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Writing of Debut Timeline

To celebrate the first anniversary of my Eras Tour show, here's the best timeline I made!

DISCLAIMER: If you know dates and/or have info about the making of Taylor's songs, please consider sharing them with me, I'd be forever grateful. If you don't want to for whatever reason, I need to kindly ask you to not read this timeline as I believe that every fan is equal and deserves to know the same things about Taylor's songwriting & recording process. This post is by a fan, for the fans.

Out of Taylor's released album, as of 2024, her debut album is the one on which Taylor worked on the longest, from September 2003 to August 2006.

After Spring Break in March 2002, after travelling to Nashville to give her karaoke demos to the labels hoping to get a record deal, Taylor understood that she had to write her own songs if she wanted to make it. Kirk Cremer, her theatre teacher, gives her voice lessons and introduces the Swifts to his brother, Ronnie. She starts taking guitar lessons from Ronnie and starts writing her own songs, which include “Lucky You” and “Smokey Black Nights”. In March 2003, the Swifts hire a manager, Dan Dymtrow. Dymtrow had seen Taylor performing at the US Open in August 2002. Thanks to her manager, she starts meeting with labels' reps. The ones who are most interested in her are Joe Galante and Renee Bell, from RCA Nashville. They offer her a development deal in June 2003. A development deal is offered when the label's rep think that the artists have potential, but they don't think they're developed enough to invest money and resources on album plus everything that comes with it (recording it, market it etc.). Taylor commented: “A development deal is an in-between record deal. It's like, a guy saying that he wants to date you but not be your boyfriend. You know, they don't wanna sign you to an actual record deal or put an album out on you. They wanna watch your progress for a year.”

June 24, 2003: Taylor gets a record deal with RCA Records.

[Lover Journal] “Hey Diary, I got a record deal! AHHHHH! RCA records in Nashville wants to give me a development deal!!! We were taking Sassy to the airport (late) and when we headed home, we stopped at a Taco Bell. My manager called us on Mom’s cell and she gave the phone to me. He had Dad on conference call. He started out by saying, “Well, we got follow ups on all of the labels. And they think you need a couple years to grow so they can put you on the radio… Except for RCA, who wants to sign you!! Congratulations!” I was going crazy. I cried. I guess I never really expected to get one! It’s a development deal, but those are the only details we have. I told a bazillion people! We were making CDs for a New Hampshire concert I have Friday til 2:00 AM tonight. AHHH! Record deal! R • C • A baby!”

August 26, 2003: Taylor signs the deal with RCA.

Mid-to-Late 2003: RCA starts pairing Taylor with a few songwriters, including the duo of the year, Brett James and Troy Verges. They write A Perfectly Good Heart. The version we hear on the album is the same demo that was recorded shortly after the song was written.

“It's a song that I recorded when I was fourteen. I thought it would be really important to put this on the album because, you know, it's just really innocent. It's about getting your heart broken for the first time and not understanding why somebody would wanna do that. It's before the mind games come in to play, before your second or third relationship, where you don't know anything but trusting people. And this song is about getting that trust betrayed.”

Its copyright file shows 2003 as the creation date.

[Brett James Interview] “When Taylor was 12, Renee Bell signed her to a developmental deal at RCA. They tried several producers and we did a demo with her on a song called “Perfectly Good Heart.” Long story short, RCA didn’t sign her to a full deal. Taylor went back to Pennsylvania for a while, came back seven years later and became the biggest artist in the world. She put one of the songs we cut on the record.” Note: I think he meant to say seven months, not seven years? After all Taylor permanently moved to Nashville after a few months.

November 2003: Taylor has the first writing session with Robert Ellis Orrall and Angelo Petraglia. The first song they write is I'm Only Me (When I'm With You), then the next day they write A Place In This World and What Do You Say. I got this date directly from Bob Orrall.

[About A Place In This World] “I wrote this song when I was thirteen and had just moved to Nashville. It was tough trying to find out how I was going to get where I wanted to go. I knew where I wanted to be, but I just didn't know how to get there. I'm really happy this is on the album, because I feel like I finally figured it out.”

[Bob Orrall 2021 interview, transcribed & adapted by me] “She had a deal at RCA. Her A&R person was Leslie Roberts who just believed in her 100%. She had talked to me about writing with her, I was kinda familiar with her. One morning I got a call from my friend Angelo [Petraglia], who I had known since 1977. He called me up in a panic because he had this thirteen-year-old girl coming over and he had to write a song with her. He was like “Dude, you gotta come over and help me, I got this thirteen-year-old girl coming over, what are we going to write about?”. I asked, “Who is she?” “Taylor Swift.” “Oh, I know her, she's with RCA. Ok, I'm coming.” The first song we wrote together was I'm Only Me When I'm With You. She said, “I want to write something like Avril Lavigne but country.” We got stuck on a line and Angelo hadn't thrown out any lyrics yet. He threw out these two lines, she looked at him and said “I'm not sure my demographic would say something like that.” Shot down by the thirteen-year-old. When I turned I'm Only Me When I'm With You to RCA Records, when she was still signed, the actual recording that is now on a 11-million selling record, they went: “It's too pop, I don't think people go for that.” And I'm like “Noo, it's perfect.” So they never owned it, we just took it back and it ended up being on the first record, without being even remixed, it's exactly what I slid across the desk to the A&R folks at RCA.”

