page_title: Today Was a Fairytale
section_title: Critical reception
hierarchical_section_title: Today Was a Fairytale / Critical reception
caption_attribution_description: Country pop singer Taylor Swift performs on the Fearless Tour, wearing a black cocktail dress.
context_page_description: "Today Was a Fairytale" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Produced by Swift and Nathan Chapman, it was released on January 19, 2010 by Big Machine Records as a single from the corresponding soundtrack for the 2010 film Valentine's Day, which she acted in. Swift had previously written the song and offered it to producers for the film's soundtrack. Musically, "Today Was a Fairytale" is country pop-influenced and, lyrically, speaks of a magical date.
  It received generally positive reception from contemporary critics, some who deemed it the best song on the soundtrack, and enjoyed commercial success by reaching the top ten in three countries. In Canada, "Today Was a Fairytale" became Swift's first number-one song. The song debuted and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Swift promoted "Today Was a Fairytale" at several venues and included it on a revised set list for the continuation of her Fearless Tour in 2010.
context_section_description: The song received generally positive reviews from contemporary critics. Melanie Bertoldi of Billboard compared the song's lyrics to those of Swift's previous singles "You Belong with Me" and "Fifteen"; she was convinced that "Today Was a Fairytale" would "help [Swift] reach an even broader audience." Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly did not see a departure from Swift, recalling lyrics to be familiar of those of "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me". However, she ended with "What do we know? The song sounds Taylor-made (oh, the wit!) for her fans, and we’re just happy she’s still sweet, neat, and [...] age-appropriate." An uncredited review from People magazine said the track led the Valentine's Day soundtrack. Brittany Talarico of British magazine OK! called the song's refrains "catchy" and described the overall feel as "sweet." Andrew Leahey of AllMusic said that there was special attention placed on Swift's tracks on the soundtrack, particularly on the song. Jody Rosen of Slate magazine declared "Today Was a Fairytale" "track of the week", highlighting its imagery that, according to her, "sharpen the focus instead of softening it." Jonah Weiner, also of Slate, wrote, "This song is a funny mix: some of her tightest songwriting to date, but some of her laziest lyrics." He mentioned that in the lyrics, Swift mainly "invoke[d] the cliché and hope[d] it [did] her heavy lifting for her."
caption: Swift performing "Today Was a Fairytale" on the second North American leg of the Fearless Tour
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