The fallout was even more pronounced when Swift had significant pitch problems during a televised Grammy performance with Stevie Nicks.

"I care about what everyone thinks of me, and I'm not afraid to say that," she said. "There have been times when it's absolutely leveled me and ruined my day. Then there are times when I can hear it and I'm kind of like, 'Oh, I've heard that before,' and I just continue on with my day."

BEYOND THE FAIRY TALE

"Speak Now" could prove to be a pivotal album in Swift's creative progress. Music history is littered with teen stars who were unable to maintain their commercial pace once they hit their 20s. But in most instances, those acts didn't write their own material.

"At one point, the record was not called 'Speak Now.' It was called 'Enchanted,'" Big Machine president/CEO Scott Borchetta said. "We were at lunch, and she had played me a bunch of the new songs. I looked at her and I'm like, 'Taylor, this record isn't about fairy tales and high school anymore. That's not where you're at. I don't think the record should be called 'Enchanted.'"

Swift excused herself from the table at that point. By the time she came back, she had the "Speak Now" title, which comes closer to representing the evolution that the album represents in her career and in her still-young understanding of the world.

"I'm just fascinated by people -- how they live their lives, what they live their lives for," she said. "It's just a never-ending thought process for me about how we end up where we are -- and where we're going."