January 15, 2004: Taylor records the demos for I'm Only Me (When I'm With You), A Place In This World and What Do You Say at the Abtrax Studios. The producer is Orrall, the mixer Jaime Tate. All three leaked. A Place in This World (Studio Demo) contains a few alternate lyrics and a different instrumental.

The mixer Jaime Tate commented: "The most vivid memory I have from these sessions is Taylor taking a huge wad of gum out of her mouth and telling us she was chewing 7 pieces of gum."

Handwritten lyrics of the songs and the demo CD (Property of Bob Orrall):

February 14, 2004: Taylor writes The Outside, after reworking Someone Loves You. An acoustic version was sent to Dan Dymtrow so he could show it to Maybelline (the make-up company).

[Lover Journal] Wyomissing. Hey, Today was Valentine's Day --- but seriously I never would've known. I don't have a boyfriend or a crush --- There's no point in even acknowledging V-day when you don't have those key elements. So, I woke up and perfected/tweaked this new song I wrote yesterday called Someone Loves You --- It basically says that no matter what you've done or where you are in life, somewhere someone loves you. I wrote another one called Outside --- It's about being left out in the cold and being --- well, an outsider. I don't know if it'll go anywhere, but it made me feel better.

“This is one of the first songs I ever wrote, and it talks about the very reason I ever started to write songs. It was when I was twelve years old, and a complete outcast at school. I was a lot different than all the other kids, and I never really knew why. I was taller, and sang country music at karaoke bars and festivals on weekends while other girls went to sleepovers. Some days I woke up not knowing if anyone was going to talk to me that day. I think every person comes to a point in their life when you have a long string of bad days. You can choose to let it drag you down, or you can find ways to rise above it. I came to the conclusion that even though people hadn't always been there for me, music had. It's strange to think how different my life would be right now if I had been one of the cool kids.”

[EW] It’s about what I was going through at the time. I was a complete outcast at school and never fit in, never felt like I belonged. A lot of times back then when I was 12 or 13, I would write songs about relationships, when I wasn’t in relationships, because I would look at other people and try to observe what they were going through. But in the case of ”The Outside,” I was writing exactly what I saw. I was writing from pain. And I’ve always felt so lucky, because I’ve never needed an escape like drinking or drugs or anything like that to escape from the bad days. Music has always been that escape for me.

April 20, 2004: Taylor meets Liz Rose at a RCA showcase. They write their first song, Never Mind, shortly after. It's the beginning of a solid collaboration that will culminate with All Too Well.

[Lover Journal] Hendersonville. Hey, I <3 SCHOOL! Today was the talent show, it was @ 9:30 am in front of the whole school. I was toward the end. When it was my turn, I sang Beautiful Eyes on my 12 string koa. It went well. I got a standing ovation and everything. After school, Mom and I went into Nashville and met at the label. I played Angelina and Beautiful Eyes for them. They told us that we have to pay for any demos we make before the deal... We didn't know about that. Afterward, we went to RCA Cafe. The people who played were really good and I want to write with a girl named Liz Rose who played.

[Liz Rose & Chris Lindsey 2019 interview, transcribed by me]

CL: What was your first session like with Taylor? How old was she? LR: She was barely 14. She saw me play at the RAC Café. Leslie Roberts [Taylor's A&R rep] had been trying to get us together so Leslie had me sing at that RCA thing. She came up to me and said, “Hi I'm Taylor, I love that song, would you write with me sometime?”, and I was like, “Sure!”. We wrote a song called Never Mind and it was real pop. I remember sitting there thinking, “Wow, I don't really know what I'm doing here.” She didn't need me. I scribbled stuff down, I said “You said this and this would be great, and what if you say this?” I was an editor but you know what? That was the role and I was really lucky to be there. That experience was unbelievable. CL: You guys had a standing appointment after that, right? You spent a lot of time together, she would not allow that amount of time unless there was a magic happening between you. LR: Yeah, we really had a great thing, it was just always fun bouncing off ideas. You know, [publisher] Jody Williams told me I was spending too much time with her and I said, “Well, it's an hour and a half once a week, it's the funniest thing I do, there's just nothing like sitting in a room with her and and watching her songwriter mind go to work. I don't know what she's gonna do, but she's gonna do something”. That song we wrote [Never Mind], at the time her A&R or the label, I can't remember who, they said, “This is great, could you get her to write something a little more country?” And I remember I said, “I'm not going to get her to do anything that she doesn't want to, she knows exactly who she is, and she's gonna do what she's gonna do.” I think that's why it worked, I didn't put her in a room and say, “Let me write you a song,” or “I'll teach you how to write a song.” Around the time she left RCA, she said “I'm just going to write with you for a while.”

