Taylor Swift wrote 'Willow' in less than 10 minutes

6 December 2023, 15:18

Taylor Swift performs Bigger than the Whole Sky on tour in Rio to honour late fan

By Katie Louise Smith

"I think she wrote the entire song from start to finish in less than 10 minutes and sent it back to me."

Loading audio...

Taylor Swift is a lyrical genius, and Swifties all around the world will be well aware of how she goes about writing songs.

Whether it's casually coming up with 'Tim McGraw' in the middle of math class or staying up late at night, still half-drunk and whipping up ''tis the damn season', Taylor's songwriting skills know no bounds.

Now, in a new interview with PEOPLE, Taylor's frequent collaborator and friend Aaron Dessner revealed just how fast the superstar works.

While praising Taylor's talent and work ethic, he revealed that she wrote 'Willow', Evermore's lead single, in less than 10 minutes.

Taylor Swift wrote Evermore's 'Willow' in less than 10 minutes, according to Aaron Dessner. Picture: Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Parkwood, Republic Records

“She never really stops writing songs," Aaron told the publication. "There are so many stories I could share. When I sent Taylor the music for our song ‘Willow‘ — I think she wrote the entire song from start to finish in less than 10 minutes and sent it back to me."

"It was like an earthquake. Then Taylor said, ‘I guess we are making another album.'"

Taylor just casually penning the lyrics "I'm like the water when your ship rolled in that night / Rough on the surface but you cut through like a knife" within 10 minutes of hearing the music?

Incredible.

Taylor Swift - willow (Official Music Video)

Over the years, several stories about Taylor's unbelievable writing techniques have been shared by her and her collaborators.

In one Folklore voice memo, Taylor can be heard telling Aaron Dessner that she was obsessed with the melodies he had sent her and that she had come up with some lyrics for one of them. That voice memo, which Taylor described as a "rough thing", was 'Cardigan' – and it was pretty much the same as the final version.

Aaron also revealed that Taylor ended up writing ''tis the damn season' after filming Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, and after several glasses of wine.

"We played all night and drank a lot of wine after the fireside chat — and we were all pretty drunk, to be honest — and then I thought she went to bed, he told Billboard. "But the next morning, at 9:00 a.m. or something, she showed up and was like, 'I have to sing you this song,' and she had written it in the middle of the night."

(Editor's note: It took me longer to write this article than it did for Taylor to pen a Number 1 song.)