Taylor Swift Wrote Her 1st Song at 14 After Friends Abandoned Her for Being Ambitious
Although Swifties see a global sensation in Taylor Swift now, in 2004, when she was 14 years old and living in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, Swift had two goals: to blend in with her peers and pursue a career as a country music singer and songwriter.
Unfortunately for her, those two goals didn't fit well with each other. Her buddies weren't fans of country music and failed to understand her ambition to pursue a career in singing. "Back home in Pennsylvania, it was so hard to keep friends. I always had two lives ... They didn't like that I had this career thing," said Swift, per The Press of Atlantic City.
When individuals become frustrated, they may lash out. Swift, who has already created more than 100 songs, is better at expressing herself through music. She picked up her guitar and started writing one rainy, lonely Saturday evening in January when none of her friends wanted to call her. She finished memorizing the chord progressions after 30 minutes and was prepared to compose the lyrics on her computer for the song she had named The Outsider. "I wrote exactly what I was feeling," Swift said.
Swift's original song from that occasion was so successful that it was included on a Maybelline CD titled Chicks With Attitude, which was released in conjunction with the "Chicks With Attitude 2004 Concert Tour" with performances by Katy Rose, Charlotte Martin, The Cardigans, Liz Phair, and others. The CD was a free giveaway when Maybelline goods were purchased at retailers.
16 years ago today, taylor swift performing at her school “wyomissing area junior/senior high school.”
— Taylor Throwbacks (@ThrowbackTaylor) March 17, 2022
march 17, 2006 pic.twitter.com/aKzKsV9ILQ
In order to make it simpler for her to pursue her career in country music, Swift and her family relocated from Pennsylvania to a village outside of Nashville in April. Along the way, Swift also hired Dan Dymtrow as her "overall manager," who also represented Britney Spears' management at the time. "She blew me away with her talent, creativity, songwriting, and personality," Dymtrow told the publication at the time of his decision to manage her.
19 years ago today, (14 years old taylor swift) wrote “the outside”
— Taylor Throwbacks (@ThrowbackTaylor) February 15, 2023
–a song she wrote about her being an outsider.
lyrics:
so how can i ever try to be better?
nobody ever lets me in..
i've been a lot of lonely places
i've never been on the outside.
february 13, 2004 pic.twitter.com/yi9m1EQTn1
Officials at Maybelline received Dymtrow's recommendation for The Outsider for the compilation CD. Once it was approved, the song—which had originally only been Swift's vocal and a guitar accompaniment—was recorded in Nashville with a full band and transformed into a modern country single. Swift was sitting at a Taco Bell when Dymtrow called to notify her that her song had been included on the CD. "I was ecstatic! I started screaming. Everybody looked at me like I was crazy," Swift recalled her feeling at the time.
Despite the complete lack of support and love from her friends, Swift persisted, and it paid off. The ambitious girl who was known in Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey for performing at Henny's 20 years ago when she was just 12 years old is now gaining international acclaim - even improving economies by adding billions to tourism through her Eras Tour, according to CBS News.
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