Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans… Read Full Bio ↴Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her narrative songwriting, which is often inspired by her personal life, has received widespread media coverage and critical praise.

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.

Mary
Taylor Swift Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

She said
"I was seven, and you were nine
I looked at you like the stars that shined
In the sky, the pretty lights"
And our daddies used to joke about the two of us
Growing up and fallin' in love
And our mamas smiled and rolled their eyes
And said, "Oh, my, my, my"

Take me back to the house in the backyard tree
Said you'd beat me up, you were bigger than me
You never did, you never did
Take me back when our world was one block wide
I dared you to kiss me and ran when you tried
Just two kids, you and I
Oh, my, my, my, my

Well, I was sixteen when suddenly
I wasn't that little girl you used to see
But your eyes still shined, like pretty lights
And our daddies used to joke about the two of us
They never believed we'd really fall in love
And our mamas smiled and rolled their eyes
And said, "Oh, my, my, my"

Take me back to the creek beds we turned up
Two AM, ridin' in your truck
And all I need is you next to me
Take me back to the time we had our very first fight
Slammin' of doors 'stead of kissin' goodnight
You stayed outside 'til the morning light
Oh, my, my, my, my

A few years had gone and come around
We were sittin' at our favorite spot in town
And you looked at me, got down on one knee

Take me back to the time when we walked down the aisle
Our whole town came and our mamas cried
You said, "I do," and I did too
Take me home where we met so many years before
We'll rock our babies on the very front porch
After all this time, you and I

And I'll be eighty-seven, you'll be eighty-nine

I'll still look at you like the stars that shine in the sky
Oh, my, my, my

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Taylor Swift's song "Mary" tell the story of a girl named Mary and her long-lasting love with a boy. The song begins with Mary reminiscing about her childhood crush on the boy. She describes how their fathers used to joke about the two of them falling in love, and their mothers would smile and roll their eyes. Mary asks the boy to take her back to the treehouse where they used to hang out as kids and the creek beds where they used to go for late-night drives. She recalls their first fight and how he stayed outside until the morning light, proving his commitment to their relationship.

The second verse of the song picks up with Mary in her teenage years. She looks back on how the boy's eyes still shone like "pretty lights" despite her growing up. She remembers how their fathers continued to joke about their potential romance, but this time, their mothers cried happily when they got married. Mary asks the boy to take her back to their wedding day and their hometown, where they'll grow old together and watch their children and grandchildren grow up.

Overall, "Mary" is a narrative about the passage of time and the enduring nature of love. The song emphasizes the power of childhood crushes and how they can turn into lifelong relationships, despite challenges and growing pains throughout the years.

Line by Line Meaning

She said
The singer introduces the story she is about to tell.

"I was seven, and you were nine
The singer talks about the time when she and her love interest were young children.

I looked at you like the stars that shined
The singer had a crush on her love interest since they were children, looking at him with admiration and wonder like she would with the stars in the sky.

In the sky, the pretty lights."
The artist used to think that her love interest was as pretty and mesmerizing as the stars in the sky.

And our daddies used to joke about the two of us
The artist's and her love interest's fathers used to tease them about being in love and growing up together.

Growing up and fallin' in love
The fathers joked that the singer and her love interest would inevitably fall in love as they grow up together.

And our mamas smiled, and rolled their eyes
The mothers of the singer and her love interest didn't take their fathers' jokes about them falling in love too seriously.

And said, "Oh, my, my, my"
The mothers giggled at the thought of their children being in love someday.

Take me back to the house in the backyard tree
The artist reminisces about the treehouse in her backyard where she and her love interest used to play.

Said you'd beat me up; you were bigger than me
The artist and her love interest used to play fight, with him teasingly threatening to beat her up because he was bigger than her.

You never did, you never did
The singer's love interest never actually hurt her when they play fought.

Take me back when our world was one block wide
The artist longs to return to a time when she and her love interest's world and concerns were small and limited.

I dared you to kiss me, and ran when you tried
The singer remembers playing a game with her love interest where she dared him to kiss her and then ran away when he tried.

Just two kids, you and I
The singer reflects on being young and innocent with her love interest, just two young children who didn't know much about the world.

Well, I was sixteen when suddenly
The singer fast forwards to when she was sixteen years old.

I wasn't that little girl you used to see
The artist acknowledges that she was not a little girl anymore but instead was growing up.

But your eyes still shined, like pretty lights
The artist's love interest still had the same bright, captivating eyes as when they were young children.

They never believed we'd really fall in love
The singer's and her love interest's fathers never expected that they would actually end up together as a romantic couple.

And our mamas smiled, and rolled their eyes
Like before, the mothers of the singer and her love interest didn't take too seriously their fathers' jokes about them falling in love.

And said, "Oh, my, my, my"
The mothers chuckled at their children for growing up and falling in love.

Take me back to the creek beds we turned up
The artist longs to return to the days when she and her love interest would play and hang out by the creek.

Two AM, ridin' in your truck
The artist fondly remembers riding in her love interest's truck in the middle of the night.

And all I need is you next to me
The singer declares that all she needs to be happy is her love interest being by her side.

Take me back to the time we had our very first fight
The artist nostalgically remembers the day when she and her love interest had their first disagreement.

Slammin' of doors 'stead of kissin' goodnight
Rather than kissing each other goodbye like usual, the singer and her love interest slammed the doors in frustration during their first fight.

You stayed outside till the morning light
During their first fight, the singer's love interest waited outside all night until they made up and reconciled.

A few years had gone and come around
The singer talks about the passage of time and the changes they have experienced.

We were sittin' at our favorite spot in town
The artist and her love interest are spending time at their favorite spot in their town.

And you looked at me, got down on one knee
The artist's love interest proposes to her, getting down on one knee.

Take me back to the time when we walked down the aisle
The singer fondly remembers walking down the aisle on her wedding day.

Our whole town came, and our mamas cried
Their entire town came to see them get married and the mothers of the singer and her love interest felt emotional.

You said, "I do," and I did too
The artist and her love interest recite their wedding vows together.

Take me home where we met so many years before
The artist wants to go back to the place where she and her love interest first met when they were young children.

We'll rock our babies on the very front porch
The artist imagines the future with her love interest where they rock their babies on the porch of their home.

After all this time, you and I
The singer reflects on how much time has passed since she and her love interest met, and expresses happiness that they are still together.

And I'll be eighty-seven, you'll be eighty-nine
The artist imagines growing old with her love interest, with her being 87 and him being 89 years old.

I'll still look at you like the stars that shine in the sky
The singer is confident that even at 87 years old, she will still look at her love interest with the same admiration and wonder as when they were young children.

Oh, my, my, my
The final line once again expresses joy and happiness that the singer and her love interest have remained together throughout their lives.

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Brian Dean Maher, Elisabeth Wagner Rose, Taylor Alison Swift

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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