5 Things to Know About Taylor Swift

We would never be so bold to assume that we could offer up a fact about Taylor Swift that her zealot fans don’t know. They’ve been uncovering the Swiftian lore for over a decade now, leaving no stone unturned.

For those hoping to bolster their Swiftie status though, find five facts about the singer-songwriter that you may not know. Don’t worry there won’t be a test, but if there were, these five questions would separate the die-hards from the novices.

1. She Grew Up on a Christmas Tree Farm

Swift had an unusual rearing on a Christmas Tree Farm in Reading, Pennsylvania. “It was such a weird place to grow up,” Swift once told Esquire. “But it has cemented in me this unnatural level of excitement about fall and then the holiday season.”

Swift wrote a song about her experience on the farm, aptly titled, “Christmas Tree Farm.” The accompanying music video for the track featured clips from Swift’s childhood on the farm’s 11 acres.

2. She Wrote a Book When She Was Younger

It seems Swift is more than a songwriter, she deals in prose as well. When she was 14 years old, she wrote a novel titled, A Girl Named Girl. She told GQ that it was about a mother who wants a son and instead has a girl.

Elsewhere in the same interview, she revealed that her parents still have a copy. Andrea, asking for a friend, release it, please.

3. “Kiss Me” Was the First Song She Learned to Play on Guitar

A young Swift used Sixpence None The Richer’s “Kiss Me” to help her learn guitar. She revealed in an interview with Vogue, that the 1997 hit was the first song she played all the way through on her chosen instrument.

4. She Was Named After James Taylor

Swift got her name from fellow singer-songwriter James Taylor. Swift’s parents were decidedly massive fans of the “Fire and Rain” singer, given they named their only daughter after him.

“It’s hugely flattering and was a delightful surprise when she told me that,” Taylor told Stereogum after Swift told him he was her namesake.

5. Swift Originally Wanted to Be on Broadway

Before Swift went the country route, she wanted to be a Broadway baby.

“I went to several auditions in New York,” Swift told Taste of Country in 2012. “I was always going there for vocal and acting lessons and for auditions, where you stand in line in a long hallway with a lot of people. (I’ve always been freakishly tall, like a giant.) After a few years of auditioning in New York and not getting anything, I started writing songs. But I never lost my love for theater.”

Photo by Jon Kopaloff/WireImage