Quill Songs
Lyric Category
In 2022, Taylor revealed one of the secrets behind her songwriting process, saying how she sorts her lyrics into one of three “dorky” pen-themed categories. They are affectionately titled Quill Lyrics, Fountain Pen Lyrics and Glitter Gel Pen Lyrics.
Quill Pen Lyrics are those that Taylor has written with an imaginary quill in her hand, marked by period-piece detail and what she’s described as “antiquated” words and phrasing, like language plucked from a Charlotte Brontë novel. She explained the category at the Nashville Songwriter Awards in September 2022, saying:
«I came up with these categories based on what writing tool I imagine having in my hand when I scribbled it down, figuratively. I don’t actually have a quill. Anymore. I broke it once when I was mad. I categorize certain songs of mine in the ‘Quill’ style if the words and phrasings are antiquated, if I was inspired to write it after reading Charlotte Brontë or after watching a movie where everyone is wearing poet shirts and corsets. If my lyrics sound like a letter written by Emily Dickinson’s great grandmother while sewing a lace curtain, that’s me writing in the Quill genre.»
She cited the stone homes and grieving widow of evermore’s “ivy” as a prime example. On an exclusive Apple Music playlist, made by Taylor herself, she picked out more songs that she would put in the Quill Lyrics category.
