Taylor Swift dropped by The Late Show to discuss her very good year — getting engaged, reclaiming her masters, releasing a new album, etc. — as well as begin work on her own list of the Top Five Taylor Swift songs.
The singer sat on Stephen Colbert’s couch for the first time to promote her upcoming The End of an Era tour documentary as well as The Final Show concert film, both of which will land on Disney+ this Friday.
“You’ve been so supportive over the years, even very early in my career, you would just say the nicest things,” Swift told Colbert. “You’re so supportive of people, you’re passionate about what you do, it’s a joy to get to watch you, and a real honor to actually sit here.”
Colbert, who’s leaving The Late Show in six months after almost 11 years, then asked Swift how she “comes down” following the lengthy Eras Tour.
“I think I can speak for both of us when I say we’re passionate, hyperactive people. Let’s not say workaholic,” Swift said. “I think that when I take time off, I can’t slow down the fact that I need to get up and do a lot of things today, but I can change what those things are. I can figure out how to chill out, but I’ll never be a chill person. So I’m bread girl now, or ‘This isn’t gonna cross-stitch itself.’ Hobbies are incredible.”
After talking about her tour doc and concert film, the two then discussed the singer’s big 2025, which included getting engaged to Travis Kelce, finally reclaiming the masters to her albums, and The Life of a Showgirl.
“That’s a good year,” Swift admitted. “Getting engaged to the love of my life, getting all my music back, those were two things that just never could have happened. They could have just never happened. It wasn’t like, ‘It’s just a matter of time.’ Both of those things could have just never arrived in my life, and I’m so grateful for both of those things happening.”
Colbert then told Swift about how John Fogerty, now 80, just reclaimed his Creedence Clearwater Revival masters, and how much it still meant to him. “It’s the same feeling for me,” Swift said. “I used to have this very strange, conflicted feeling, like I’d hear the song ‘Ready for It,’ and I’d be like, ‘Man, this song goes so hard,’” before crying to it. “A recording is such a snapshot of your life.”
Swift later talked about separating her music life from her home life. “I think that at home, I don’t want any paraphernalia. I don’t want plaques, or I don’t want a studio. I don’t want evidence that a music person lives here, except for my piano and my guitar, but the guitar’s not hung in a prominent place,” Swift said. “I like to feel very cozy at home, and if I’m gonna go to the studio, I go to the studio. ‘Special day today, gonna go to the studio.’”
Finally, Swift wrapped up her multi-segment interview by giving some thought to her own personal list of the Top Five Taylor Swift songs.
“This is so much pressure,” Swift said. “I’m gonna need some time to get back to you on all the five… I think Number One is ‘All Too Well’ the 10-minute version… Somewhere on this list is gonna be a song called ‘Mirrorball’ from the Folklore album.” Swift then said she’d come back after thinking on it and deliver her Top Five.
“You have all the time between now and May,” Colbert quipped, referring to his Late Show exit. Swift then promised to appear on his inevitable podcast.