June 2004: Recording session with Bob Orrall, organized once Maybelline had accepted The Outside. They cut Your Face, The Outside (Demo) and I Heart Question Mark (Demo). The Outside will be released the month after in a compilation called Maybelline: Chicks With Attitude. According to Scott Swift, Bob Orrall dropped everything he was doing to produce the song and was paid in advanced by the Swifts.

I Heart Question Mark (3 min 34 sec / Studio)- Totally different than the album version, with an incredibly played guitar intro with a unique style. Very special part towards the end when voices start singing lines.

The Outside (3 min 35 sec / Studio)- Younger sounding vocals and different production are the highlights on this demo released in July of 2004. The echo effects on Taylor's voice towards the end are a nice touch.

Demo CDs with these three songs were given out at the Britney Spears Summer Camp and they popped out on Ebay quite frequently up until the Red era at least. PIC

Pic of The Outside Lyrics Sheet (Notice the "I Heart ? drawing on it)

July 2, 2004: Taylor says she has written 84 songs in an interview with the Reading Eagle.

Summer 2004: Taylor and Bob Orrall probably wrote Invisible.

“I wrote this song about a guy that I really liked. And he liked somebody else. It was sort of like I would chase him, he would chase her. She didn't even notice him, he didn't even notice me. And as tragic as that is, the way that I was able to get over it was to write this song. I really wanted to put this on the album because it’s one of my favorites. And it was just almost on the first album.”

[The Philadelphia Inquirer] Q: Do you have any songs that were inspired by the time you were at the Shore? A: There was a little demo I made when I was 11, and I think it's floating around the Internet. It's called “Smoky Black Nights,” and it's all about being at the Shore. Then there's the song "Invisible," which is about the son of my parents' friends. They were always at my house and their son was my age, and he would always tell me about other girls he liked. I felt, well, invisible. Obviously. So I wrote that song about it, and it was a bonus track on my first album.

Invisible (3 min 19 sec / Studio)- Stands apart from the released version. The piano is played much differently during the intro. And overall the instrumentation is less piano oriented.

August 9, 2004: Taylor records Beautiful Eyes, produced by Bob Orrall. The demo is the exact same mix released in 2008. In the same session she records What To Wear and Better Off.

August 2004: Taylor says she has written 102 songs in an interview published on September 1st.

September 2004: In September 2004, Taylor decides not to renovate her contract with RCA. Taylor and Bob Orrall decide to start recording the songs they have co-written, including 9 of the 12 songs they wrote together. The songs are: I'm Only Me When I'm With You, A Place In This World, What Do You Say, Invisible, Better Off, Crazier, Just South Of Knowing Why, Need You Now and a cover of Chaka Khan's I'm Every Woman. All of them have leaked.

Fun Fact: I'm Every Woman was recorded on September 16th and it cost $4200 to make. It was recorded for the soundtrack of a movie that was shelved.

[EW Interview] “A development deal is where they’re giving you recording time and money to record, but not promising that they’ll put an album out. And they can kind of shelve you, in some circumstances. After a year of development, we just decided that we wanted to look around, so we walked. And it’s not a really popular thing to do in Nashville, to walk away from a major record deal. But that’s what I did, because I wanted to find some place that would really put a lot of time and care into this. And it ended up being a record label that wasn’t even in existence yet: Big Machine Records happened, and then got major-label distribution with Universal, and things have gone pretty well since then. I’ve been writing since I was 12, so I had so many songs I wanted people to hear. It was a combination of things, why I left, [but mostly] just because I did not want to be on a record label that wanted me to cut other people’s stuff. That wasn’t where I wanted to be. I didn’t want to just be another girl singer. I wanted there to be something that set me apart. And I knew that had to be my writing. Also, it was a big, big record label with big superstars, and I felt like I needed my own direction and the kind of attention that a little label will give you. I just did not want it to happen with the method of “Let’s throw this up against the wall and see if it sticks, and if it doesn’t, we’ll just walk away.” I wanted a record label that needed me, that absolutely was counting on me to succeed. I love that pressure.”

[CMT Interview] “They were afraid to put out a 13-year-old. They were afraid to put out a 14-year-old. Then they were afraid to put out a 15-year-old. Then they were nervous about putting out a 16-year-old. And I’m sure if I hadn’t signed with Scott Borchetta, everybody would be afraid to put out a 17-year-old.”

[Bob Orrall 2017 interview, transcribed & adapted by me] “She was on RCA for a whole year. At the end of that year, apparently RCA said that they hadn't quite made up their mind about her and wanted another 60 days. She and her parents had the balls to say, “What is she gonna learn in 60 days that she hasn't learned in the past year?” so she walked away.

[Aimee Mayo interview] “In the beginning, I wrote with Taylor Swift a lot. She is an anomaly. We never wrote a hit together, but we did write one of the craziest songs I’ve ever been a part of. I think because we kind of do the same thing- both obsessed with lyrics. We hit it off other ways- decorating diaries. I watched Taylor Swift walk away from the biggest label in town because they wouldn’t let her write her songs. They were trying to force her to record songs written by 50-year-old men. I remember standing in my driveway with her and her mom and her mom said, “this will never work if she doesn’t record her own songs.” Meanwhile, she was 15 and no 15-year-old that I know of had ever written a hit song.”

