"TAYLOR HAD A PLAN'

The songwriting powerhouse that is Taylor Swift comes into the spotlight for a new documentary exploring the fame, fortune and feuds of the music icon

- WORDS: JEN PHARO

Taylor Swift's music has dominated the charts for almost two decades – but her love life and her public feuds have at times threatened to obscure her huge talent.

Now, a new Channel 4 documentary reveals how Taylor's songwriting prowess and ability to connect with her audience has always been her superpower, enabling her to clap back at her critics with lyrical precision.

Songwriter Robert Ellis Orrall was one of the first to witness Taylor's ability to turn out hit songs and worked with her in 2003 when she was just 13 to record a demo featuring three tracks called Invisible, Just South Of Knowing Why and Need You Now.

Recalling their studio sessions, Robert tells the documentary, “Right from the get-go Taylor directed the session. We wrote three songs in the first two days that we were together and two of those are on the debut album, Taylor Swift. After we'd written a few songs, her dad said, ‘Here's another 15 that she wrote.’”

Holding up a CD for the camera, Robert reveals he has another 16 songs written by Taylor that have never been heard by the public.

“I have tons of these from way back,” he says on the show, which features interviews with lots of Taylor's early collaborators. “Here are 16 songs copyright 2003, the same year we started writing. None of those are anything you've ever heard.”