A decade after songwriting legend Diane Warren teamed up to co-write the power ballad “Say Don’t Go” with Taylor Swift for the latter’s iconic 1989 album, Warren is giving thanks for the revival of the track as one of the “From the Vault” extras on the recently released 1989 (Taylor’s Version).
“I was surprised that that became a news story. I mean, what? That was really nice of her. But that shows, she’s smart, she’s smarter than everybody,” Warren, 67, said of the reboot of the track; Swift also sent Warren flowers in October after the release of her fourth catalog re-record. “That was really beautiful,” Warren told People magazine.
“Look, it was great that the song came out and everybody loves that song, everybody. It’s like her fan’s favorite song,” Warren added. “And the fact that she used it now when she’s bigger than anybody on the planet, it’s like, thanks for taking me along for the ride, Taylor. It’s awesome.”
Swift included a note along with the flowers she sent to Warren, writing, “Diane, It was a dream come true to write with you. I hope you love ‘Say Don’t Go’ as much as I do!! Sending the biggest hug to you! Love, Taylor.”
The song was originally written toward the end of 2013, with a demo of Swift playing it on acoustic guitar tracked on New Year’s Day in 2014. The ballad didn’t end up making the cut on 2014’s 1989, but a new version co-produced by Swift and frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff made Warren remember what it was like go line-for-line with Taylor.
“Just the way we wrote together was very interesting,” Warren told People. “I loved the song at the time and then I was kind of surprised that she didn’t use it. And then really surprised in a way better way when I found [out] she was.”
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