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Taylor Swift Rides The NYC Subway, Shuts Down Midtown Manhattan In Epic #VMATBT

Except when Taylor rides the train, it's on live TV in front of millions of regular folks watching the VMAs at home.

Taylor Swift -- she's just like us. She needlepoints (for Ed Sheeran). She takes cooking classes (with Lorde). She enjoys nature (with Selena Gomez). She Instagrams photos of her cat (a cat who, let's be real, is way cuter than your cat). She even rides the New York City subway.

Except Taylor Swift's NOTHING like us, if you didn't gather that from the above parenthetical phrases that imply that she does all those aforementioned "normal" things on an A-list, baller level in air so rare you'll never breath it.

Because when Taylor Swift rides the New York City subway, she's riding the rails because she's on her VMA performance ish -- her 2009 VMA performance of "You Belong With Me," to be specific -- in front of millions of people. (P.S: She rolled up to the VMAs that year in a horse-drawn carriage, so, yeah, she's not really like us. She's magic.)

I'm in a real fairy tale carriage. You mad? LOL. Stay pressed. You look adorable that way.

[image src="wp-att[image src="wp-attachment://1899089" title="taylor swift vma horse-drawn carriage" alt="taylor_swift vma horse-drawn carriage"]

In honor of Taylor Swift's 2014 VMA performance and #TBT, I made the video below, in which I breathlessly recount one of my favorite-ever VMA performances (I've been to seven VMAs and have watched probably close to 100 VMA performances from the front row or wing of the stage -- yes, that includes Beyoncé's baby bump reveal, but that's a story for another time). And, spoiler alert, Taylor's 2009 VMA performance ruled for myriad reasons, including but not limited to:

1.) It was filmed ON THE REAL, ACTUAL NEW YORK CITY SUBWAY! The first part, where Taylor's busking and then runs onto the train to perform, was filmed a few weeks before the VMAs around 4 in the morning.

2.) The kids on the train are real Swifties!

3.) They nailed the moving train sequence in one take. (Boom. Nailed it.)

4.) The second half of the performance, when Taylor runs out of the subway exit onto the street, happened in real time, live at the VMAs, right after Taylor won the VMA for Best Female Video. She had mere minutes after she accepted her award to exit the stage, change from her princess gown to her iconic-to-2009 red dress, and make her mark in the 47-50th Street stop of the F Train (Which happens to be my train. Well, not mine, but I've lived off of that train since 2003. I know: You don't care. But, you know -- attributing mundane aspects of our personal lives to celebrities so we can feel closer to them is just what we do!) Anyway, TV MAGIC!

5.) The kids dancing in the street are the same Swifties from the subway car!

6.) LIVE TV PARTY ON TOP OF A CAB IN FRONT OF NEW YORK'S ESTEEMED RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL! IT'S ESTEEMED! LOOK IT UP!

SO, TO RECAP: IS THAT A RANDOM BUSKER INCORPORATING THE PATENTED *NSYNC "BYE BYE BYE" HAND GESTURE INTO HER SONG?

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NOPE! THAT'S AMERICA'S SWEETHEART, TAYLOR SWIFT! SINGING ON THE TRAIN PLATFORM THAT'S BARELY WORTHY OF HER!

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TAYLOR SWIFT! QUEEN OF SUBWAY INTIMACY!

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QUEEN OF THE HAIR FLIP!

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QUEEN OF RADIO CITY, QUEEN OF NEW YORK!

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[image src="wp-attachment://1899085" title="taylor wink" alt="taylor wink"]

Related: 17 Of The Sweetest Things Taylor Swift's Ever Done

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