NYU's 2022 Commencement Speaker Taylor Swift — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:09i would like now to introduce jason king
2. 0:13chair and associate professor of the
3. 0:16clive davis institute of recorded music
4. 0:20tisch
5. 0:21school of the arts
6. 0:24who will present the candidate for
7. 0:27doctor of fine arts
8. 0:30will trustee brett rockhand
9. 0:33please escort the candidate to the
10. 0:35lectern
11. 0:46taylor swift
12. 0:49blazing
13. 0:50singer-songwriter producer
14. 0:53director
15. 0:54actress pioneering and influential
16. 0:57advocate for artist rights
17. 0:59and philanthropist
18. 1:01you have brought joy and resolve to your
19. 1:04hundreds of millions of fans throughout
20. 1:07the world
21. 1:10one of the best-selling music artists in
22. 1:12history
23. 1:14you have crossed genres
24. 1:16demographics
25. 1:17age groups
26. 1:19and borders of all kinds
27. 1:21to touch lives around the globe
28. 1:24with nine original studio albums
29. 1:28two re-recorded studio albums
30. 1:33five extended plays
31. 1:35three live albums
32. 1:37and fourteen compilations you have sold
33. 1:40well over 100 million album units
34. 1:45earning awards and honors in every
35. 1:47category
36. 1:49you have used the remarkable platform
37. 1:51you earned
38. 1:52to galvanize support for the equality
39. 1:55act
40. 1:55to prevent discrimination on the basis
41. 1:58of sexual orientation and gender
42. 2:00identity
43. 2:02and you have spoken out
44. 2:04and you have supported initiatives to
45. 2:06protect women and girls from harassment
46. 2:09and sexual assault
47. 2:14you have donated significantly to
48. 2:16victims of floods and tornadoes for
49. 2:19cancer research literacy programs for
50. 2:22children and public education
51. 2:24you have fearlessly challenged the
52. 2:26exploitation of music artists and
53. 2:29successfully championed their right to
54. 2:31be compensated for their work
55. 2:41taylor swift
56. 2:50you are a role model across the world
57. 2:53for your unprecedented talent and
58. 2:56accomplishment
59. 2:58your fierce advocacy for protection of
60. 3:01those facing discrimination
61. 3:04and your commitment to speaking out
62. 3:07forcefully
63. 3:08eloquently and effectively
64. 3:11on behalf of all artists
65. 3:19by virtue
66. 3:20of the authority vested in me
67. 3:23i am pleased to confer upon you the
68. 3:26degree of doctor of fine arts
69. 3:30honoris causa
70. 4:05i am now pleased to introduce
71. 4:09taylor swift who
72. 4:12who will respond on behalf of the
73. 4:15honorary degree recipients
74. 4:18[Applause]
75. 4:29hi i'm taylor
76. 4:30[Applause]
77. 4:35last time i was in a stadium this size i
78. 4:38was dancing in heels and wearing a
79. 4:40glittery leotard
80. 4:44this outfit is much more comfortable
81. 4:48i would like to say
82. 4:49a huge thank you to nyu's chairman of
83. 4:52the board of trustees
84. 4:54bill berkley and all the trustees
85. 4:57and members of the board
86. 4:59nyu's president andrew hamilton
87. 5:02provost catherine fleming
88. 5:05and the faculty and alumni here today
89. 5:08who have made this day possible
90. 5:11i feel so proud to share this day with
91. 5:15my fellow honorees susan hockfield and
92. 5:18felix matos rodriguez
93. 5:21who humble me
94. 5:22with the ways they improve our world
95. 5:24with their work
96. 5:33as for me
97. 5:35i'm 90 percent sure the main reason i'm
98. 5:38here is because i have a song called 22.
