泰勒·斯威夫特：我歌寫我心，錯(cuò)愛亦無憾

by Nancy Jo Sales

On a cold February day in Nashville， Swift was at SIR Studios rehearsing for the current 47-city tour to support her album Red（2012）. She was 2）strumming on a Taylor guitar（she favors the brand） 3）inlaid with 4）mother-ofpearl.

Swift writes perfect pop songs that stick in your head like lollipops stuck in your hair. She is sometimes criticized for the thinness of her voice， but it sounded sweet and melodic， with a bit of country 5）twang. Swift cultivates a 6）gawky 7）adorkability in her music videos， in which she often plays the unloved girl alone in her room 8）pining over the cute guy. The bio Swifts publicist had sent me was adorkable too：“Hi， Im Taylor. I love the number 13. I was born in December on a Christmas tree farm”—actually a hospital， in Reading， Pennsylvania， in 1989. Swift spent her early childhood on a Christmas-tree farm in Montgomery County， Pennsylvania， in a picturesque house owned by her parents， Andrea， who had worked in finance， and Scott， then a stockbroker with Merrill Lynch. “My favorite thing in life is writing about life， specifically the parts of life concerning love，” her bio went on. “Because， as far as Im concerned， love is absolutely everything.”

在納什維爾一個(gè)冰冷的二月天，斯威夫特在SIR錄音室為其進(jìn)行中的47城巡回演唱會(huì)進(jìn)行排練，宣傳自己的專輯《紅》（2012）。她當(dāng)時(shí)正漫不經(jīng)心地彈著一把鑲著珍珠母的泰勒吉他，那是她最鐘愛的品牌。

斯威夫特擅長(zhǎng)寫很好聽的流行歌曲，這些歌余音裊裊，縈繞你心頭就像是棒棒糖粘在你的頭發(fā)上一樣。她的嗓音有時(shí)會(huì)為人詬病，因?yàn)槔w細(xì)單薄，但是聽著很甜美優(yōu)雅，還帶著那么點(diǎn)鄉(xiāng)村鼻音。斯威夫特在自己的錄影帶中塑造笨拙可愛的形象，通常在其中她扮演不被愛的女孩，在自己的房中單相思可愛的男孩。斯威夫特的公關(guān)發(fā)來的她那份簡(jiǎn)介也很笨拙可愛：“你好，我是泰勒。我喜歡數(shù)字13。我是十二月在一個(gè)圣誕樹農(nóng)場(chǎng)出生的”——其實(shí)是在1989年，賓夕法尼亞州雷丁的一家醫(yī)院出生。斯威夫特早期童年是在賓夕法尼亞州蒙哥馬利郡的圣誕樹農(nóng)場(chǎng)度過，在她父母漂亮的大房子里，母親安德莉亞在金融界工作，父親斯科特在美林證券公司做股票經(jīng)紀(jì)人?！拔易钕矚g的事就是寫生活，特別是和愛有關(guān)的，”她在簡(jiǎn)介中繼續(xù)說到，“因?yàn)椋瑢?duì)于我來說，愛簡(jiǎn)直就是一切。”

Watching her rehearse that day， it became clear that Swift works incredibly hard. “Im the type of person， I have to study to get an A on the test，” she would tell me later. “I have to work really hard to get the record deal—I have to spend years at it to get good. I have to practice to be good at guitar. I have to write 100 songs before you write the first good one.”

Her determination has paid off. The Taylor Swift triumphant music stats can go on and on， but here are a few： Shes a seven-time Grammy winner and the youngest person ever to win Album of the Year （for Fearless，？ in 2009）. Shes the only female artist， and the fourth artist ever， to twice have an album （Red and 2010s Speak Now） sell a million copies in its first week. With Red， she became the first artist since the Beatles—and the only female artist ever—to have three consecutive albums spend six or more weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. She has sold more than 26 million albums and 75 million song downloads worldwide. She holds the Billboard record for the most Top 10 debuts in the history of its Hot 100.

And then there are the inevitable 9）endorsements. Swift is a brand. Shes been called “Americas Sweetheart”： she rarely drinks， doesnt smoke， go clubbing， or get arrested—shes the anti-10）Lohan， and this 11）squeaky-clean image has made her an attractive advertising partner for Target， Sony， CoverGirl， Keds， Elizabeth Arden， and， recently， Diet Coke.

But something happened to Swifts long media honeymoon sometime over the last year. Suddenly people—and not just haters on the Internet but public figures—were making fun of her. And then our conversation turned to the Golden Globes. “I was just sort of like， Oh well， you know， I can laugh at myself，” Swift said. “But what it ended up adding to was this whole kind of everyone jumping on the 12）bandwagon of ‘Taylor dates too much—which， you know， if you want some big revelation， since 2010 I have dated exactly two people.” Conor Kennedy and Harry Styles.

