'Only The Young' And 9 More Surprises From Taylor Swift's Miss Americana Doc
'Only The Young' And 9 More Surprises From Taylor Swift's Miss Americana Doc
By Carson Mlnarik
From writing candid lyrics that often read like lines on a diary page to sharing her actual diary pages, Taylor Swift is no stranger to letting us inside her world. Still, her new documentary, Miss Americana, right now in select theaters and on Netflix, feels more personalized than anything we've seen from the singer before.
Director Lana Wilson says Swift did not want the doc to feel like an established "pop star" film. Alternatively opposed to focusing wholly on concluding her dark Reputation era or the kick-off of her pastel-hued Lover, Miss Americana follows the transformational period between records as Tay grapples with her role as a world superstar and her duty as a woman in a position of power.
While Swift has made a habit of meticulously documenting stardom through vlogs and tour movies, even the most diehard Swifties will find a bevy of new material to sink their teeth into, from frank discussions on body image to the oft-heard about yet never-before-seen crevices of Swift lore, like fully silent music-video sets and air travel with Scottish Folds. Here are a couple of things even her most devoted fans might be surprised to learn.
She saved a powerful new song drop for the release.
A pivotal moment in the doc is any time Taylor — armed with wine, her mom, and superhero publicist Tree Paine — presses post on her first political statement endorsing Tennessee Democrat Phil Bredesen for Senate. While it leads to record new-voter registration, Bredesen ultimately loses to the Republican candidate. Her mom tells her to build on what she began, and yes it usually inspire Swift's most political track nevertheless. "Only the Young" offers encouragement to the kids who loved Beto O'Rourke or Stacey Abrams and "went door-to-door attempting to create it happen," taking aim at Trump and the "big bad man." The track appears in the credits, and spoiler alert: It's a bop.
She did not have anything mapped out past the massive success of 1989.
Swift's fifth album, 1989, marked a complete plunge into pop music, yet Swift admits she only had one objective in mind while making the '80s-inspired LP: winning Album of the Year at the Grammys. Soon after taking residence the best trophy in 2016, she felt empty, realizing it had been the only thing she wanted, and she did not have anyone to call and share it with. It was a blend of this feeling, and the media backlash she faced in 2016 that led her to "deconstruct an entire belief system."
She had not tried burritos up until, like, two years ago.
Old Taylor might be dead, nevertheless New Taylor is alive well, plus a vocal fan of this Tex-Mex delicacy. While hard at work on Lover at Electric Lady Studios in New York, Swift asks producer Joel Little if he likes burritos, prompting the revelation that she had not indulged in tortilla heaven up until two years back. How does she adore them right now? With some chips shoved in for that additional "crunch."
One of her most prized possessions is her "Rihanna shirt."
Lester Cohen/WireImage
While bracing for takeoff on her private plane amidst to-go dinners and Diet Coke (of course), Tay nearly puts her face in a plate of steak attempting to keep it from sliding off her table. Once her adorable mom — who handles departure like a professional — questions her techniques, Taylor exclaims, "Either [my forehead] or the lap. This is a Rihanna shirt." We get it, Fenty is priceless!
"ME!" Almost had a cuss word in it.
We get a front-row seat to the making of the buoyant "ME!" — From Tay deciding it could be the lead single, to Brendon Urie hopping on board, to her vision for its larger-than-life visual: "Emo kids! Theater! Dance sequences! La La Land! Cats! Gay pride! People in country-western boots!" Maybe the most surprising nugget is the swear that almost made it in. "I know I mentioned some bullshit on the phone," she sings in the early stages of the sugary sweet tune. Le gasp!
While she's not spoken a lot about it, Tay is thinking about motherhood.
Ethan Miller/Getty Images for dcp
In a particularly introspective moment, Swift talks to producer partner-in-crime Little about turning 29, and why there's a segment of her that's certainly not willing to have kids, certainly not ready for this grown-up stuff." With her current schedule of album, tour, album, her life is proposed two years ahead of time, and she can't just be "figuring stuff out." To her credit, high school BFF Abigail says lose be "an great mother."
While she was hiding away pre-Reputation, she got really into nail art.
Who was the mastermind beyond Todrick Hall's fabulous nails while in Tay's 2019 VMAs performance? None other than the "You Need to Calm Down" singer herself! Swift revealed she got really good at nail art while hiding away from the masses eye, and tells Todrick to "give me a good review on Yelp." We call next in line!
Taylor loves ice in her wine and doesn't drink red because it's also adult" for her.
Any time whenever you go to Casa de la Swift, don't expect red wine! Much to her companions chagrin, Taylor doesn't like the taste of red wine and prefers her whites chilled to the max. Totally understandable.
She understands her paparazzi-dodging methods are silly, and she does not care.
Gotham/GC Images
Considering rumors she once abandoned her apartment in a human-sized trunk, it comes as no surprise that she's mastered the art of dodging paparazzi. While deplaning, Swift is alerted about paps outdoors, and rapidly shrugs into the sleekest part-umbrella, part-coat, part-face mask we've ever seen. "Good luck selling this picture," she quips. Master of disguise, indeed.
Reinventing yourself is tiring, and Taylor is exhausted.
From onstage costume changes to genre rebirths, Taylor is a queen of reinvention, yet it comes at a cost. Swift opens up about the double regular girls in pop music are faced with, having to "reinvent themselves 20 times more than the male artists" with each era. Females in entertainment are discarded in an elephant graveyard by the time they're 35," she says, noting that 2019's Lover "is probably one of my last possibilities to redesign her previous success. Even still, Swift has learned to not put her entire her worth in her popularity, and her mental health — and her creativity — are all of the better because of it.
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