99. 5:48and let me just say
100. 5:50i am elated
101. 5:53to be here with you today as we
102. 5:55celebrate and graduate new york
103. 5:57university's class of 2022
104. 6:09not a single one of us here today has
105. 6:11done it alone
106. 6:12we are each
107. 6:14a patchwork quilt of those who have
108. 6:16loved us
109. 6:17those who have believed in our futures
110. 6:20those who showed us empathy and kindness
111. 6:24or told us the truth even when it wasn't
112. 6:26easy to hear
113. 6:28those who told us we could do it when
114. 6:30there was absolutely no proof of that
115. 6:34someone
116. 6:35read stories to you
117. 6:37and taught you to dream
118. 6:39and offered up some moral code of right
119. 6:43and wrong for you to try and live by
120. 6:46someone tried their best to explain
121. 6:49every concept in this insanely complex
122. 6:52world to the child that was you
123. 6:55as you asked a bazillion questions like
124. 6:58how does the moon work and why can we
125. 7:00eat salad but not grass
126. 7:05and maybe they didn't do it perfectly
127. 7:07no one ever can
128. 7:10maybe they aren't with us anymore
129. 7:12in that case i hope you'll remember them
130. 7:14today
131. 7:15if they are in this stadium i hope
132. 7:17you'll find your own way
133. 7:19to express your gratitude for all the
134. 7:21steps
135. 7:23and missteps
136. 7:24that have led us
137. 7:26to this common destination
138. 7:36i know that words are supposed to be my
139. 7:38thing but i will never be able to find
140. 7:40the words to thank my mom and dad
141. 7:43my brother austin for the sacrifices
142. 7:45they made every day so i could go from
143. 7:47singing in coffee houses to standing up
144. 7:50here with you all today because no words
145. 7:52would ever be enough
146. 8:00to all the incredible parents family
147. 8:03members
148. 8:04mentors
149. 8:05teachers
150. 8:06allies friends and loved ones here today
151. 8:09who have supported these students in
152. 8:12their pursuit of educational enrichment
153. 8:16let me say to you now
154. 8:18welcome to new york it's been waiting
155. 8:20for you
156. 8:31i'd like to thank nyu for making me
157. 8:34technically
158. 8:36on paper at least
159. 8:39a doctor
160. 8:41[Applause]
161. 8:46not the type of doctor you would want
162. 8:48around in case of an emergency
163. 8:51unless your specific emergency was that
164. 8:54you desperately needed to hear a song
165. 8:56with a catchy hook and an intensely
166. 8:58cathartic bridge section
167. 9:06or if your emergency was that you needed
168. 9:09a person who can name over 50 breeds of
169. 9:11cats in one minute
170. 9:14[Applause]
171. 9:17i never got to have
172. 9:19a normal
173. 9:20college experience per se
174. 9:22i went to public high school until 10th
175. 9:24grade
176. 9:25and then finished my education doing
177. 9:28homeschool work on the floors of airport
178. 9:30terminals
179. 9:31then i went out out on the road for
180. 9:33radio tour which sounds incredibly
181. 9:36glamorous
182. 9:38but in reality
183. 9:39it consisted of a rental car
184. 9:42motels
185. 9:43and my mom and i pretending to have loud
186. 9:46mother-daughter fights with each other
187. 9:47during boarding so no one would want the
188. 9:50empty seat between us on southwest
189. 9:55as a kid
190. 9:57i always thought i would go away to
191. 9:58college imagining the posters i would
192. 10:01hang on the wall of my freshman dorm
193. 10:04i even set the ending of my music video
194. 10:07from my song love story
195. 10:09at my fantasy
196. 10:11imaginary college where i meet a male
197. 10:14model reading a book on the grass and
198. 10:17with one
199. 10:18single glance we realized we had been in
200. 10:21love in our past lives
201. 10:25which is exactly what you guys all
202. 10:26experienced at some point in the last
203. 10:28four years right
