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\n\tIt\u2019s strange to think the songs we used to sing from one of the most famous self-titled debut<\/a> album\u2019s turn 20 years old today. You know<\/em> the ones I\u2019m talking about. The song in the car, my favorite song, the whispered songs, \u201cMary\u2019s Song,\u201d \u201cOur Song.\u201d<\/a> Twenty years ago, Taylor Swift<\/a> invited the world into the one she built with these melodies.<\/p>\n \n\tTaylor Swift<\/em> wasn\u2019t just the singer-songwriter\u2019s first album that turned her into a rising Nashville star<\/a>. It was also the first chapter that sealed Swift\u2019s future success as a superstar musician. Within a year of its release on Oct. 24, 2006, the LP debuted at Number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, earned platinum status, and made hits out of singles \u201cTim McGraw\u201d<\/a> and \u201cOur Song.\u201d It\u2019s the reason we\u2019re here today, reflecting on two decades into a career so massive, even the curly-haired mess of a dreamer couldn\u2019t fathom it at 15 years old. That teenager grew into a pop goliath, but it\u2019s easier to fathom when you remember that it\u2019s always been about the songs.<\/p>\n \n\tWith Taylor Swift<\/em>, a precocious teen met listeners in their own teenage heartache, their deep-seeded loneliness, and that overarching, painful desire to fit in with a collection of country-pop gems. Who hadn\u2019t cried over an unrequited love the way Swift did on \u201cTeardrops on My Guitar\u201d or felt the chilling rejection apparent on \u201cCold As You,\u201d or the thrill of finding a best friend who lets you show your true colors like on \u201cI\u2019m Only Me When I\u2019m With You\u201d or even known a friend who suffered from eating disorders as discussed on \u201cTied Together With a Smile\u201d? Here was a voice singing these stories she\u2019d written, each sigh and imperfect note, making the keen observation of the worlds that much more sincere. That\u2019s what connected with audiences and began the success story that we know so well today.<\/p>\n \n\tThroughout her self-titled debut, Swift tapped into the country music songwriting tradition of reminding listeners she\u2019s the one with the pen. On the banjo-driven jaunt, \u201cOur Song,\u201d she laments the fact that there is no song to sum up her rosy romance \u2014 until she \u201cgrabs a pen and an old napkin\u201d and cements the slamming screen doors and surreptitious\u00a0 late-night calls into her own song. With the help of producer Nathan Chapman and co-writer Liz Rose, Swift learned to master this trick.<\/p>\n