A look back at Taylor Swift's "1989"

Flashback: We're marking this nostalgic milestone by revisiting how Swift and music insiders spoke about her crossover moment when the original "1989" came out.

• The late, great music writer Peter Cooper interviewed her about it for an article that ran in the Tennessean on Oct. 26, 2014.

What she said: "The only choice I had was do I paint a wall green and tell people it's blue," Swift told Cooper. "I decided to be honest about it, and upfront about the fact that this is me switching lanes. To say I 'left' country music sounds very harsh. It's just a change in artistic direction."

Yes, but: We know now that Nashville was never in her rearview. She's written country hits for other artists and repeatedly made it clear over the years that she considers Tennessee home.

"I would never quit Nashville," she told Cooper in 2014.

• "I think Nashville has become such a melting pot for different genres, and so many different artists who make different kinds of music move here and call it home. I don't think that because I don't make country music right now that means that I've in any way unleashed some great assault on this city."