204. 10:30[Applause]
205. 10:34but i
206. 10:36really can't complain
207. 10:37about not having a normal college
208. 10:39experience to you
209. 10:41because you
210. 10:43went to nyu during a global pandemic
211. 10:46being essentially locked into your dorms
212. 10:49and having to do classes over zoom
213. 10:51everyone in college during normal times
214. 10:54stresses about test scores
215. 10:57but on top of that
216. 10:58you also had to pass like a thousand
217. 11:01cova tests
218. 11:04i imagine
219. 11:05the idea of a normal college experience
220. 11:08was all you wanted to
221. 11:11but in this case
222. 11:12you and i both learned
223. 11:15that you don't always get all the things
224. 11:17in the bag that you selected from the
225. 11:19menu
226. 11:20in the delivery surface that is life
227. 11:23you get what you get
228. 11:26and as i would like to say to you
229. 11:29wholeheartedly you should be very proud
230. 11:32of what you've done with it
231. 11:34today
232. 11:36you leave new york university
233. 11:38and then go out into the world
234. 11:40searching what's next
235. 11:42and so will i
236. 11:46[Music]
237. 11:53so as a rule
238. 11:55i try not to give anyone
239. 11:58unsolicited advice
240. 12:00unless they ask for it
241. 12:02i'll go into this more later i guess i
242. 12:04have been officially solicited in this
243. 12:07situation to impart
244. 12:09whatever wisdom i might have
245. 12:12to tell you things that have helped me
246. 12:13so far in my life
247. 12:15please bear in mind that i in no way
248. 12:19feel qualified to tell you what to do
249. 12:22you've worked and struggled and
250. 12:25sacrificed and studied and dreamed
251. 12:28your way here to dare
252. 12:31and so
253. 12:32you know what you're doing
254. 12:34you'll do things differently than i did
255. 12:35them
256. 12:36and for different reasons
257. 12:39so i won't tell you what to do because
258. 12:41no one likes that i will however
259. 12:43give you some life hacks i wish i knew
260. 12:47when i was starting out my dreams of a
261. 12:49career
262. 12:50and navigating life love
263. 12:53pressure
264. 12:54choices
265. 12:55shame
266. 12:56hope and friendship
267. 12:59the first of which is
268. 13:01life
269. 13:02can be heavy
270. 13:04especially if you try to carry it all at
271. 13:06once
272. 13:08part of growing up and moving into new
273. 13:11chapters of your life
274. 13:13is about catch and release
275. 13:15what i mean by that is
276. 13:17knowing what things to keep
277. 13:20and what things to release
278. 13:22you can't carry all things
279. 13:25all grudges
280. 13:27all updates on your ex
281. 13:29all
282. 13:30enviable promotions your school bully
283. 13:32got at the hedge fund his
284. 13:35uncle started
285. 13:38decide
286. 13:39what is yours to hold
287. 13:41and let the rest go
288. 13:43oftentimes the good things in your life
289. 13:45are lighter anyway
290. 13:47so there's more room for them
291. 13:49one toxic relationship
292. 13:51can outweigh so many wonderful simple
293. 13:55joys
294. 13:56you get to pick
295. 13:57what your life has time and room for
296. 14:00be discerning
297. 14:04secondly
298. 14:06learn to live
299. 14:07alongside
300. 14:09cringe
301. 14:13no matter
302. 14:15how hard you try to avoid being cringe
303. 14:19you will
304. 14:20look back on your life
305. 14:23and cringe retrospectively
306. 14:32cringe
307. 14:33is unavoidable over a lifetime
308. 14:36even the term cringe might someday be
309. 14:38deemed cringe
310. 14:41i promise you
311. 14:43you're probably doing or wearing
312. 14:45something right now
313. 14:47that you will look back on later and
314. 14:49find revolting and hilarious
315. 14:52you can't avoid it so don't try to
316. 14:55for example
317. 14:56i had a phase where for the entirety of
318. 14:592012
319. 15:00i dressed like a 1950s housewife
