Taylor Swift

Sitting on a bedroom floor crying is something that makes you feel really alone. If someone's singing about that feeling, you feel bonded to that person.

When I am talking to people who I feel don't like me or are mean, I get really shy, and I kind of curl up personality wise.

As supportive as my hometown is, in my high school, there are people who would probably walk up to me and punch me in the face. There's a select few that will never like me. They don't like what I stand for. They don't like somebody who stands for being sober, who stands for anything happy. They're going to be negative no matter what.

I have a lot of friends who do what I do. Either they're actresses or singers or things like that.

I leave the genre labeling to other people. I really do. If I were to think too hard about it, that would stifle you creatively. If you think too hard about who other people want you to be as an artist, it stops you from being who you want to be as an artist.

When you hear people making hateful comments, stand up to them. Point out what a waste it is to hate, and you could open their eyes.

I have a terrifying long list of fears. Literally everything - diseases, spiders... and people getting tired of me.

I've never gotten thick skin. If you close yourself off and you get this protective armor, there is a price you pay with that - of not feeling. And feeling is important when you are a songwriter.

I have been singing randomly, obsessively, obnoxiously for as long as I can remember.

I don't want people to think of me as sexy.

It doesn't bother me when people try to deconstruct my songs - because at least they're looking at the lyrics, and paying attention to the way the story is told.

One of the things people don't really recognise about the similarities between country and hip-hop is that they're celebrations of pride in a lifestyle.