CNN
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In newly launched audio from a 2011 interview with “60 Minutes,” a then-21-year-old Taylor Swift says she was, on the time, not impressed to sing about subjects associated to politics.
It wasn’t till over a decade into Swift’s profession, in 2018, that she determined to lastly broach the subject publicly and in her music, and the never-before-heard audio – launched on Tuesday within the debut episode of a brand new podcast titled “60 Minutes: A Second Look” – sheds mild on Swift’s early philosophy about staying mum.
“So far as politics and who I need to be making selections for our nation and all that, I don’t actually sing about that,” Swift informed award-winning journalist and “60 Minutes” host Lesley Stahl on the time, based on the newly launched audio.
“I don’t get melodies and concepts in my head that need to do with the problems of our financial local weather,” Swift added. “It doesn’t match right into a refrain.”
That has since changed, in case you haven’t heard.
Swift, now 34, has since written quite a few songs that mirror her emotions on politics and societal causes which are essential to her. It’s a stark distinction from her take as a younger girl in her 20s, who was then a quickly rising star centered on her connection to her followers, navigating fame and pumping out hits.
She initially started voicing her political positions in 2018, when she endorsed two Tennessee Democratic candidates within the midterm elections. They each misplaced, respectively, and Swift wrote a politically charged music about it titled “Solely the Younger,” launched in 2020 at the side of her documentary “Miss Americana.”
That very same yr, Swift endorsed the Biden-Harris ticket, an endorsement punctuated by the singer expressing remorse in “Miss Americana” for not talking up about political causes sooner. In a single emotional scene, Swift informed her father, Scott Swift, that she felt the necessity “to be on the precise aspect of historical past,” whereas in one other scene, she was vital of then-President Donald Trump.
Swift has additionally used her platform to advocate for ladies’s rights, reproductive well being care and LGBTQ+ rights, vocalizing her help for the causes via songs such because the LGBTQ+ Delight anthem “You Must Calm Down” or “The Man,” each from her 2019 album “Lover.”
An on-screen message proven on the finish of the “Calm Down” music video additional clarified Swift’s stance and fervour for propping up LGBTQ+ rights, urging folks to signal her petition for “Senate help of the Equality Act on Change.org.”
“Let’s present our satisfaction by demanding that, on a nationwide degree, our legal guidelines really deal with all our residents equally,” the message learn.
Vice President Kamala Harris made a splash earlier this month when her marketing campaign played Swift’s 2019 observe “The Man” at a post-debate social gathering. The music and its accompanying music video, directed by Swift, sparked headlines on the time of its launch with its references to stark cultural double requirements between women and men.
The music alternative got here after Swift endorsed Harris’ presidential run within the 2024 election, in a social media publish during which she included a name to motion for her followers to register to vote.
The transfer drove a whole bunch of hundreds of individuals to go to the Vote.gov hyperlink that she offered, and her endorsement of Harris ended months of hypothesis over whether or not the Grammy-winner would share her political beliefs forward of November’s election.
Swift initially captivated her followers together with her music, making a loyal Swiftie base that appears to hold on her each phrase. No matter whether or not she chooses to straight sing about politics or social causes, she now appears to know all too properly how highly effective her music could be.