320. 15:05but you know what i was having fun
321. 15:08trends and phases are fun
322. 15:11looking back and laughing is fun
323. 15:14and while we're talking about things
324. 15:16that make us squirm but really shouldn't
325. 15:19i'd like to say i'm a big
326. 15:21advocate for not hiding your enthusiasm
327. 15:24for things
328. 15:33it seems to me that there is a false
329. 15:36stigma
330. 15:37around eagerness
331. 15:38in our culture of unbothered
332. 15:41ambivalence
333. 15:43this outlook perpetuates the idea that
334. 15:45it's not cool to want it
335. 15:47the people who don't try are
336. 15:49fundamentally more chic than people who
337. 15:52do
338. 15:53and i wouldn't know because i've been a
339. 15:54lot of things but i've never been an
340. 15:56expert on chic but i'm the one who's up
341. 15:59here so you have to listen to me when i
342. 16:01say this
343. 16:04never
344. 16:05be ashamed
345. 16:07of trying
346. 16:09effortlessness
347. 16:11is a myth
348. 16:12the people who wanted it the least
349. 16:14were the ones i wanted to date and be
350. 16:18friends with
351. 16:19in high school
352. 16:20the people who want it the most
353. 16:23are the people i now hire to work for my
354. 16:26company
355. 16:33i write i started writing songs when i
356. 16:36was 12.
357. 16:37and since then
358. 16:39it's been the compass guiding my life
359. 16:41and in turn
360. 16:42my life guided my writing
361. 16:44everything i do
362. 16:46is just an extension of my writing
363. 16:49whether it's to write directing videos
364. 16:51or a short film
365. 16:53creating the visuals for a tour
366. 16:55or standing on a stage performing
367. 16:58everything is connected
368. 17:00by my love of the craft
369. 17:02the thrill of working through ideas and
370. 17:04narrowing them down and polishing it all
371. 17:06up in the end
372. 17:07editing waking up in the middle of the
373. 17:10night throwing out the old idea because
374. 17:13you just thought of a new or better one
375. 17:14or a plot device that ties the whole
376. 17:16thing together
377. 17:18there's a reason they call it a hook
378. 17:20sometimes a string of words
379. 17:22just
380. 17:23ensnares me and i can't
381. 17:25focus on anything until it's been
382. 17:27recorded or written down
383. 17:30as a songwriter i've never been able to
384. 17:31sit still
385. 17:33or stay in one creative place for too
386. 17:35long
387. 17:36i've made and released 11 albums and in
388. 17:38the process i've switched genre from
389. 17:41country
390. 17:42to pop to alternative to folk
391. 17:46and this might sound like a very
392. 17:49songwriter-centric
393. 17:50line of discussion
394. 17:52but in a way
395. 17:53i really do think
396. 17:55we are all
397. 17:57writers
398. 17:58and most of us
399. 18:00write in a different voice for different
400. 18:02situations
401. 18:03you write
402. 18:04differently in your instagram stories
403. 18:06than you do your senior thesis
404. 18:08you send a different type of email to
405. 18:10your boss than you do your best friend
406. 18:12from home
407. 18:13we are all
408. 18:14literary chameleons and i think it's
409. 18:17fascinating
410. 18:18it's just a continuation of the idea
411. 18:21that we are so many things all the time
412. 18:24and
413. 18:25i know it can be really overwhelming
414. 18:27figuring out who to be
415. 18:29and when
416. 18:31who you are now
417. 18:32and how to act in order to get where you
418. 18:34want to go
419. 18:36i have some good news
420. 18:38it's totally up to you
421. 18:41i have some terrifying news
422. 18:44it's totally up to you
423. 18:48i said to you earlier
424. 18:49that i don't ever offer advice unless
425. 18:52someone asked me for it and now i'll
426. 18:54tell you why
427. 18:56as a person who started my very public
428. 18:58career
429. 18:59at the age of 15
