ON September 20, Taylor Swift attended the Nashville Songwriter Awards, Tennessee and brought home the award for Songwriter-Artist of the Decade.
Swift gave a heartfelt 13-minute speech after receiving her award, garnering cheers from the fan-filled audience. In her speech, she described her writing process, her "dorky" affection toward lyricism, and her routine of classifying her lyrics into three categories: quill pen lyrics, fountain pen lyrics, and glitter gel pen lyrics.
According to The Tennessean, she also described the atmosphere of the Nashville Songwriter Awards, stating that “tonight feels brimming with genuine camaraderie for people who appreciate when a magical cloud appears to create a song that floats into the world to make people feel seen for just one moment.”
She also conveyed the idea that a song can define logic or time, which makes music so personal and impactful.
“A good song transports you to your truest feelings and translates those feelings for you. A good song stays with you, even when people or feelings don’t,” she added.
With regard to Swift’s journey as a songwriter, she said: “Writing songs is a calling, and getting to call it your career makes you very lucky. You have to be grateful every day for it and for all the people who thought your words might be worth listening to.”
“This town is the school that taught me that, and to be honoured by you means more than any genre of my lyrics could ever say. Thank you,” said Swift as she expressed her gratitude toward Nashville, where she began her career.
The Songwriter-Artist of the Decade award is calculated with metrics and “determined by chart success and the writer’s percentage of songwriting credit on each hit,” according to the Tennessean.
Swift writes or co-writes her entire discography, which has amounted to an extensive list of songs over the years. Billboard reports that Swift is the sole writer of over 50 songs, including hits such as 'Love Story' and 'Back to December'. She also has songwriting credits on over 180 songs, noting those are ones that only have been released. – The Vibes, September 22, 2002
