy the entire top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 with tracks from Midnights. Following Midnights, Taylor Swift announced her upcoming eleventh studio album, “The Tortured Poets Department” (2024) which is set to be released on April 19, 2024. She announced this record at 66th Annual Grammy Award Show accepting the award for Best Pop Vocal Album for her previous album, Midnights (2022) in honour of receiving her 13th Grammy.
Additionally, Swift began re-recording her back catalog in November 2020 as a result of a publicized dispute with talent manager Scooter Braun and her former label Big Machine, regarding the acquisition of the masters of her back catalog. In April 2021, Swift released a re-recorded issue of her 2008 album Fearless, titled Fearless (Taylor's Version). It debuted at number one in the US. Swift continued releasing re-recorded versions of her back catalog in November, 2021 with the release of Red (Taylor's Version), a 30 track re-issue of her 2012 critical smash. The album debuted at #1 in the US, spawned the #1 hit All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault), and broke the record at the time for biggest first day for a female album on Spotify. Red (Taylor's Version) was a critical and commercial hit, and proved that Swift's ambitious plan to re-record her first 6 albums was well worth it.
Along with the release of Red (Taylor's Version) came All Too Well: The Short Film (2021), Swift's filmmaking debut. The 15 minute romantic drama was based on the lyrical content from Swift's 2012 fan favorite "All Too Well" starring Sadie Sink and Dylan O'Brien. It had a limited theatrical release in major cities, and Swift held special screenings of the film throughout 2022 at various film festivals. In December, 2022 Taylor announced that she would be making her feature directorial debut with Oscar-winning studio Searchlight Pictures.
Following the release of Midnights, Swift would embark on her first tour in five years, The Eras Tour.
Swift has released several songs for film soundtracks. She co-wrote two songs for the Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack— "You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" and "Crazier", and contributed two songs to the Valentine's Day soundtrack, including the single "Today Was a Fairytale", which was her first number one on the Canadian Hot 100, and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. She also contributed two original songs to The Hunger Games soundtrack album: "Safe & Sound - from The Hunger Games Soundtrack", co-written and recorded with The Civil Wars and T-Bone Burnett, and "Eyes Open". "Safe & Sound" won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. In 2013, Swift recorded "Sweeter than Fiction", a song she wrote and produced with Jack Antonoff for the One Chance film soundtrack, which received a Best Original Song nomination at the 71st Golden Globe Awards. Swift and English singer Zayn Malik, mononymously known as Zayn, released a single together, "I Don't Wanna Live Forever", for the soundtrack of the film Fifty Shades Darker (2017). She also recorded an original song called "Beautiful Ghosts", which she wrote with Andrew Lloyd Webber for the Cats's soundtrack (2019). In 2020, Swift's documentary Miss Americana featured the song "Only the Young" which was written after the 2018 United States elections. In 2022, she released an original song titled "Carolina" for Where The Crawdads Sing (2022) inspired by the novel written by Delia Owens.
With sales of over 200 million records worldwide, Swift is a best-selling music artist. Her accolades include 14 Grammy Awards, including four Album of the Year wins, which makes
Swift the artist with the most awards for that category in history, two Brit Awards (including a Global Icon award), an Emmy Award, 28 [https://guinnessworldrecords.com/]Guinness World Records, 32 American Music Awards (the most wins by an artist), and 23 Billboard Music Awards (the most wins by a woman). She ranked eighth on Billboard's Greatest of All Time Artists Chart (2019) and was listed on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time (2015). Swift has been included in various power rankings, such as Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world (2010, 2015 and 2019) and Forbes Celebrity 100 (placing first in 2016 and 2019). She was named Woman of the Decade (2010s) by Billboard, Artist of the Decade (2010s) by the American Music Awards, and Person of the Year (2023) by Time Magazine.
Brought Up That Way
Taylor Swift Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Grabs onto her daddy's hand,
He says "baby girl what's wrong with you?"
She says "please don't make me go back there again"
She said "I wish there was some way
To make them stop it"
So he drives down to
"I didn't bring her up
So they could cut her down
I didn't bring her here
So they could shut her out
I live my whole damn life
To see that little girl's smile
So why are tears pouring down
That sweet face?
