On The Late Show, Taylor Swift reveals two of her personal favorites: “All Too Well” tops the list. Why she only revealed two of the five songs.
Taylor Swift was a guest on a talk show. However, one question left her stammering and sweating – namely, the question about her top five songs of her own.
The question of all questions
Taylor Swift was a guest on Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” on December 10th. In the interview she talked about, among other things, her engagement to Travis Kelce, THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL, her master recordings and special moments from “The Eras” tour. Colbert asked her a question that she could only partially answer – she put off the rest.
Amid the many topics that the two have had to address since Swift’s last visit to the show in 2021, Colbert asked the artist a question that is an integral part of the show and has already made stars like Dolly Parton, Elton John, Paul Simon and Bruce Springsteen sweat. The question of all questions – which Colbert asked her with a grin – was: “Taylor Swift, what are Taylor Swift’s five favorite Taylor Swift songs?” The task was not easy for the megastar either. In the end, only two of the five songs were finalized. The singer postponed completing the list until a later date.
Two out of five
The artist then stuttered and said: “That’s a lot of pressure” – Colbert already had a pen and piece of paper ready and wrote down the numbers one to five. Swift then began to explain to him and the audience, “I need a little more time to tell you all five.” Colbert then demonstratively put the lid on the pen and held the vinyl of THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL up to the camera. Swift responded with a laugh: “That’s exactly what they are.”
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The 35-year-old explained why she needed more time to make this decision by saying that she hadn’t had enough time to understand her work and such a list would constantly change. In the end, the two were still able to meetAgree on two of the five songs: “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” tops the list – a fan favorite and new addition to the re-release of their fourth studio album RED (TAYLOR’S VERSION). The track “Mirrorball” from their pandemic project about fictional characters called FOLKLORE made it to third place.
View the entire excerpt here:
Postponement until later
The songwriter assured that she would come back to the 61-year-old at a later date for the remaining three – but the pop star doesn’t have much time left. The Late Show will be canceled by “CBS” after May 2026. The broadcaster explained that the decision was “purely financial” and had nothing to do with the fact that Colbert, as a Trump opponent, had repeatedly expressed criticism of the president as a host over the past ten years.
The artist submitted these five songs for nomination to the Songwriters Hall Of Fame 2026:
- “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)”
- “Blank Space” – 1989
- “Anti Hero” – MIDNIGHTS
- “Love Story” – FEARLESS
- “The Last Great American Dynasty” – FOLKLORE