Who is Taylor Swift really protecting in her songs?

While on tour for her latest album “Red,” the country singer/songwriter sensation is getting pretty tired of the same question over and over again: “Who are the songs written about?”

The new album features 16 songs, all of which are about love and relationships. It has left fans and the media curious for the inspiration of many titles, including “I Knew You Were Trouble” and the bluntly-named “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together Again.”

In a recent interview with Access Hollywood, Swift explained she came up with the name Red by confessing that she often ignores the red flags when she meets a guy, thereby coming up with the lyrics to several of the songs.  In other interviews, she has shared that most of her lyrics derive from relationships, but when asked who the song are written about, Swift refuses to put a name to a lyric or song.

“I really tend to draw inspiration from my life and from the characters in my life,” Swift told MTV News. “And it’s just kind of, for me, something I’ve always loved doing, watching life play out and kind of making a song out of that.”

Taylor has defended herself by saying keeping the name a mystery is the one true thing she can keep to herself.  Now I can respect keeping something for yourself – who is she’s really protecting? Is she respecting her former love relationships by not naming names – or is she holding back on sharing the inspiration for the lyrics that have made her millions?

Of course, all this has precedent. The most famous example over the past few decades was Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” a huge hit in 1972 when Simon sang to an old lover “You’re so vain, you probably think this song is about you.” During interviews, Simon would say the song was about “men,” not a specific “man,” and over the years rumors emerged about potential names including David Geffen, Warren Beatty, even David Bowie. Eventually, Simon auctioned off the name for charity – more than three decades after constantly being asked about it – but now only the charity auction winner and Simon knows.

So, is this what Swift is ultimately doing here? Whether she’s doing it on purpose or not, whether she’s an overnight sensation who’ll soon burn out or a Madonna-like performer with a long career ahead of her, at the very least she seems to have guaranteed that people will always have a question to walk up to her in public and hound her with.

According to Billboard, Swift is music’s top earner this year, outgrossing ever other artist in the past 12 months with a reported 35.7 million, which doesn’t even include sponsorship deals or merchandise sales.  I say she’s doing pretty darn good in an industry where making money has become increasingly difficult. So, it wouldn’t appear that she needs help guaranteeing her notoriety.

But making music isn’t the only thing the megastar is known for.

Relationship after relationship, celebrity boyfriend after celebrity boyfriend, Swift comes out on top as the all American sweetheart whose heart was yet again broken by another Hollywood playboy. She’s a younger Jennifer Aniston, with better pipes.

Fans are swarming the music sites and stores to hear the next song, eager to dissect the lyrics and speculate over which celebrity boyfriend it is written about.  Not a bad publicity plan if you ask me.

Look, we all love her. How can we not? Her music is incredible and she’s adorable.  She’s got the voice of an angel, the lyrics of a genius, the hair and face of a mystical goddess, and the personality of the sweet innocent schoolgirl from a small mid-west farm. It’s like she was created in a test-marketing laboratory. So, who’s the real victim here?

Like many famous artists before her, inspiration comes with a price. One of the most famous painters in history, Pablo Picasso, will go down in history as the genius who changed the world of art with his dismantling of the human figure to create cubism.  But Picasso was also famous for his notorious reputation of using the rich and famous women of the time for inspiration. From Eric Clapton’s “Layla” to Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me a River,” music history is littered with classic songs that came from tumultuous romances.

Yes, artists of all kinds have been doing it for centuries, but usually it’s the men in history that were chastised for using women’s emotions and feelings for their own artistic needs. What makes Taylor Swift any different?  Would her career be any different if not for the celebrity affairs inspire lyrics about love and heartbreak?

Maybe Swift is keeping the identity of her inspiration a secret because she doesn’t want to share the credit. Or maybe it’s all a game for the celebrity boys of Hollywood to see who can get a song written about them by the notorious Swift. We as fans may never know the truth behind the mystery – but we will stay tuned for more hits, and perhaps wait for Swift’s charity auction 30 years from now to learn the answers.