430. 19:00it came with a price
431. 19:02and that price
432. 19:04was years
433. 19:05of unsolicited advice
434. 19:09being the youngest person in every room
435. 19:12for over a decade
436. 19:13meant
437. 19:14that i was constantly being issued
438. 19:17warnings
439. 19:18from older members of the music industry
440. 19:20media interviewers executives and this
441. 19:24advice
442. 19:26often presented itself
443. 19:28as thinly veiled warnings
444. 19:31see i was a teenager
445. 19:33at a time when our society was
446. 19:35absolutely obsessed with the idea of
447. 19:38having perfect
448. 19:40young female role models
449. 19:43it felt like every interview i did
450. 19:47included slight barbs by the interviewer
451. 19:50about me one day running off the rails
452. 19:54and that meant a different thing
453. 19:56to every person who said it to me so
454. 19:59i became a young adult while being fed
455. 20:01the message
456. 20:02that if i didn't make
457. 20:04any mistakes
458. 20:06all the children of america
459. 20:09would grow up to be perfect angels
460. 20:14however if i did slip up
461. 20:16the entire earth would fall off its axis
462. 20:18and it would be entirely my fault and i
463. 20:20would go to pop star jail
464. 20:22forever and ever
465. 20:24it was all centered around the idea
466. 20:28that mistakes
467. 20:30equal
468. 20:31failure
469. 20:32and ultimately
470. 20:34the loss
471. 20:35of any chance at a happy or rewarding
472. 20:38life
473. 20:39this
474. 20:40has not been my experience
475. 20:44my experience has been that my mistakes
476. 20:48led to the best things in my life
477. 20:52and
478. 20:52being embarrassed when you mess up
479. 20:54it's part of the human experience
480. 20:57getting back up
481. 20:59dusting yourself off
482. 21:01and seeing who still wants to hang out
483. 21:03with you afterward and laugh about it
484. 21:05that's a gift
485. 21:07the times i was told no
486. 21:09or wasn't included
487. 21:12wasn't chosen didn't win didn't make the
488. 21:14cut looking back it really feels like
489. 21:18those moments
490. 21:19were as important if not more crucial
491. 21:23than the moments i was told yes
492. 21:26not being invited
493. 21:28to the parties and sleepovers in my
494. 21:30hometown
495. 21:32made me feel hopelessly lonely
496. 21:35but because i felt alone
497. 21:37i would sit in my room and write the
498. 21:39songs that would get me
499. 21:41a ticket somewhere else
500. 21:43having label executives in nashville
501. 21:46tell me
502. 21:47that only 35 year old housewives
503. 21:50listened to country music
504. 21:52and there was no place for a 13 year old
505. 21:54on their roster
506. 21:56made me cry in the car on the way home
507. 21:59but then i'd post my songs on my myspace
508. 22:03and yes myspace
509. 22:07and i would message with other teenagers
510. 22:08like me who loved country music but just
511. 22:11didn't have anyone singing from their
512. 22:12perspective
513. 22:14having journalists write in-depth
514. 22:16oftentimes critical pieces about who
515. 22:19they perceived me to be
516. 22:21made me feel like i was living in some
517. 22:23weird
518. 22:24simulation but it also made me look
519. 22:27inward
520. 22:28to learn about who i actually am
521. 22:31having the world treat my love life like
522. 22:33a spectator sport in which i lose every
523. 22:36single game
524. 22:38was not a great way to date in my teens
525. 22:40and twenties
526. 22:42but it taught me
527. 22:44to protect my private life fiercely
528. 22:48being publicly humiliated over and over
529. 22:50again at a young age was excruciatingly
530. 22:53painful but it forced me
531. 22:56to devalue the ridiculous notion
532. 22:58of minute by minute
533. 23:00ever fluctuating social relevance and
534. 23:03likability
535. 23:06[Applause]
536. 23:15getting canceled on the internet
