Matt Berninger and Aaron Dessner have revealed that Taylor Swift’s songs “Cardigan” and “Willow” were originally intended for their band, The National.
In an interview with The Telegraph published Thursday, Berninger recalled: “I’d taken a swing at [‘Cardigan’] and ‘Willow’ and a couple of others, and I wasn’t having a lot of luck, so Aaron sent them to Taylor.
“I always have a lot of music to work on, and I am looking for something to connect emotionally.”
Dessner said Swift turned his songs into gold. “She made me so much better than I could have ever imagined on my own,” he said. “It felt like a lightning bolt hit the house. Because I just do what I do. And then she would be like, ‘here's this elaborately written narrative to your sad piano that you played on ‘Cardigan.’”
“Cardigan” was included on Swift’s folklore and “Willow” ended up on evermore.
Dessner praised Swift as a unique talent. “She is an incredibly gifted writer, with the lyrical prowess of a Joni Mitchell but also an entertainer on this level of, like, Beyonce," he said, "and I don’t think we’ve seen that before.”