September 2004: Taylor writes Picture To Burn with Liz Rose. A former classmate of Taylor's told me that Taylor wrote this song about Jordan Alford, who left her for her friend Chelsea.

“The guy I wrote this song about, I didn't really ever 'officially' date. We almost dated. It really bothered me that he was so cocky and that's where that song came from. After school, I would come into downtown. I had a publishing deal with Sony, and I would write songs every single day, exactly what I felt. I found myself just sitting there with my guitar going, 'I hate his stupid truck that he doesn't let me drive. He's such a redneck! Oh my Gosh!' That actually became the chorus to the song, so that's one of the most honest songs I've ever written.”

[Chelsea] “We were kind of good friends at school, later not so much. She dated him, that's why. They dated in freshman year. Picture To Burn is about him. Because he's always had big old trucks and stuff,' Chelsea said. 'At first it was kind of like, ''Oh, that's weird?'' You know. I was shocked, kind of like, ''Whoa, OK… well that's cool, what other ones are about us?'',' she added. 'But then it was kind of funny, it was so long ago now, who even cares,' Chelsea said. The couple were told by Taylor's best friend Abigail Anderson that the song was about Jordan. 'We just thought it was funny. [Jordan] was like, ''I'm not a redneck! She makes me look like some redneck!'' but other than that we just thought it was kind of funny,' Chelsea said. Kindergarten teacher Chelsea, 24, said she and Taylor even got into an argument over Jordan – who was still known by his birth name, Paul, at the time – by their lockers. She added: 'We exchanged a few words over a locker fight. We were 14, we were just being girly, snarky.'

Picture to Burn (acoustic) (2 min 34 sec / Acoustic)-Features same special vocal intro by Taylor. Also features an incredible part where Taylor completely changes vocal styles and speeds through a line of vocals unique to this demo.

Picture to Burn (2 min 51 sec / Studio)-Closer in style to the Rhapsody ALT than the album version, but still much different than both. Awesome intro with Taylor using her vocals in a unique way, almost like a war cry.

October 10, 2004: Taylor records Invisible (Demo), Just South Of Knowing Why and Need You Now.

November 1, 2004: Taylor drafts her contract with Sony/ATV Music Publishing. She's the youngest songwriter at Sony's.

November 2, 2004: Taylor meets Scott Borchetta.

[Transcribed & adapted by me] While drafting plans for his new venture [a new record label], Scott Borchetta received a package from an unknown 14-year- old singer. “It was a was a very smartly put together package, there was an Abercrombie and Fitch catalogue that was clipped to a picture of Taylor. You don't see that every day.” […] Borchetta invited Taylor to perform for him in his office. “She came in and she was adorable, smart and funny. It was just her and her manager, no parents. She started playing songs, and I think the second song was a song called Picture To Burn. I said “That's a hit song,” and she kind of went “That? Really?” The next event was me going out and meeting the family and I said, “Here's the deal, if you want to be at the Universal Music Group I will introduce you to all of the executives and try to help you get signed but you need to know something: I'm not going to be there, I'm leaving in September to start my own label and the only promise I can make you tonight is that if you wait you have a record deal with me.” They looked at me like I was crazy [...] A couple weeks later, it wasn't a manager, it wasn't a parent, Taylor called me herself on the cell phone. We talked for a minute and then she goes, “Hey, I just want you to know I've made up my mind and I'm waiting for you.””

November 4, 2004: Night of the Bluebird Café showcase, where she performs Beautiful Eyes, Me & Britney and Songs About You.

November 30, 2004: Taylor and Liz Rose write Teardrops On My Guitar. The unreleased song Her, also deals with the same situation.

“I used to have a huge crush on this guy, who would sit there every day talking to me about...another girl: how beautiful she was, how nice and smart and perfect she was. And I sat there and listened, never meaning it any of the times I said `Oh, I'm so happy for you.' I guess this is a good example of how I let my feelings out in songs, and sometimes no other way. And I've never been afraid of using names. I love this song because of its honesty and vulnerability. To this day, they are still together and he has no idea about this song.”

“I was that ‘friend,’ you know, that girl who’s your friend. He had this awesome girlfriend who he would tell me about every single day. And, you know, I was that girl that he would go to and be like, ‘What should I get her for Valentine’s Day? I have to make this Valentine’s Day so awesome! It’s her birthday, what should I do? What would the perfect gift for a girl be?’ And of course I’d give him the most awesome ideas, awesome plans, like I would want them! And it didn’t end up like in the end of the chick-flick where they get together in the end. It didn’t happen like that. So I wrote a song and I put it out on the radio, and they’re still together!”

[Liz Rose] “When we wrote Teardrops On My Guitar, she was writing at Sony's and they wanted her to change “Drew” to “You” so it would be more universal, so that if she didn't get a deal they could pitch it to someone else, and she was like, “Respectfully, I think it's fine the way it is.” I mean, she knew.”