It probably doesnt help this situation that Swift writes songs about the guys she dates and then sends her fans on 13）scavenger hunts to find out who they are. While some women are content to just leave an angry voice-mail message or throw the guys clothes in the street， Swift lets the whole world know hes been a 14）heel. After dating former Disney star Joe Jonas in 2008， she publicly announced hed broken up with her in a 27-second phone call. She then allegedly wrote several songs about their breakup， including “Better than Revenge，” released in 2010. And then there was Twilight 15）hunk Taylor Lautner， whom Swift also dated in 2009 after meeting him on the set of Valentines Day （2010）， and about whom she allegedly wrote the apologetic breakup song “Back to December，”released in 2010.

Its ironic that Swift， who has often spoken of having lived through a miserable middle-school experience in Wyomissing， where she was 16）ostracized for being different—an “awkward，” temporarily overweight girl who sang the 17）national anthem at professional sports events—now finds herself at the center of a celebrity culture infused with all the meanness of junior high. The source of her appeal has always been her ability to dig deep into her youthful feelings and reveal them in all their painfulness. One of her most moving songs， “Fifteen” （2009）， is a ballad about the vulnerability of a girl at the edge of 18）maturation.

“Ive never thought about songwriting as a weapon，”Swift said. “Ive only thought about it as a way to help me get through love and loss and sadness and loneliness and growing up. When I write songs its never a conscious decision—its an idea that floats down in front of me at four in the morning or in the middle of a conversation or on a tour bus or in the mall or in an airport bathroom. I never know when Im gonna get an idea and I never know what its gonna be.”

When she walks out onto the stage， Swift always takes a moment to close her eyes and just feel the love of her cheering fans. Shes a girl who loves love and wants to be in love—but she says shes willing to wait until she gets it right.“Im perfectly happy for all my past relationships to be wrong until I find the one thats right， because Im very happy not having found my great love yet.

“If I could find someone who just looked at me like Im a girl，” she said， “l(fā)ike a girl they want to be their girlfriend， with all my accomplishments and my criticisms， without this big cartoon character that most people see me as because they dont know me … I just want a guy to be dating me as a girl.”

“You know what I always do？” she said. “I have my 19）sanity button that I push. I push this button thats like ‘Stop complaining， your lifes great， stop， do not complain about this life， stop， this life is amaaaazing. Sanity button.”

那天看了她的排練，有一件事非常明確：她工作非常努力?！拔揖褪沁@樣一種人，為了考試得到A，我要努力學(xué)習(xí)?！彼髞砀嬖V我?！拔冶仨毢芘Σ拍軤?zhēng)取到唱片合約——為了把專輯做好，必須得花上數(shù)年的時(shí)間。我必須得不斷練習(xí)才能把吉他彈好。我必須寫上一百首歌，然后才能挑出一首好的?！?/p>

她的決心得到了回報(bào)。泰勒·斯威夫特音樂上的成功一波又一波地襲來，其中有這么一些：她是七次格萊美大獎(jiǎng)得主，也是最年輕的“年度專輯”獲得者（獲獎(jiǎng)專輯是2009年的《無懼的愛》）。她是首位女性，也是史上第四位，兩次專輯推出首周就能售出一百萬張的歌手（這兩張專輯是《紅》以及2010年的《愛的告白》）。憑借專輯《紅》，她成為繼披頭士樂隊(duì)之后——也是史上首位女性，連續(xù)三張專輯都能在“告示牌200大碟榜”上守住第一位長(zhǎng)達(dá)六周或以上的歌手。她的專輯銷量超過兩千六百萬，全球下載次數(shù)達(dá)到了七千五百萬次。在《告示牌》“熱門100”的歷史排名中，她是擁有最多排名“前十”首發(fā)歌的紀(jì)錄保持者。

接下來免不了的就是品牌代言。斯威夫特本身就是一個(gè)品牌。她被視作“美國甜心”：她既不愛喝酒又不抽煙，不愛泡夜店，也沒有犯罪記錄——她是個(gè)“反羅翰”分子，而這冰清玉潔的形象讓她成為眾多廣告商青睞的對(duì)象，例如塔吉特百貨、索尼、封面女郎化妝品、科迪斯運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋、伊麗莎白·雅頓化妝品以及最近的健怡可樂。

但是去年某個(gè)時(shí)候，斯威夫特與媒體漫長(zhǎng)的“蜜月期”結(jié)束了。忽然之間，不僅僅是網(wǎng)絡(luò)上的憤青，連公眾人物都拿她來開玩笑。然后我與她的對(duì)話轉(zhuǎn)到了金球獎(jiǎng)?lì)C獎(jiǎng)禮上?！拔耶?dāng)時(shí)，噢天，你知道，我本可以自嘲化解，”斯威夫特說道，“但最終增添的效果竟是所有人都倒向附和‘泰勒男朋友太多了——你知道的，如果你想知道一些大‘爆料，那就是，自2010年起，我只交過兩個(gè)男朋友?！彼傅氖强导{·肯尼迪和哈利·斯泰爾。

