The 'Mythic Allure' of Greenwich Village: Why Artists Like Taylor Swift Are Still Captivated (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Talkin' Greenwich Village; Taylor Swift arrives to a NYFW after party at Electric Lady Studios on Sept. 11, 2024.Photo:Hachette Books; Robert Kamau/GC

Hachette Books; Robert Kamau/GC

New York City’s Greenwich Village has earned its reputation as the birthplace of artistic legends. FromBob DylanandJoni Mitchellto Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, it’s where creative icons broke boundaries and left their mark.

For someone likeTaylor Swift, whose songwriting thrives on storytelling, the Village’s rich cultural history is an endless source of inspiration. Who wouldn’t want to walk the same streets where Dylan penned his iconic lyrics or play at a venue like The Bitter End, which has seen decades of musical legends?

Greenwich Village’s draw for artists like Swift is all about carrying on a storied tradition, as author David Browne dives into in his new book,Talkin' Greenwich Village: The Heady Rise and Slow Fall of America’s Bohemian Music Capital.Browne’s look into the neighborhood’s history shows how this iconic Manhattan spot still fuels creativity and inspiration today. Just listen to Swift’s “Welcome to New York,” where she sings, “Walkin’ through a crowd, the village is aglow.”

Browne tells PEOPLE: “In that compact area, less than a square mile, it has served as a safe space for writers, artists outsiders and radical thinkers looking for like-minded souls or to reinvent themselves and work out their art. Even though the number of venues has dropped dramatically since those days, Greenwich Village is still a symbolic artist’s colony, so it’s not surprising at all that Taylor would be among those drawn to it.”

Hachette Books

With iconic spots like Electric Lady Studios (where Swift still records!), Cafe Wha? and The Bitter End, Greenwich Village remains a must for any artist drawn to intimate, legendary venues. Swift herself took the stage at The Bitter End back in 2005, early in her career — a moment that clearly resonated with her. Fast forward to 2016, and shefamously rented an apartment on Cornelia Street, right in the heart of the Village.

That home is now a fan favorite, thanks to her2019 track “Cornelia Street,“which captures the time she lived there while her Tribeca property was being renovated. “I rent a place on Cornelia street, I say casually in the car…,” she sings in the hit, forever tying her name to the famed street.

Taylor Swift is seen in Greenwich Village on October 03, 2023 in New York City.Raymond Hall/GC

Raymond Hall/GC

Taylor Swift’s former townhouse on Cornelia Street.Al Siedman/VHT for the Corcoran Group

For Swifties making their pilgrimage to Cornelia Street, Browne has a few more musical landmarks to add to the itinerary.

“In light of theforthcoming Bob Dylan biopicA Complete Unknown[starringTimothée Chalamet], I’d suggest Jones Street, right around the corner from Cornelia. That’s where Dylan and his girlfriend Suze Rotolo, huddled together, were photographed for the cover ofThe Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan,” he says.

Blank Archives/Getty

“At the corner of Bleecker and Thompson, you can still see the sign for the legendary Village Gate, which closed in the Nineties but was long home to the likes of Nina Simone,” he continues. “The Gaslight Café, at 116 MacDougal, is now a restaurant, but starting in the late Fifties and into the early Seventies, it was a gathering and performance space for Dylan and so many more. It’s also the setting for Midge’s reinvention as a standup comic inThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

A view of the Bitter End music club on May 12, 2020 in New York City.Rob Kim/Getty

Rob Kim/Getty

When asked who theFolkloresinger would have likely connected with during the Village’s heyday, Browne points to folk legend Joni Mitchell.

Folk Singer and songwriter Joni Mitchell performs at The Bitter End in New York City, New York, October 23, 1968.PoPsie Randolph/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

PoPsie Randolph/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

“Joni Mitchell only lived in the Village for a brief period, around 1967, but the mind boggles at the two of them huddling in one of those coffeehouses, comparing notes on songs, club owners and their personal lives. While she was there, Joni wrote an astounding 60 songs, which is a testament to the way the Village nurtured songwriters; it’s easy to imagine Taylor being similarly inspired,” he says.

And as for Bob Dylan? Browne muses, “Given how unknowable he could be, who knows? But Taylor’s interest in the political landscape—culminating in herKamala Harris endorsement—also makes you think she would have appreciated the protest or topical songs that emanated from the Village and spoke to the troubled times swirling around it.”

Bob Dylan performs at The Bitter End folk club in Greenwich Village in 1961 in New York City, New York.Sigmund Goode/Michael Ochs Archive/Getty

Sigmund Goode/Michael Ochs Archive/Getty

Swift’s decision to call Greenwich Village home, even temporarily, speaks to its lasting magic. It wasn’t just about renting an apartment—it was about becoming part of a creative legacy that has nurtured talents for generations.

Browne says, “The Village has retained its mythic allure — the place where people could gather in cozy performance spaces and be introduced to a new song, jam or unconventional poem that would expand their knowledge of the world around them.”

source: people.com