Watch Taylor Swift Perform at Billboard Before She Was Famous
Taylor Swift may be Billboard's Woman of the Year, but we remember Swift when she was just a girl of 16. Back in July 2006, when Taylor's debut single "Tim McGraw" was creeping up our Country Songs chart, the songstress stopped by Billboard's New York offices to mingle and entertain our staff.
Taylor Swift Named Billboard Woman of the Year
An articulate and self-aware Swift, with just a bit more Nashville twang present in her voice, explained her inspiration: "This is a song called 'Tim McGraw.' For those of you who haven't heard it and think I'm weird right now, I'm going to go ahead and explain myself. It's not really about Tim McGraw, and I'm not a stalker. It's really about two people who fall in love and their song is a Tim McGraw song. I think it really deals with the power of country music, and how it has the power to haunt you and take you back to the places where you first heard that song."
Watch the vintage acoustic performance of "Tim McGraw" below, along with a take of "Picture to Burn," a track that come 2008, served as the fourth single off Swift's self-titled debut.
Video: Taylor Swift Performs "Tim McGraw" at Billboard, July '06
Introducing "Picture to Burn," Swift gave us a disclaimer of sorts -- the first taste of a now infamous ! fact abo ut herself, the songwriter. "I want you all to know that I really do try to be a nice person," she said. "BUT if you break my heart or hurt my feelings or make me feel really bad or are really mean to me, I'm gonna write a song about you." And with a slight shrug, she was off. The rest is history.
Video: Taylor Swift Performs "Picture to Burn" at Billboard, July '06