對(duì)緩解這一形象毫無助益的是，斯威夫特會(huì)寫關(guān)于自己男朋友的歌，然后令其“粉絲”尋寶似地猜到底寫的是誰。有些女人失戀只是留下一段憤怒的語音留言，又或者把男朋友的衣服扔到大街上就算了，但斯威夫特要讓全世界都知道這男的有多渾。2008年，和前迪士尼明星喬·喬納斯交往過后，她公然說喬納斯用一個(gè)27秒的電話來跟她分手。接著據(jù)說她寫了幾首歌是關(guān)于這次分手的，包括《比復(fù)仇要好》，于2010年推出。接下來是《暮光之城》的肌肉男泰勒·洛特納。2009年，在電影《情人節(jié)》（2010年上映）的拍攝片場(chǎng)相識(shí)后，兩人開始約會(huì)，對(duì)此據(jù)說她寫的是充滿歉意的分手歌——《重回十二月》，于2010年發(fā)行。

諷刺的的是，斯威夫特經(jīng)常公開說自己在懷奧米辛的中學(xué)經(jīng)歷非常糟糕，那時(shí)候因?yàn)榕c眾不同而被排斥——笨拙又一度肥胖的女孩，在專業(yè)體育賽事上唱國歌——現(xiàn)在她所處的名人文化充滿了當(dāng)時(shí)初中的惡毒無情氛圍。她內(nèi)心的訴求總是源自她能夠深刻發(fā)掘自己的兒時(shí)感受，并且將這些痛苦表達(dá)出來。她的其中一首最為感人的歌是2009年發(fā)行的《十五歲》，歌中敘述的就是即將走向成熟的女孩的脆弱。

“我從來都沒想過要把歌曲創(chuàng)作視為一種武器，”斯威夫特說道?！拔抑皇前阉曌饕环N助我走過愛、失落、悲傷、孤單、成長(zhǎng)的方式。當(dāng)我創(chuàng)作歌曲的時(shí)候，這些都是無意之舉——那種想法會(huì)很自然地浮現(xiàn)在我面前，在凌晨四點(diǎn)時(shí)分，在一次談話之間，在旅游大巴上，在商場(chǎng)，又或是在機(jī)場(chǎng)的洗手間。我從來都不知道我什么時(shí)候會(huì)有靈感浮現(xiàn)，也不知道那會(huì)是怎樣的感受?！?/p>

當(dāng)她走上舞臺(tái)的時(shí)候，斯威夫特總是有那么一刻閉上自己的眼睛，只是去感受為自己鼓掌的“粉絲”所傳遞的愛。她是一個(gè)需要愛，也希望能沐浴在愛之中的女孩子——不過她說她寧愿等到合適的時(shí)機(jī)到來。“在我能找到對(duì)的那個(gè)人之前，我很高興我過去的那么多段感情都沒成功，因?yàn)槲液芨吲d自己還沒找到摯愛。

“如果我有幸能夠找到某個(gè)只把我視作小女孩的人，”她說，“就像一個(gè)他們想要她成為女朋友的那種女孩，既接受我的成就也接受我的批評(píng)，而不是視我為那種大大的卡通形象——大部分人都這么看我，因?yàn)樗麄兏静涣私馕摇抑幌牒鸵粋€(gè)視我為普通女孩的男人約會(huì)?！?/p>

“你知道我經(jīng)常怎么做嗎？”她說，“我有‘理智這個(gè)按鈕。我會(huì)按下這個(gè)‘不要再抱怨了，你的生活很好了，停止抱怨，不要抱怨這種生活，不要，生活很美，美得不得了。理智按鈕。”

小鏈接

泰勒冷嘲熱諷記事簿

·脫口秀主持人艾倫·德杰尼勒斯（Ellen DeGeneres）每次邀請(qǐng)斯威夫特上她的節(jié)目都開她的玩笑。

·2012 年的鄉(xiāng)村音樂頒獎(jiǎng)禮上，主持人卡麗·安德伍德（Carrie Underwood）和布拉德·佩斯利（Brad Paisley）拿斯威夫特跟 18 歲的肯尼迪家族繼承人康納·肯尼迪開玩笑?！八麄儠?huì)復(fù)合嗎？”佩斯利問。“不會(huì)，永遠(yuǎn)永遠(yuǎn)都不會(huì)?！卑驳挛榈乱盟雇蛱氐母柙~（《Red》專輯主打歌《We Are Never Getting Back Together》）回答道。

·《明星》（The Star）日?qǐng)?bào)曾以《泰勒·斯威夫特：笑柄》為頭條，配上了一張斯威夫特抹淚的照片。

·今年 1 月的金球獎(jiǎng)?lì)C獎(jiǎng)禮上，主持人蒂娜·菲（Tina Fey）在臺(tái)上說了一句玩笑話：“泰勒·斯威夫特，別打邁克爾·J·福克斯兒子的主意！”，全場(chǎng)爆出哄堂大笑。