Our first guest tonight is an 11-time
Grammy-winning musician and one of the biggest stars
in the world.
Her album, "Red (Taylor's Version)"...
-[ Cheers and applause ] -...is out tomorrow.
She's also returning to "SNL" this week
as musical guest along with host Jonathan Majors.
Please welcome back to the show
the one, the only... Taylor Swift, everybody.
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Welcome back to the show.
-Thanks for having me back.
-We love having you in the building, especially
when it means we get to see you on "SNL" this coming Saturday.
Your fifth time as a musical guest.
-Yes. What a dream.
-And -- And a one-time host.
An incredible host back in the day.
-Thank you!
-And I'm wondering. You -- -Back when I was teen.
-That's crazy how young you were.
-Yeah, I was -- Yeah.
-Because you're young now, and that was a long time ago.
-That is so -- Thank you. -You're very welcome.
I can say it honestly because I've also aged.
-What a -- What a friend. No, you haven't.
-Thank you very much.
-That's -- Those are lies. Don't say lies.
-Having been a one-time --
and a first-time host, obviously, when you hosted,
do you have any advice for Jonathan,
your first-time host this week?
-Well, I -- I met him, and I just want to say
he seems like one of the coolest people on Earth.
-Yeah. -I think that everyone
needs to watch and just like -- He's amazing.
I mean, his work is obviously so incredible,
and I'm a big fan, but meeting him,
you just get such a good --
Very real, very, like --
abnormally talented normal personality.
-Yes.
-Those people are unicorn-special.
-Yes, it's so -- it's a very -- very nice combination.
-Those are special, special people.
So, like, you know, I -- I don't --
You know, what's weird is I didn't get any advice
from anyone when I was hosting,
which is actually weird, because I was like 19.
-Yeah.
-So I should've been given advice.
-Yeah. Real ball drop on our -- our end.
-Right? -Yeah.
-There should have been, like, a tip -- like --
like a number people call to give me advice.
But, no, it's -- it's -- you know.
I think it's just gonna be amazing.
I'm so happy to get to be there, to perform and to sing.
You know, I -- I haven't played with my band in years.
And we're all like -- We all find it hard
not to, like, cry that we get to play together.
Like, we're all like,
"Did you guys make it through that last pass?"
We're in rehearsals, just, like, embarrassing ourselves.
So it's just a dream to get to do it.
-Well, I think it must be emotional
just to get back together, but also, part of the emotion
is you're singing songs from -- You know, you're re-recording.
This is your second re-record. -Yes.
I feel like -- I know that everybody has busy lives,
so I -- I do feel the need to, like, explain what I'm doing
because it's not normal.
-Yeah.
-Basically, like, music --
I've always wanted to own my own music
since I started making music, and if --
You probably don't know this, but most of your favorite
artists do not own their work.
The music industry is, uh -- Eh, you know?
Certain corners of it.
But I think that there was --
There was something that happened years ago where I --
I made it very clear
that I wanted to be able to buy my music.
That opportunity was not given me,
and it was sold to somebody else.
And so I just figured, I was the one who made this music first.
I can just make it again.
-Yeah. -So that's what we're doing.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-I have to say...
-So that's what we're doing.
So when something says
"(Taylor's Version)" next to it,
that means I own it, which is exciting.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-It's -- It's quite -- It's quite a clever loophole, Taylor.
-Oh, thank you. -I really tip my cap.
-Oh, thank you.
It's -- You know, it's also interesting to kind of
go back and relive this nostalgia with fans
who are the reason why I get to do this
and why I get to, like, sit here
and, like, have this lovely chat with you.
Going back and -- and reliving these things with the fans.
And this time around, I get to really --
I get to do things that I know they wish
I would have done the first time.
-That's really good.
-Because I'm always listening and I'm always lurking.
And I'm always listening
to their opinions and their theories.
And what -- You know, they'll -- they --
They will let me know which songs should have been singles.
-Yeah. -They let me know which songs
did not get videos and should have gotten videos!
And so I just like -- You know what?
Like, I'm listening
and I'm making the videos and I'm doing the things.
-[ Cheers and applause ] -That is really cool.
I want to ask -- I mean, I have emotional connections to songs
I listen to for the first time ten years ago.
I can only imagine what it's like for you,
having written them.
Like, is it -- is it cathartic to go back and re-record them?
Or does it -- When they're about painful things,
do you, like, feel it all over again?
-I mean, I think -- for --
One thing that I noticed about this --
just this week in general
is that I think back to the release week of "Red,"
which is the album that is, you know...
Just in case anybody missed it.
So this originally came out --
-This is it. It's this. It's Taylor's Version.
-Yeah, it came out originally about a decade ago.
And I was 22, and that release week was so stressful
because nobody's heard any of the music.
There are like 14 different genre's on this album.
It's a real patchwork quilt of genre.
I was really experimenting.
-A lot of 22-year-olds are going to bounce around on genres.
-Hopefully. Yeah, you know. That's what we want for them.
-Absolutely. -But I think that --
I was so focused on, like, "Is anyone going to like it?"
And then I was also, like,
at the time, like, honestly, really sad.
'Cause I had actually gone through,
you know, the stuff that I had sung about.
But this time, I'm just like -- I got, like -- I have, like --
got sunglasses on and, like, a mojito
and just like -- It's chill this time.
It's really nice to be able to put this album out and, like --
and not be sad, not be, like,
taking breaks in between interviews to cry.
It's very -- I'm telling you, it's much better this way.
-Yeah. -Much better.
-We -- I think we're all happy. -Yeah.
-With that said...
-You get some time passing, you know?
-Yeah. -You're -- You're reliving
your experience from your 20s when you're in your 30s.
It's really the way to do it. -Yeah.
I wonder if -- if there are people who might
think that they were the one you were singing about,
if it's easier or far, far worse for them ten years later.
-I haven't thought about their experience, to be honest.
-I think that's the -- that's the biggest burn.
[ Laughter ]
[ Cheers and applause ]
I think there's nothing they'd rather hear less.
[ Laughs ] Hey. I have so many more questions for you.
We'll be right back with more from Taylor Swift.