She wasn't brought up that way"
Emily's home late again
He sees that boy drive away
Oh, but something different this time,
She doesn't have too much to say
She said "he tried but
There's just some things I won't do"
And through the tears
She said "I couldn't do that to you"
And he said
"I didn't bring you up
So he could wear
You down
Take that innocent heart
And turn it inside out
I live my whole damn life
To see my little girl's smile
So don't let nobody take that away,
You weren't brought up that way"
The phone rings on a rainy night
Says "it's Officer Tate"
He said "sir, there's been an accident,
You better come down here right away,
A drunken driver missed an overpass,
And Emily, she's fading fast"
He says "God,I didn't bring her up
To watch them lay her down
Nearly killed me the day
They put her
Momma in the ground
Only thing that kept me alive,
Was that little girl's smile
So please don't take that away,
I won't be easy taking her today,
She wasn't brought up that way"
He stands over the hospital bed
Emily opens her eyes
Brought Up That Way is a poignant song that tells the story of Emily, a young girl who is being bullied at school. Emily's father is heartbroken to see her daughter crying after school and takes her to see the principal. The father is determined to make them stop bullying his daughter. The father expresses the love he has for his daughter and how he wants to see her smile again. In the next verse of the song, Emily comes home late and tells her father that she refused to do something that the boy wanted. Emily's father tells her how proud he is of her and reminds her that she was not brought up that way. The song's final verse is emotional, as Emily's father is called to the hospital where his daughter lies in critical condition after an accident caused by a drunken driver. In his sorrow, the father tells Emily that he did not bring her up to watch them lay her down. He keeps remembering the little girl's smile that saved him from the pain he felt after his wife died. Emily's father is grateful for the moments he spent with his daughter and is upset to see her leave too soon.
The song is quite emotional and talks about the importance of family love, and being grounded in values. It is a message to young girls that they should never lose themselves trying to please others or compromise their values. Some possible interpretations of this song could be about the importance of love and support in a family, the dangers of peer pressure, the fear of failure, and the need for self-esteem.
Line by Line Meaning
Emily comes home from school,
Emily returns home from school.
Grabs onto her daddy's hand,
Emily holds her father's hand tightly.
He says "baby girl what's wrong with you?"
Her father asks Emily what is bothering her.
She says "please don't make me go back there again"
Emily pleads with her father not to make her go back to school.
She said "I wish there was some way
Emily expresses her desire to find a way
To make them stop it"
to stop those who are bothering her at school.
So he drives down to
Her father immediately drives to
That principle's ofice and says
The principal's office to confront someone.
"I didn't bring her up
He didn't raise her daughter
So they could cut her down
to be subjected to the cruelty of others.
I didn't bring her here
He did not bring her into this world
So they could shut her out
to be excluded by others.
I live my whole damn life
He dedicated his entire life
To see that little girl's smile
to ensure the happiness of his daughter.
So why are tears pouring down
He wonders why his daughter is crying
That sweet face?
because he wants to protect her from everything.
She wasn't brought up that way"
He raised her to be different, to aspire to become a better human being.
Emily's home late again
Emily is late coming home again.
He sees that boy drive away
Her father sees that her daughter's boyfriend is leaving.
Oh, but something different this time,
But something seems different this time
She doesn't have too much to say
Emily doesn't say much.
She said "he tried but
Emily says that although her boyfriend tried,
There's just some things I won't do"
there are limitations to what she is willing to do.
And through the tears
Despite crying
She said "I couldn't do that to you"
she could not do anything that would disappoint her father.
And he said
Her father responded
"I didn't bring you up
He raised Emily
So he could wear
so that no one could crush her spirit
You down
make her feel worthless
Take that innocent heart
Her father raised her to have a pure heart,
And turn it inside out
not to let others ruin her inner goodness.
I live my whole damn life
He has lived his entire life
To see my little girl's smile
to make sure that his daughter is happy.
So don't let nobody take that away,
Therefore, no one can steal her happiness.
You weren't brought up that way"
because he raised her to be different, to strive for success and happiness.
The phone rings on a rainy night
The phone rings one rainy night.
Says "it's Officer Tate"
Officer Tate tells him the news
He said "sir, there's been an accident,
that there was an accident
You better come down here right away,
He should come down as soon as possible.
A drunken driver missed an overpass,
Emily was hit by a drunk driver who missed overpass,
And Emily, she's fading fast"
and she is dying quickly.
