Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans mult… 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.

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 12 Grammy Awards (including three Album of the Year wins), 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 and Artist of the Decade (2010s) by the American Music Awards.

Welcome To New York
Taylor Swift Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Walkin' through a crowd, the village is aglow
Kaleidoscope of loud heartbeats under coats
Everybody here wanted somethin' more
Searchin' for a sound we hadn't heard before
And it said

Welcome to New York, it's been waitin' for you
Welcome to New York, welcome to New York

Welcome to New York, it's been waitin' for you
Welcome to New York, welcome to New York
It's a new soundtrack, I could dance to this beat, beat forevermore
The lights are so bright, but they never blind me, me
Welcome to New York, it's been waitin' for you
Welcome to New York, welcome to New York

When we first dropped our bags on apartment floors
Took our broken hearts, put them in a drawer
Everybody here was someone else before
And you can want who you want
Boys and boys and girls and girls

Welcome to New York, it's been waitin' for you
Welcome to New York, welcome to New York
Welcome to New York, it's been waitin' for you
Welcome to New York, welcome to New York
It's a new soundtrack, I could dance to this beat, beat forevermore
The lights are so bright, but they never blind me, me
Welcome to New York (New York), it's been waitin' for you
Welcome to New York, welcome to New York

Like any great love, it keeps you guessing
Like any real love, it's ever-changing
Like any true love, it drives you crazy
But you know you wouldn't change anything, anything, anything

Welcome to New York, it's been waitin' for you
Welcome to New York, welcome to New York
Welcome to New York, it's been waitin' for you
Welcome to New York, welcome to New York
It's a new soundtrack, I could dance to this beat
The lights are so bright, but they never blind me
Welcome to New York (new soundtrack), it's been waitin' for you
Welcome to New York (the lights are so bright but they never blind me)
Welcome to New York (so bright, they never blind me)

Welcome to New York
Welcome to New York

Overall Meaning

The song "Welcome to New York," from Taylor Swift's 1989 album, is a tribute to the beautiful city of New York. The song starts with a beautiful imagery of the city as the artist walks through a crowd, surrounded by the kaleidoscope of heartbeats and colorful coats. Swift is trying to depict the vibrant and bustling culture of New York with its diverse population and the lively energy that people who come here posses. The lyrics also discuss how everyone who comes to New York is searching for something more, a unique sound they've never heard before, and that's what the city promises to deliver.

The chorus of the song welcomes the listener to the city, in a sense, speaking directly to their experience of discovering this metropolis for the first time. The lyrics say that New York has been waiting for you, which is the way the city makes you feel. It's a place that's ever-changing, much like love, and it's one of the reasons that people keep visiting over and over again. The lights are so bright, but they don't blind you, and you can feel the beat of the city's music forever once you've experienced it.

Through the song, Swift emphasizes the ideas of a place where people can come and be whoever they want to be. The diversity in the city's population is on full display, and she notes that anyone can love whoever they want here, whether it's boys and boys, girls and girls, or anything in between. The song ultimately encourages the listener to embrace New York and its ever-changing nature, insisting that even if it makes them crazy, it's all worth it.

Line by Line Meaning

Walkin' through a crowd, the village is aglow
Walking through the bustling streets, the city is illuminated

Kaleidoscope of loud heartbeats under coats
The sound of excitement and anticipation permeates through the clothing and bodies of the crowd

Everybody here wanted somethin' more
Everyone present desires something greater than what they currently have

Searchin' for a sound we hadn't heard before
Hoping to discover a new and unique auditory experience

Welcome to New York, it's been waitin' for you
The city warmly greets you and has been anticipating your arrival

It's a new soundtrack, I could dance to this beat, beat forevermore
The music is fresh and exciting, and I could dance to it endlessly

The lights are so bright, but they never blind me, me
The brightness of the city's lights is captivating, but it never overwhelms or dulls my other senses

When we first dropped our bags on apartment floors
When we first arrived and settled into our new home

Took our broken hearts, put them in a drawer
Left behind past emotional pain and began anew

Everybody here was someone else before
All those present have undergone changes and transformations from their past selves

And you can want who you want
Everyone is free to love whomever they choose

Boys and boys and girls and girls
All types of love and relationships are accepted and celebrated

Like any great love, it keeps you guessing
New York City, similar to a great love, is filled with surprises and unexpected experiences

Like any real love, it's ever-changing
New York's nature is like that of any real love, constantly evolving and growing

Like any true love, it drives you crazy
Despite the wonderful aspects, New York can be challenging and exasperating, much like any true love

But you know you wouldn't change anything, anything, anything
Despite the difficulties, one wouldn't alter anything about their love for the city

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: Ryan B. Tedder, Taylor Alison Swift

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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