Taylor Swift, ‘Begin Again’ Is Genre-Defying, Emotional Hit

"Begin Again" is arguably the most country radio-friendly track on Taylor Swift's platinum-selling Red album, and just like its chart-topping predecessor, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," the ballad is being played on both country and pop stations. The genre-bending superstar says she didn't necessarily set out to make any song on Red country or pop, but rather her focus was on showing growth as a musician.

"It's definitely something that I find myself trying to balance, because I am influenced by so many different types of music," Taylor told The Boot when we asked if she finds it daunting to have to please both country and pop fans. "Everyone is different about whether they like to think of genres as something that defines an artist, or if it's just kind of a category to put music into. For me, genres are a way for people to easily categorize music, but it doesn't have to define you. It doesn't have to limit you. It doesn't have to make up this imaginary rule book of, 'You can only use these instruments, and you can only use this kind of song structure, and you can't go anywhere near loops or big drum sounds.' I just love the idea of getting to paint with lots of different colors, musically. I love that the fans have followed me down that road and I really appreciate the open-mindedness of them."

"Begin Again" hit the Top 10 on Billboard's country singles charts and has been downloaded more than 727,000 times, according to Nielsen SoundScan data. Taylor is thrilled by its success.

"It's a really emotional, vulnerable song," she says, "so for people to want to play it on the radio and for people to request it on the radio, it means a lot to me because it came from a really personal place."

The song tells the story of a girl who is pleasantly surprised by a new guy who does everything right that her ex did wrong. Taylor explains that the inspiration for "Begin Again" was from both a sad time in her romantic life and from "a place of hope and the idea that even after you go through a really devastating ending of a relationship, it can start all over."