Teardrops on My Guitar (acoustic) (3 min 14 sec / Acoustic)- To hear the origin and roots of this song is fascinating. Just Taylor and her acoustic guitar. She sounds so young here and very emotionally involved in the demo vocals. (Not Leaked)

Teardrops on My Guitar (3 min 18 sec / Studio)- Very pretty music with a much earlier vocal take. This was recorded in late 2004, a full two years before Taylor's first album was released. Outstanding in every way possible. (Not Leaked)

Teardrops on My Guitar (ALT/Dixie Chicks) (3 min 16 sec / Studio)- This is the exact same demo as the one above, but all references to Drew have been removed so that the track could be pitched to the Dixie Chicks, who declined to record it. (Leaked)

Handwritten lyrics by Taylor (pic 1) and Liz (pic 2)

January 17, 2005: Taylor signs the contract with Sony/ATV Music Publishing.

March/April 2005: Taylor writes Our Song, for the Hendersonville School Talent. A former classmate of Taylor's told me that the talent show was always after Spring Break, but I couldn't find the date of neither the break nor the talent show. Either way, it's somewhere between March and April.

[Taylor] “I just sat down one day with my guitar and got in a groove, and went with it. I like to write about how music affects people, and this was fun to write because it's about a couple who DOESN'T have a song. I like the banjo and you really can't go wrong with banjo. I wanted it to be last on the album, because the last line of the chorus is 'play it again'. Let's hope people take it as a hint to go ahead and play the album again. Haha!”

April/May 2005: Taylor writes Mary's Song with Liz Rose and Brian Maher. She performed the song at her school for an interview that was mentioned by her dad on May 5, 2005 along with Teardrops On My Guitar and Picture To Burn.

“I wrote this song about a couple who lived next door to us. They'd been married forever and they came over one night for dinner, and were just so cute. They were talking about how they fell in love and got married, and how they met when they were just little kids. I thought it was so sweet, because you can go to the grocery store and read the tabloids, and see who's breaking up and cheating on each other (or just listen to some of my songs, haha). But it was really comforting to know that all I had to do was go home and look next door to see a perfect example of forever.”

Oh My My My (acoustic) (3 min 22 sec / Acoustic)- A straight acoustic demo of the song with Taylor's lead vocals and background harmonies by a co-writer. Alternate lyrics reveal that the proposal takes place at a restaurant. [Not Leaked]

Oh My My My (3 min 30 sec / Studio)- Renamed "Mary's Song" later, demos are titled "Oh My My My". This studio demo is heavy sounding like the album version, but is a much earlier recording. [Leaked]

May 2005: Taylor and Liz Rose write Tim McGraw.

[CMT Interview] “I wrote [the song] in my freshman year of high school,” Swift explains. “I got the idea in math class. I was just sitting there, and I started humming this melody. I kind of related it to this situation I was in. I was dating a guy who was about to go off to college. I knew we were going to break up. So I started thinking about all the things that I knew would remind him of me. Surprisingly, the first thing that came to mind was that my favorite country artist is Tim McGraw.”

“This song means so much to me, that's why we wanted it to be the first track on the album. The idea for this song came to me in math class. I just started singing to myself 'When you think Tim McGraw.' The concept for this song hit me, because I was dating a guy who moved away, and it was going to be over for us. So I started thinking of things that I knew would remind him of me. The first thing that came to mind was that my favorite song is by Tim McGraw. After school, I went downtown, sat down at the piano, and wrote this with Liz Rose in fifteen minutes. It may be the best fifteen minutes I've ever experienced.”

[Liz Rose Interview] “‘I remember her coming in and saying, ‘I wanna write a song called ‘When You Think Tim McGraw,’ and the first thing that went through my mind was, ‘OK, we’re gonna write this song, and you don’t have a record deal, and nobody else is gonna cut it.’ Rose recalls. ‘I said, ‘OK! I’m not gonna argue!’’ Enter Nathan Chapman. ‘Nathan has a little shack studio behind our publishing company and he was making all my demos,’ says Rose. After Swift and Rose would write a song, they would bring it to Chapman, and the result was a rather distinctive sound that was not easily categorized. It would be up to the label to convince country radio that Taylor Swift would fit the format.”

[Liz Rose Interview] “Rose remembers thinking to herself: "Nobody [else] is going to ever cut this song!" But, she explains, "We were just writing a song. I don't even think we thought that song was gonna make the record. We never even demoed that song. I believe that she played it live for Scott [Borchetta, the head of Big Machine Records], and he said, 'Why are we not cutting that song?'”

[Scott Borchetta Interview] I think it was in August of 2005, Taylor played me a song called “When You Think Tim McGraw”. She finished the song and I said, “Do you realize what you've just have written? Do you have any idea?”

