Taylor Swift’s voice cracked repeatedly during her speech at Thursday’s Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala in New York. And not just because she screamed for hours at the Knicks nail-biter N.B.A. finals game the night before.
In a 21-minute speech that balanced sincerity and self-deprecating humor, Swift spoke about her beginnings as a songwriter, the sacrifices her family made for her career and how artists can survive the modern music landscape.
“Now more than ever, in an industry that seems to be consumed by metrics, data, analytics and we’re all trying to predict whether something will trend or not, writers need to trust their human intuition,” Swift said. “And I think the thousands of hours I’ve spent lovingly working at this craft have taught me to really be able to identify the ideas that jump out at me and sparkle and linger, the ones that matter to me most.”
Such ideas over Swift’s career evolved into songs like “Love Story” and “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version),” both designated as “key” in Swift’s discography by the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Remembering the process of creating “Love Story,” Swift said the songwriter Craig Wiseman told her in a writing session that he didn’t quite grasp her concept. The singer, then a teenager, went home and finished the song on her own.
This year’s Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees also included Walter Afanasieff, who wrote hit songs with Mariah Carey and produced others for Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand; Terry Britten and Graham Lyle (Tina Turner); Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of Kiss; Kenny Loggins; Alanis Morissette; and Christopher Stewart, known as Tricky (Beyoncé, Rihanna, Mary J. Blige).
Before Swift took the stage, the director Steven Spielberg delivered an introduction heavy with Swift lyrics, and described her as “a singular artist and a genuine phenomenon, whose place in our culture rivals that of the composers of the American songbook.”
Swift, who has 14 Grammys and 14 No. 1 hits among countless sales records, seemed particularly moved to be honored for songwriting, which she called “pretty much the only thing I ever just naturally did.”
“It felt easy to nurture something I’ve loved so much,” she said.
“But it couldn’t have been easy for my parents and my brother,” she said, assuring the crowd “I’m good” as she got choked up, “to just pick up and move our entire family from Pennsylvania to relocate to Nashville, so that I could hone my craft in the songwriting capital of the world.”
Expressing her gratitude for her family’s support, Swift fought back tears. Several times, her fiancé, Travis Kelce, dabbed his eyes with a white cloth napkin.
Sombr performed Swift’s “Cardigan” and “Dear John” in a musical tribute that got Swift singing and dancing ahead of her speech.
After, Swift said she was “envious” of Sombr’s songwriting, asserting that he would undoubtedly be at the top of her most-listened-to songs at the end of the year.
“A lot of my late-night debates with my friends about the state of the music industry involve me saying very loudly, ‘Sombr is the future, and he does it all on his own, and he doesn’t need A.I., the kids are fine,’” Swift said.
Swift closed her speech with words for her fans, who she said she’s always surprised have stuck with her so long: “I’m humbled by the ways that fans have immortalized my songs.”
Throughout the night, Swift grooved to several guest performances, as she is wont to do, gleefully shaking her hands in the air during Tamar Braxton’s rendition of “Single Ladies,” co-written by Stewart for Beyoncé.
Morissette in her induction speech spoke about her relationship to songwriting.
“Writing helps me understand, it helps me locate and define myself from inside out versus outside in,” the “You Oughta Know” artist said.
Morissette also called for the preservation of public arts education, saying, “I truly believe our future depends on that.”
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