Taylor Swift calls songwriting her 'protective armor' at intimate concert

Taylor Swift fans in attendance at Tuesday's Time 100 Gala in New York were in for a treat.

Swift celebrated her Time 100 cover, which named her one of the year's most influential public figures, with a performance at the gala, featuring a setlist spanning many of her classic hits.

The 29-year-old singer, who has been busy this week promoting a special surprise coming Friday, April 26, performed songs including “Style,” “Delicate,” “New Years Day," “Love Story" and "Shake It Off."

She also treated the crowd to some wise stage banter, calling her songwriting process "the main pillar of my sanity."

She said that she "always looked at writing as sort a protective armor, which is weird, because you think of writing about your life, that's usually like a vulnerability. But I think that when you write about your life, it gives you the ability to process your life.

"I use it as a way of justifying things that have happened to me," she continued. "Whether they're good or bad. I like to honor the good times and really process the bad times when I write."

Swift wore a billowing pink and yellow J. Mandel gown on the red carpet and showed off her newly-dyed pink hair, a color scheme that happened to perfectly match the aesthetics of the teaser Instagram posts that she's been sharing in anticipation of April 26. Swift's feed has transformed into a candy-colored wonderland, leaving fans to guess exactly what's coming from the singer on Friday.