When You Think Tim McGraw (piano) (4 min 17 sec / Piano)- One of the most important of all Taylor Swift album demos. Taylor playing piano and singing, which is how she wrote it. Probably recorded just days or weeks after it was written. Even more lyrical differences than the acoustic demo. [Leaked]

Tim McGraw (acoustic) (3 min 35 sec / Acoustic)- A stunning acoustic demo that has some alternate lyrics and much rougher vocals. Perfect to listen to in every way imaginable. The bridge lyrics are very different and interesting. [Leaked]

If anyone has heard this song and really listened to it, they realize it's not about Tim McGraw. It's about a relationship that I was in. It was with this guy I was dating and he was about to go off to college and I was thinking about all the things that I knew would remind him of me. I didn't really think of Tim McGraw personally when I wrote this song. It was a song where I was listing personal things. One of things that I listed was that my favorite song is by Tim McGraw. The guy I wrote 'Tim McGraw' about, I dated him for about a year and we are still friends, but we don't talk that much because his new girlfriend isn't too much of a fan. He really thought it was cool that, even though we weren't going out anymore, I remembered our relationship nicely. I think that he was happy that I didn't write 'Picture To Burn' about him, another song on my album.

August 2005: Taylor writes Tied Together With A Smile with Liz Rose. Taylor played the recently-written song for Scott Borchetta on August 31st, the day on which she signed the Big Machine contract.

“One of my best friends is absolutely beautiful. She goes to beauty pageants and wins everything. Girls want to be her and guys want to be with her. I wrote this song the day I found out about her eating disorder. It completely blew my mind, and this one was tough to write, because I wasn't just telling some sad story. This was real. This song is basically about the girls I know, and the difficult things I saw them go through. I've never seen this song as a lecture. It's really about how no matter what my friends go through, I'm always going to love them.”

[Searay – This interview was conducted on August 31st, 2005, but the article was published only a year later, in July 2006; this article was about to be lost forever and I saved it just a few days before the website where the Wayback Machine link was stored shut down. Please credit me if you use it] Scott Borchetta and Taylor clearly have a warm relationship and, as the contracts are being sorted out for signing, she bubbles to him about the latest song she's written. He asks to hear it, she grabs her guitar and plays 'Tied Together with a Smile' for him as he closes his eyes and listens deep, imagining the hook fleshed out by a band and thinking about where it might fit on Taylor's debut.

Tied Together With a Smile (acoustic) (3 min 42 sec / Acoustic)- Taylor and her acoustic guitar revealing the origins of this song. Again, she sounds very young and passionate about what she is singing about. [Leaked]

Tied Together With a Smile (3 min 46 sec / Studio)- Completely different sounding intro and a much younger vocal take. Very nice blend of lots of instruments, including mildly used electric guitar. Absolutely incredible version. [In circulation]

August 31, 2005: Taylor signs with Big Machine Records.

November 3, 2005: Taylor starts the Debut recording sessions with Robert Ellis Orrall and Byron Gallimore. The songs recorded are The Outside, What Do You Say, Invisible and I Heart? which are produced by Orrall. What Do You Say is NOT the demo leaked. On November 3rd, they record the instrumentals to these songs, while the vocals and the background vocals were recorded on November 5th and 6th. Taylor chose the songs to record from a list of around 40 songs.

[Florida Entertainment, July 2007 Interview] FES: Going into the recording studio how many songs were written and how did you decide which songs would make it onto the album and which ones would not?

Taylor: I sat down with my record label and went through songs before we started recording. There were about 40 that we wanted to put on the CD. But we had to narrow it down. I wrote every song on the album, and that's another thing that I'm really thankful for. There were about 10 songs that we left off the first album that I can't WAIT to put on the second album.

Speculation: the songs on the list were: the original 10 songs (excluding Should've Said No, as it was written last minute): I'm Only Me When I'm With You, Invisible, A Perfectly Good Heart, Beautiful Eyes, I Heart?, You All Over Me, We Were Happy, That's When, Don't You Making Up For Lost Love, What Do You Say, Permanent Marker, Dark Blue Tennessee, I'd Lie, R-E-V-E-N-G-E.

I'm Only Me When I'm With You - Released

Invisible - Released

A Perfectly Good Heart - Released

Beautiful Eyes - Released

I Heart? - Released

You All Over Me - Released

We Were Happy - Released

That's When - Released

Don't You - Released

Making Up For Lost Love - Had Merch

What Do You Say - Rerecorded

Permanent Marker - Was considered for Fearless

Dark Blue Tennessee - Was considered for Fearless

I'd Lie - Was considered for Fearless

R-E-V-E-N-G-E - Was considered for Fearless

We're still missing around 15 songs. These songs may be leaked, but we don't know which ones the might've been considered for Debut.

November 2005: Before Big Machine agreed to let Taylor work with Nathan Chapman, Taylor worked with other producers. The names are unknown except for Dann Huff (who later reworked Red, Begin Again and Starlight) and Byron Gallimore, Tim McGraw's producer, who produced a demo for Tim McGraw (the song). This demo was released in 2019, but it can be bought exclusively on Amazon US.

[CMT Dec 2006 Interview] “We switched [album] producers a bunch of times,” Swift says. “I started off with this demo producer who worked in a little shed behind this publishing company I was at. His name was Nathan Chapman. I'd always go in there and play him some new songs, and the next week he would have this awesome track, on which he played every instrument, and it sounded like a record. We did this for a period of a year to two years before I got my record deal. Then, all of a sudden, it was, 'OK, we're going to use this producer' or 'We're going to use that producer.' So I got to record with a bunch of really awesome producers in Nashville. But it didn't sound the way that it did with Nathan. He had never made an album before. He had just recorded demos. But the right chemistry hit. Finally my record label president said, 'OK, try some sides with Nathan.'”

