Taylor Swift is far more than just a multi-time Grammy Winner and one of the highest-grossing artists of all time. She’s also a great writer. Countless of her hit songs could be considered to be works of poetry, and when not paired with music, they read as such. Given her lyrical knack, she has written many hit songs for other artists.
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Like Bob Dylan or Pharrell Williams, when Swift writes songs for other artists she doesn’t demand recognition. Thus, fans and critics alike don’t initially know about the songs Swift has in her catalog. That being so, here are three infamous songs Taylor Swift has written for some of the music industry’s biggest stars.
1. “You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home” by Miley Cyrus
Initially released on Hannah Montana: The Movie in 2009, Swift and Martin Johnson wrote the song intending to put it in the movie. A song encompassing Swift’s early years as a Nashville-based artist, the song is a pop-country tune that pairs nicely with the cinematic tone of the film.
Despite the song’s success in the film, “You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home” didn’t reach incredible success outside of it, as it only reached No. 87 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 88 on the Canadian Hot 100. Regardless, it is an impressive feat of Swift’s given that it became the pre-teen anthem of the Disney generation.
2. “This Is What You Came For” by Rihanna
Credited under the pseudonym Nils Sjöberg, Taylor Swift and ex-boyfriend, Calvin Harris wrote the lyrics to Rihanna’s 2016 hit. Furthermore, Swift unsuspectedly also provides supporting background vocals on the track. Rihanna acquired massive success with this song, as the song landed the No. 1 spot across the world and peaked at No. 3 on the US Hot 100.
Swift shows an immense amount of humility by using a pseudonym, and it goes to show she’s not in it for the clout (which she already has so much of). Rather, she seemingly writes songs for other people simply for the sake of creating great music.
3. “Better Man” by Little Big Town
Swift wrote “Better Man” for her 2012 album, Red. However, when the track did not make the cut, she passed it along to the country music vocal group 5 years later. Released on their 2017 album, Breaker, the band scored the No. 1 position on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and remained there for three weeks.
To this day “Better Man” is considered one of the band’s biggest hits. Being one of their two No. 1 singles, Little Big Town has Swift to partially thank for their long-time career as one of Nashville’s most popular vocal groups.
Photo by Claudio Furlan/LaPresse/Shutterstock
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