537. 23:17and nearly losing my career
538. 23:19gave me an excellent knowledge of all
539. 23:22the types of wine
540. 23:26[Applause]
541. 23:30i know i sound
542. 23:32like a consummate optimist but i'm
543. 23:34really not i lose perspective all the
544. 23:37time
545. 23:39sometimes
546. 23:40everything
547. 23:41just feels completely pointless
548. 23:45i know the pressure
549. 23:47of living your life through the lens of
550. 23:49perfectionism
551. 23:51and i know that i'm talking to a group
552. 23:53of perfectionists because you are here
553. 23:55today
554. 23:56graduating from nyu
555. 23:59[Applause]
556. 24:04so this might be hard for you to hear
557. 24:08in your life
558. 24:10you will inevitably
559. 24:12misspeak
560. 24:13trust the wrong person
561. 24:16under react overreact hurt the people
562. 24:20who didn't deserve it
563. 24:21overthink
564. 24:23not think at all
565. 24:25self-sabotage
566. 24:26create a reality where only your
567. 24:29experience exists
568. 24:31ruin perfectly good moments for yourself
569. 24:33and others deny any wrongdoing
570. 24:36not take the steps to make it right feel
571. 24:38very guilty
572. 24:40let the guilt eat at you hit rock bottom
573. 24:43finally address the pain you caused try
574. 24:45to do better next time
575. 24:47rinse repeat
576. 24:51[Applause]
577. 24:57and i'm not going to lie
578. 24:59mistakes
579. 25:01will cause you to lose things
580. 25:04i'm trying to tell you
581. 25:06that losing things
582. 25:08doesn't just mean losing
583. 25:10a lot of the time
584. 25:11when we lose things
585. 25:13we gain things too
586. 25:16now you leave the structure and
587. 25:17framework
588. 25:18of school
589. 25:20and chart your own path
590. 25:22every choice you make leads to the next
591. 25:24choice which leads to the next and i
592. 25:26know it's hard
593. 25:27to know
594. 25:28which path to take
595. 25:30there will be times in life where you
596. 25:31need to stand up for yourself
597. 25:34times when the right thing is actually
598. 25:36to back down and apologize
599. 25:39times when the right thing is to fight
600. 25:41times when the right thing is to turn
601. 25:43and run
602. 25:45times to hold on with all you have
603. 25:48and times to let go with grace
604. 25:51sometimes the right thing to do is to
605. 25:53throw out the old schools of thought in
606. 25:55the name of progress and reform
607. 25:58sometimes the right thing to do is to
608. 26:00sit and listen to the wisdom of those
609. 26:02who have come before us
610. 26:05how will you know
611. 26:06what the right choice is in these
612. 26:08crucial moments
613. 26:10you won't
614. 26:12how do i give advice to this many people
615. 26:15about their life choices
616. 26:17i won't
617. 26:18the scary news is
618. 26:21you're on your own now but the cool news
619. 26:24is
620. 26:26you're on your own now
621. 26:29[Applause]
622. 26:36i leave you with this
623. 26:38we are led
624. 26:39by our gut instincts
625. 26:41our intuition
626. 26:43our desires and fears our scars and our
627. 26:46dreams
628. 26:48and you will screw it up sometimes
629. 26:51so will i
630. 26:52and when i do you will most likely read
631. 26:55about it on the internet
632. 26:58anyway hard things will happen to us
633. 27:01we will recover
634. 27:03we will learn from it
635. 27:05we will grow more resilient because of
636. 27:07it
637. 27:08and as long as we are fortunate enough
638. 27:10to be breathing
639. 27:12we will breathe in
640. 27:14breathe through
641. 27:16breathe deep
642. 27:18and breathe out and i am a doctor now so
643. 27:21i know how breathing works
644. 27:25i hope you know
645. 27:29how proud
646. 27:30i am
647. 27:31to share this day with you we're doing
648. 27:34this together
649. 27:36so let's just keep dancing like we're
650. 27:39the class of 22.
651. 27:41[Applause]
652. 28:04you