[Debut Mixer Chuck Ainley, interview transcribed by me] “Nobody had ever heard of Taylor Swift at the time and here's this young girl. I was just so knocked out with how unafraid she was. Taylor had made an album with one of the name producers in Nashville and at the age of 16 rejected that album and said, “Nah I like what I'm doing with my co-writer better than that”, and so she said, “I want to cut some stuff with Nathan”, but Nathan being somewhat inexperienced felt like he needed to have the name engineer. So that's how I got called in on it. When we were mixing that first album she was like 16 years old or something like that. She sat down in the middle of the console, I played her the first mix and she just turned around and had comments immediately. She was unbelievable. How she managed to be so intuitive about who she was is really something.”

2005: Taylor writes Cold As You with Liz Rose. According to Taylor's former classmates, Taylor wrote this song for Drew.

“I wrote this song with Liz, and I think the lyrics to this song are some of the best we've ever written. It's about that moment where you realize someone isn't at all who you thought they were, and that you've been trying to make excuses for someone who doesn't deserve them. And that some people are just never going to love you. We were halfway through writing this when I started singing 'And now that I'm sitting here thinking it through, I've never been anywhere cold as you'.”

Cold As You (piano) (4 min 03 sec / Piano)- This very early demo with only Taylor and her piano was recorded shortly after she had written it and is an absolute masterpiece. What a glimpse into her spectacular talent. [Not Leaked]

Cold As You (version 1) (4 min 10 sec / Studio)- Loaded with more depth and instrumentation than the album version. Piano intro is played much differently. Punctuated by an incredibly moody electric guitar solo. [Not Leaked]

Cold As You (version 2) (4 min 06 sec / Studio)- Piano intro is different again, but closer to album version. Acoustic guitar really stands out in this version. In fact, the acoustic guitars drive the song even more than the piano. [Leaked]

A lot of the demos of the songs that ended up on Taylor Swift show up on 2004/2005 demo CDs, such as this one. Some of them haven't leaked. According to The Times, this picture was taken in July 20, 2005. It was taken in her home studio in Hendersonville.

February 2006: Taylor records Tim McGraw, Tied Together With A Smile, Stay Beautiful and Our Song.

[Rick Barker Interview] Her manager Rick Barker said that Our Song was the last song added to the album. “The parents already had her MySpace and her website up and running,” he says. “The mom and dad both have great marketing minds. I don't want to say fake it until you make it, but when you looked at her stuff, it was very professional even before she got her deal. And we put her music up there on MySpace before it was out, to help decide what was gonna be on the record. 'Our Song' made it to the record because of MySpace.” That song has been her biggest radio hit to date—written about her first real romance, premiered at her ninth-grade talent show, and nearly lost to the cutting room floor. “If you notice the running order on the record, 'Our Song' is No. 11,” the manager points out. “It was the last song added to the album, and a lot of that had to do with buzz that was being created on MySpace.”

Apparently Our Song was the first song in the tracklist at some point, because of the wrong credits of the first version.

[On recording Tim McGraw] I’ve worked with producers that have just drilled me into the ground until everything was just perfect—until they had 18 takes of each word. Nathan isn’t like that and lets the song unfold naturally. He believes in capturing the magic in a song and doesn’t make me sing any more than about three times. The majority of them are one-take songs—for example, my first single, “Tim McGraw,” was a one-take. Vocal fatigue never happens when I am tracking with Nathan.

February 28-March 19, 2006: Houston Rodeo's time frame. I don't know exactly when Taylor was there, but she sold this T-shirt with lyrics from Tim McGraw, Mary's Song and Making Up For Lost Love. She sold it at least until October 1st.

March 1-3, 2006: Third Recording session: Picture To Burn, A Place In This World, possibly Teardrops on My Guitar and I'd Lie.

March 4, 2006: [From MySpace] So.. I haven’t made a blog in a while. I’ve been reeeaallly busy and I love it that way. We’re almost completely done with the album, maybe two vocals left to do. I’ve been working with Nathan Chapman, this amazing producer who’s been producing my demos since I was thirteen. He quote on quote “gets me” and what I’m trying to say with my music. And I’m proud to say, thanks to Scott Borchetta, every song on this album are ones I’ve written. Not too many artists get to say that, and I thank God for putting me with people who love what I write, and have the courage to allow me to have that much creative freedom.

March 17, 2006: Day of the Hendersonville High School Talent Show, where Taylor sings I'd Lie.

May 3, 2006: Debut Album photoshoot.

May 15, 2006: Big Machine announces Taylor's Debut album, although they don't reveal the release date, nor the title (they probably hadn't decided them yet).

June 6, 2006: Radio Station WSIX debuts Tim McGraw.

