with 1989, i was really putting my neck on the line, because i was the one saying i need to change directions musically. and my label and management were the ones saying “are you sure, are you positive? this is risky.” and i was the one who had to come back every time and say, “no, this is what we’re doing.” when i put forth an album cover that didn’t have half my face on it, and tried to convince my label that this was the best way to sell an album, you know, i got some kind of interesting side-glance looks. but i knew that this was the best cover to represent this record, because i wanted there to be an air of mystery. i didn’t want people to know the emotional dna of this album. i didn’t want them to see a smiling picture on the cover and think this was a happy album, or see a sad-looking facial expression and think, oh, this is another breakup record. when i wanted to call the album 1989, people on the team questioned that. every single element of this album has been called into question, and i’ve had to say “no, this is how we’re doing it.” and the fact that we came out and did the kind of numbers we did in the first week—you have no idea how relieved i was, because it was all on me if this didn’t work. it was a little hard to sleep the night of the album release.