He says "God,I didn't bring her up
The father said, 'I didn't raise her'
To watch them lay her down
to lay her down in a coffin
Nearly killed me the day
The day my wife died
They put her
She was put
Momma in the ground
in the grave next to Emily's
Only thing that kept me alive,
The reason why he is still alive
Was that little girl's smile
because of the happiness that Emily brings him.
So please don't take that away,
Therefore, do not steal her happiness.
I won't be easy taking her today,
Taking Emily from him will be difficult.
She wasn't brought up that way"
He raised Emily with the moral values that helped her become the best version of herself.
He stands over the hospital bed
He is standing by Emily's hospital bed
Emily opens her eyes
Emily wakes up.
Contributed by Sophia T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@MiahTaylorsVersion
Lyrics
Verse 1]
Emily comes home from school
Grabs onto her daddy’s hand
He says “Baby girl, what’s wrong with you?”
She says “Please don’t make me go back there again”
She said “I wish there was some way to make them stop it”
So he drives down to that principal’s office and says
[Chorus 1]
“I didn’t bring her up so they could cut her down
I didn’t bring her here so they could shut her out
I live my whole damn life to see that little girl’s smile
So why are tears pouring down that sweet face?
She wasn’t brought up that way”
[Verse 2]
Emily’s home late again
He sees that boy drive away
Oh, but something’s different this time
She doesn’t have too much to say
She said “He tried but there’s just some things I won’t do”
And through the tears she said “I couldn’t do that to you”
And he said
[Chorus 2]
“I didn’t bring you up so he could wear you down
Take that innocent heart and turn it inside out
I live my whole damn life to see my little girl’s smile
So don’t let nobody take that away
You weren’t brought up that way”
[Verse 3]
The phone rings on a rainy night, says “It’s Officer Tate”
He said “Sir, there’s been an accident
You better come down here right away
A drunken driver missed an overpass
And Emily, she’s fading fast”
[Chorus 3]
He says “God, I didn’t bring her up to watch them lay her down
Nearly killed me the day they put her own momma in the ground
Only thing that kept me alive was that little girl’s smile
So please don’t take that away, it won’t be easy taking her today
She wasn’t brought up that way”
[Outro]
He stands over the hospital bed
Emily opens her eyes
@daviv
her best unreleased from that era.. she needs to release this
@EverythingSwift13
I need this on debut tv
@rileyb2148
actually started balling my eyes out thank you for this 😅😭
@EverythingSwift13
Of course. Enjoy❤
@ameliadavis1979
I love this! Thank you
@MiahTaylorsVersion
Lyrics
Verse 1]
Emily comes home from school
Grabs onto her daddy’s hand
He says “Baby girl, what’s wrong with you?”
She says “Please don’t make me go back there again”
She said “I wish there was some way to make them stop it”
So he drives down to that principal’s office and says
[Chorus 1]
“I didn’t bring her up so they could cut her down
I didn’t bring her here so they could shut her out
I live my whole damn life to see that little girl’s smile
So why are tears pouring down that sweet face?
She wasn’t brought up that way”
[Verse 2]
Emily’s home late again
He sees that boy drive away
Oh, but something’s different this time
She doesn’t have too much to say
She said “He tried but there’s just some things I won’t do”
And through the tears she said “I couldn’t do that to you”
And he said
[Chorus 2]
“I didn’t bring you up so he could wear you down
Take that innocent heart and turn it inside out
I live my whole damn life to see my little girl’s smile
So don’t let nobody take that away
You weren’t brought up that way”
[Verse 3]
The phone rings on a rainy night, says “It’s Officer Tate”
He said “Sir, there’s been an accident
You better come down here right away
A drunken driver missed an overpass
And Emily, she’s fading fast”
[Chorus 3]
He says “God, I didn’t bring her up to watch them lay her down
Nearly killed me the day they put her own momma in the ground
Only thing that kept me alive was that little girl’s smile
So please don’t take that away, it won’t be easy taking her today
She wasn’t brought up that way”
[Outro]
He stands over the hospital bed
Emily opens her eyes
@Ninjamaus2
Omg I just started crying god damn this song is so deep
@Zeano2288
soo good
@bridgette_tdi
this sounds like a mix of white horse and tim mcgraw
@EverythingSwift13
it hits home for the ones who got left out in school 💔