[Hendersonville Star News, transcript by me] Although Swift admitted she was a bit surprised at the choice to make "Tim McGraw" her first release - a decision made by record company executives - she said it is one of her favorites because, like most of what she writes, it is so personal. "This is my story," she added. "It's something I've gone through." [...] Determined to hear [the song] over a car radio, she stood in her driveway surrounded by her mom, dad, brother and best friend with the windows rolled down and her song dancing across Old Hickory Lake. "I was just jumping up and down," said Swift. "I can't even explain it. I had chills all over my body. It felt like six years of working so hard finally paid off in 2 minutes." Several radio stations across the country have already added the song to their playlists, added Swift's mother Andrea.

June 19, 2006: Tim McGraw is officially released.

[Songwriter Universe Interview] ‘When I originally wrote ‘Tim McGraw’ and first played it for the label, I didn’t think it would become a single,’ she said. ‘But the label said it was a single, and they were right.’

July 27, 2006: Taylor performs Our Song, I'd Lie, Permanent Marker, Come In With The Rain, R-E-V-E-N-G-E, Tied Together With A Smile, Bother Me, The Other Side Of The Door, Picture To Burn, Mary's Song and Tim McGraw in Boise, Idaho.

“I remember they told me, ‘All right, well, you’re going to play an hour-and-15-minute set tonight,’ ” Swift said, reminiscing by phone. “It was just me and my guitar, and my single wasn’t even out yet, and we didn’t even know what songs were going to go on my album. (X)

August 1, 2006: Big Machine announces the title of Taylor's Debut album, Taylor Swift.

August 10 & 11, 2006: Taylor records the vocals for Mary's Song (still called only “Oh My My My” at the time) and Cold As You, at the Dark Horse Recording Studio. Footage of the recording process of Mary's Song was included on the GAC: Shortcuts documentary. While in the studio, she writes Should've Said No in 20 minutes and records it right after.

[From MySpace] SO for the past couple of days I’ve been in the studio FINISHING my album. Oh yeah, I said it.. finishing it. That’s means it.. is... DONE. At least my part is done, I’ve sung every vocal. They still need to mix and master it and do all that technical stuff that I will never understand. haha. So I’m particularly excited about a new song we recorded for the album, I’ve written every song on this album and this one is no exception.. But the funny thing is, I wrote it about twenty minutes before we recorded it. It just kind of fell out of my mouth and now it is in my cd player. haha. It’s called “You Should’ve Said No” and it’s about being cheated on.. dun dun dunnn… Yeah. I can’t wait for you to hear it. Another song we did vocals on is called “Oh My My My” and [...] Cold As You. This song contains some of the best lyrics I’ve ever written in my life, and I just can’t wait for this ALBUM TO COME OUT. Here’s the hook: “And now that I’m sitting here thinking it through, I’ve never been anywhere cold as you”.

“Just being a human being, I've realized that before every big problem you create for yourself, before every huge mess you have to clean up, there was a crucial moment where you could've just said no. This is a song I wrote about a guy who never should have cheated on me.”

Should've Said No (30 sec / Studio partial)- A rarely heard demo version that is heavy on country music instrumentation including a fiddle that drives the song. Only a partial version has been found of this track but it leaves you wanting to hear more. [Not Leaked]

Some scrapped lyrics for Should've Said No include: “You say you hope that in time I’ll get over this and let you in again” / “Take your things and leave / Aren't you glad you seized every opportunity? / “I should've been enough / Should've never run / Should've had everything we wanted / Should've known promises aren't guarantees” “Go back to that night / How could you lie? / How could you let yourself forget about me / And just forget everything we were supposed to be”.

The original lyrics showcased at the State Fair of Texas in 2016.

September 18, 2006: A person on Pulse.com posts about Taylor's MySpace songs: Tim McGraw, Picture To Burn, Come In With The Rain. A week after Prep-Country-Road reports that, by posting these three songs, she had surpassed 1 million streams on MySpace.

2004/2005: I don't know anything Stay Beautiful, except that the studio demo is on a CD with a 2004/2005 copyright. I've never listened to the demos although they're both in circulation. Fortunately for me, I do not like this song.

After hearing my songs, a lot of people ask me, “How many boyfriends have you had?” And I always tell them that more of my songs come from observation than actual experience. In other words, you don’t have to date someone to write a song about them. This is a song I wrote about a guy I never dated! Wow, right? This song is about a guy I thought was cute, and never really talked to him much. But something about him inspired this song, just watching him.

Stay Beautiful (acoustic) (3 min 33 sec / Acoustic)- Just Taylor and her acoustic guitar, which makes this demo very unique. The bridge sounds a bit different vocally. [In circulation; not leaked]

Stay Beautiful (3 min 33 sec / Studio)- A prettier version with some differences in instrumentation. Shorter because it's missing the extended ending. Tremolo picking makes a rare appearance in a Taylor song. [In circulation; not leaked]

Special Thanks to Bob Orrall for patiently answering my questions.

OTHER TIMELINES

Fearless

Speak Now

Red

1989

Folklore & Evermore

SPREADSHEETS

Songs Timeline

Interviews Timeline

Photoshoots Timeline

#taylor swift #writing of debut timeline

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