I love the self-awareness this very talented singer/songwriter/megastar Taylor Swift displays with such apparent ease. (Of course she’s wildly talented and works hard.)
She makes me smile.

UPDATE: Watch the video at YouTube here.

(Thanks to AK for the tip.)

And an entertaining behind-the-scenes/making-of clip:

As fan site DisneyDreaming.com explains:

… Taylor and T-Pain only spent 90 minutes in the studio wrapping up the lyrics and recording the track!

In the beginning, the plan was for Taylor to write the song herself, but because of her crazy story she ran out of time and the band Hot Chelle Rae got the opportunity of a lifetime to help Taylor finish. 8 hours later the lyrics to “Thug Story” were completed and were handed over to Taylor and T-Pain to make concrete before they began recording.

What exact parts of the song did Taylor provide the ideas for? Well these of course:
– The part where she raps about living with her parents
– The rap about baking cookies and knitting instead of going out
– The bleep at the end when she doesn’t even swear!

Hilarious and heartwarming.

Apropos the “the plan was for Taylor to write the song herself” and my ghostwriter comments, I see it as absolutely normal for a singer to sing someone else’s words, to take on a character in a song. That’s part of the magic of their gift — really talented performers are fully ‘believable’ in the song and add their own something special. Like this.

What impresses me about Taylor Swift is her willingness and confidence to extend her ‘brand’ beyond the Country & Western genre which was her winning formula. And her good humour.