Taylor Swift’s grandmother, an opera singer, performed in S’pore in 1968

Taylor Swift’s grandmother, an opera singer, performed in S’pore in 1968
Cool crossover.

In her song “marjorie”, American pop star Taylor Swift keeps it soft and plaintive.

“Never be so kind, you forget to be clever. Never be so clever, you forget to be kind,” she sings.

It’s a piece of advice from her late maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay — the song’s namesake.

The song is a tribute to Finlay.

In the music video, a young Finlay waves at the camera in an old video clip as Swift sings her regret about not having known her better.

It’s a beautiful, sentimental song — and one that bears a special connection to Singapore.

On the first night of her Singapore leg of concerts, Swift told the crowd that her mother, Andrea Swift, had spent her early years growing up in Singapore.

Taylor Swift reveals mum grew up in S’pore

She said “marjorie” was written about her maternal grandmother.

Swift said: “A lot of [times] when we would come here on tour, my mum would take me and drive me past her old house, and where she used to go to school.

This sparked some online detective work.

And one person in particular managed to uncover some fun facts about the family’s life in Singapore.

Or more specifically, Finlay’s.

Taylor Swift’s grandmother, an opera singer, performed in S’pore in 1968
Cool crossover.

In her song “marjorie”, American pop star Taylor Swift keeps it soft and plaintive.

XERO (Singapore) Pte Ltd
A delicate balance
Sponsored by XERO (Singapore) Pte Ltd
Singapore entrepreneurs report high levels of well-being despite financial distress
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“Never be so kind, you forget to be clever. Never be so clever, you forget to be kind,” she sings.

It’s a piece of advice from her late maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay — the song’s namesake.

The song is a tribute to Finlay.

In the music video, a young Finlay waves at the camera in an old video clip as Swift sings her regret about not having known her better.

AMEX
Add a touch of luxe to your travels
Sponsored by AMEX
Enjoy an accelerated upgrade to KrisFlyer Elite Gold with this credit card
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It’s a beautiful, sentimental song — and one that bears a special connection to Singapore.

On the first night of her Singapore leg of concerts, Swift told the crowd that her mother, Andrea Swift, had spent her early years growing up in Singapore.

Swift said: “A lot of [times] when we would come here on tour, my mum would take me and drive me past her old house, and where she used to go to school.”

This sparked some online detective work.

And one person in particular managed to uncover some fun facts about the family’s life in Singapore.

Or more specifically, Finlay’s.

A licence plate and a house
While watching the clips of Finlay in the “marjorie” lyric video, Singaporean writer Koh Buck Song noticed that some appeared to have been shot in 1960s Singapore.

One clip shows Finlay getting into a car with a Singapore licence plate, “SM8860”.

He shared his findings in a Mar. 3 Facebook post.

One user in the comments section identified the car as a 1966 Ford Galaxie — apparently a top-of-the-range car at the time.

In the same clip, Finlay is seen leaving the porch of what appears to be a colonial bungalow — “somewhere in a place like Tanglin or Sembawang”, Koh guessed.

Taylor Swift’s grandmother, an opera singer, performed in S’pore in 1968
Cool crossover.

In her song “marjorie”, American pop star Taylor Swift keeps it soft and plaintive.

XERO (Singapore) Pte Ltd
A delicate balance
Sponsored by XERO (Singapore) Pte Ltd
Singapore entrepreneurs report high levels of well-being despite financial distress
See More

“Never be so kind, you forget to be clever. Never be so clever, you forget to be kind,” she sings.

It’s a piece of advice from her late maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay — the song’s namesake.

The song is a tribute to Finlay.

In the music video, a young Finlay waves at the camera in an old video clip as Swift sings her regret about not having known her better.

AMEX
Add a touch of luxe to your travels
Sponsored by AMEX
Enjoy an accelerated upgrade to KrisFlyer Elite Gold with this credit card
See More

It’s a beautiful, sentimental song — and one that bears a special connection to Singapore.

On the first night of her Singapore leg of concerts, Swift told the crowd that her mother, Andrea Swift, had spent her early years growing up in Singapore.

Swift said: “A lot of [times] when we would come here on tour, my mum would take me and drive me past her old house, and where she used to go to school.”

This sparked some online detective work.

And one person in particular managed to uncover some fun facts about the family’s life in Singapore.

Or more specifically, Finlay’s.

A licence plate and a house
While watching the clips of Finlay in the “marjorie” lyric video, Singaporean writer Koh Buck Song noticed that some appeared to have been shot in 1960s Singapore.

One clip shows Finlay getting into a car with a Singapore licence plate, “SM8860”.

He shared his findings in a Mar. 3 Facebook post.

One user in the comments section identified the car as a 1966 Ford Galaxie — apparently a top-of-the-range car at the time.

Photo from “marjorie”/YouTube
In the same clip, Finlay is seen leaving the porch of what appears to be a colonial bungalow — “somewhere in a place like Tanglin or Sembawang”, Koh guessed.

Photo from “marjorie”/YouTube
Koh also found an old Straits Times article from 1968 about Finlay, which revealed that she — like her granddaughter — had performed in Singapore.

She’d been chosen to play the lead in a production, “The Bartered Bride”, according to the report.

For five nights, she performed at the Victoria Theatre — just one show short of what her granddaughter would achieve, over 50 years years later.