Taylor Swift Once Gave Us Life Advice + WOW It Still Hits! [Interview]

Taylor Swift dishes some shrewd advice in this interview.

As fans dive into her new album, The Tortured Poets Department, we uncovered a lost interview that finds her opening up about love, heartbreak, tattoos, loneliness and more.

• The Tortured Poets Department dropped on Friday (April 19).
• It's her 11th studio album and first since Midnights in 2022.
• Swift's last country album was Red, released in 2012.

Related: 40 Adorable Photos of Young Taylor Swift

In October 2012, Swift prepared to release Red, an album that featured "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," "22" and "State of Grace." That final song — the first on the record — is important, but you'll need to watch to the end of the above video to find out why.

Taylor Swift's Final Interview With Taste of Country:

Taste of Country spent nearly 30 minutes with Swift before the album dropped, and we were able to ask just about anything. Swift, then just 22 years old, gave thoughtful and complete answers that one could argue were beyond her years. Don't make that argument.

Her sage life advice is all about living in the moment.

Taylor Swift's Life Advice:

"I think one thing I would pass on to my kids or my friends or anyone who asked for advice," Swift begins, "I think I would say, you know, grow up one year at a time. That's something. I'm so glad I did."

Some context: At 22, Swift was already one of the biggest stars on the planet, having won ACM Awards, CMA Awards, Grammys and more. Paparazzi would camp outside her apartment, but she'd still find a way to nonchalantly turn up in Nashville parks. To an outsider, there was a sense of normal around her very abnormal life.

"I had a weird, you know, like, weird circumstances around my life," she says, continuing, "and, like, a magnifying glass on everything I do. But still, from, from 16 to 22, I feel like I've been those ages every year. You know, I've been 16 when I was 16. Eighteen when I was 18. Twenty, when I was 20. Figuring things out, you know, not needing to, like, be 25 that whole time.

"I think it's important to get excited about things that you're excited about and live life one year at a time."

Now 34 years old, one has to wonder if she still feels this way. The rest of this interview finds her offering some fairly idealistic views about love and relationships, but it's hard to argue she's wrong when she boils it down to, "If you treat people the right way, it's going to go this way. If you treat people the wrong way, it's going to go this way."

These days, Swift is the biggest pop star on the planet, and she is happily in love with NFL tight end Travis Kelce. Then, she was in and out of relationships, using many to inspire songs like "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" (Jake Gyllenhaal) and "I Knew You Were Trouble" (Harry Styles).