Ever since Taylor Swift’s first album, there has been a tremendous amount of speculation regarding the inspirations behind her chart-topping songs.

That, obviously, is one of the big downsides of celebrity–every time you hook up, make up, or break up, it becomes national news. Then try and write a song about what you’re feeling at any given point, and fingers begin pointing in any number of directions.

Taylor Swift is, of course, well aware of all this nonsense–and how it affects her fans and her music. And she’s learned how to deal with it.

“There’s a lot of curiosity about who each song is about,” Taylor explained matter-of-factly in an interview with CBS Local. But, she says, “That’s something I love keeping to myself. Never really revealing who exactly these songs are about.”

And to Taylor, naming names is simply not necessary. “Each song is so singular in what it talks about,” she explains, so that the emotions they contain are plenty able to “stand on their own.”

“I like for people to paint their own picture,” she says. “Whether they want to think about their ex-boyfriend, or someone they know. Or make up their own mind about who they think I wrote it about.”

In fact, she concludes, “it’s all up to them, because, I’m never telling.”

Taylor Swift’s new album, Red, is in stores now.

- Kurt Wolff, CBS Local