Swift starts world tour in Asia, pushes "Speak Now' in NY

Swift introduced her new disc, "Speak Now," in New York with a flurry of activities ranging from television to meeting her fans and singing songs, including Back to December and Mine.

"Speak Now was inspired by the last two years of my life," Swift said during a question and answer from fans around the globe. "You can learn a lot of lessons in two years. You have a lot of revelations and realize that all these things are happening in your life, and you process them."

"I just hope it means something to yall's life because it was a really fun process making this record," Swift said.

Swift said she wrote every song on the disc alone. "That was by accident," she said. "This album is something I'm proud of for a lot of reasons, but one of them is I've never written an entire album on my own before. You know that songwriting is my favorite thing. Storytelling - is what makes life make a little more sense to me."

Swift said she had two goals in music: "I always wanted to remain the same person, and I always wanted to remain the same songwriter."

Swift said she started writing when she was 12 about her experiences. "At 20, it's the same way. And I still do that. There's a little more speculation than when I was 12, but I still write songs the same way. It's a personal process."

Swift indicated she did not expect to run out of songwriting ideas. "I overthink a lot of things so I try to put my mind at ease...I think you should chances when they feel right. A lot of the decisions I've made in my life were gut feelings...As soon as things stop happening in my life and love stops being fascinating and you stop finding s interesting things in everyday life, I think songwriting can stop."

Swift cited her musical influences ranging from Simon & Garfunkel to Def Leppard - music her parents played around the house - to watching Shania Twain, Faith Hill and the Dixie Chicks on TV. "I fell in love with the story telling of country music. Those three core artists really sealed the deal for me."

Tour dates are:
Feb. 9 Singapore, Singapore, Singapore Indoor Stadium
Feb. 11 Seoul, South Korea, Gymnastic Gymnasium
Feb. 13 Osaka, Japan, Osaka-Jo Hall
Feb. 16-17 Tokyo, Japan, Budokan Hall
March 6 Brussels, Belgium, Forest National
March 7 Rotterdam, Holland, Ahoy
March 9 Oslo, Norway, Oslo Spektrum
March 12 Oberhausen, Germany, Oberhausen Arena
March 14 Munich, Germany, Olympiahalle
March 17 Paris, France, Zenith
March 19 Madrid, Spain, Palacio De Deportes
March 22 Birmingham, United Kingdom, LG Arena
March 29 Manchester, United Kingdom, Manchester Evening News Arena
March 30 London, United Kingdom, O2 Arena

"Starting off in Japan right seemed right," said Swift.

After taking questions, Swift performed several songs with her band. Earlier in the day, Swift performed in Central Park.