Love Story (Taylor Swift song)
"Love Story" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on September 15, 2008, by Big Machine Records, as the lead single from Swift's second studio album, "Fearless" (2008). Inspired by a love interest unpopular to Swift's family and friends, "Love Story" is based on the plot of William Shakespeare's 16th-century tragedy "Romeo and Juliet". In the song's narrative, the two characters, Romeo and Juliet, end up in a marriage proposal, contrary to Shakespeare's tragic conclusion. The lyrics additionally reference Nathaniel Hawthorne 's "The Scarlet Letter" (1850). Produced by Swift and Nathan Chapman, the country pop song features soprano vocals and a slow-building melody consisting of banjo, fiddle, mandolin, and guitar. After its initial release, critics praised "Love Story" for its catchy production but found the literary references clumsy and ineffective. Retrospectively, critics have considered it one of Swift's strongest singles, with some highlighting it as her signature song. The song peaked atop the chart in Australia, where it was certified ten times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). It reached the top five on charts in Canada , Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, and the U.K. In the U.S., "Love Story" peaked at number four on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and was certified eight times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). A success on pop radio, "Love Story" was the first country song to top the "Billboard" Mainstream Top 40 chart. It has sold over six million copies in the U.S. and 18 millon copies worldwide. Trey Fanjoy directed the accompanying music video, which Swift conceived as a period piece that drew influences from the Medieval, Renaissance, and British Regency eras. It follows Swift and  model Justin Gaston as they meet in a university campus and imagine themselves as lovers in a prior era. The video won Video of the Year at both the Country Music Association Awards and CMT Music Awards in 2009. Swift included "Love Story" on the set lists of all of her headlining tours: Fearless (2009–2010), Speak Now (2011–2012), Red (2013–2014), 1989 (2015), and Reputation (2018). The re-recording, "Love Story (Taylor's Version)", was released on February 12, 2021, through Republic Records. It topped "Billboard" Hot Country Songs chart, making Swift the second artist after Dolly Parton to reach number  one with both the original and re-recorded versions of a song. Writing and inspiration. "Love Story" came along late into the production of "Fearless". Swift wrote "Love Story" about a man who was never officially her boyfriend. When she introduced him to her family and friends, they did not become fond of him. "His situation was a little complicated, but I didn't care", said Swift. Swift also felt like it was the first time she could relate to the plot of William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" (1597), one of her favorite narratives, which she described as, "The  only people who wanted them to be together were them." She conceived the idea for the song when she reflected about the scenario: "I thought, 'This is difficult but it's real, it matters—it's not simple or easy but it's real'." She then centered the song on the line, which was ultimately placed in the "Love Story"'s second refrain. All events, with the exclusion of the end, narrated in the song regarded Swift's actual story. The song's conclusion differed from that of "Romeo and Juliet". "I feel like they had such promise and they  were so crazy for each other. And if that had just gone a little bit differently, it could have been the best love story ever told. And it is one of the best love stories ever told, but it's a tragedy." Instead, she chose to write a happy ending. She took her favorite characters and conceptualized the ending she believed they deserved. She perceived it to be the ideal ending that girls hoped for, including herself. "You want a guy who doesn’t care what anyone thinks, what anyone says." Although it was fictional, Swift said it was an  enjoyable experience to write about. Swift wrote the track on her bedroom floor in approximately twenty minutes, feeling too inspired to put the song down unfinished. Swift and her love interest never did date. The failure of their relationship inspired another song on "Fearless", "White Horse", which became the second single released from the album. To Swift, "Love Story" resembles much optimism regarding love and how encountering the right person could surpass skepticism. She deemed "Love Story" one of her most romantic songs, although she was never in an official relationship with the subject of the song. In retrospect, Swift  said the song is "about a love that you've got to hide because for whatever reason it wouldn't go over well", adding "I spun it in the direction of "Romeo and Juliet". Our parents are fighting. I relate to it more as a love that you cannot really elaborate on — a love that maybe society wouldn't accept [or] maybe your friends wouldn't accept." Recording. "Love Story" was recorded in March 2008 at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, alongside record producer Nathan Chapman and various personnel. Swift sang into an Avantone CV-12 multi-pattern tube microphone , manufactured by Avant Electronics. The microphone had a new old stock tube that was designed and built by country singer, record producer, and audio engineer Ray Kennedy for Chapman. Chapman had received the microphone from Kennedy as a loan, as a "try this for a while" experiment. Although he previously had tested numerous microphones on Swift, he had not been able to find one to match her voice perfectly. When Swift came to Chapman's home to record a radio edit for one of the singles from "Taylor Swift", she immediately grew fond of the microphone. "When she put on  the headphones and said, 'Test,' completely unprompted, she said, 'This is my mic. I love this mic. I just wanna use this one from now on!' She had no idea what it was, just loved it, and I went along with something that felt right for her. We've been using it ever since, and it sounds great on her voice," Chapman said. "Love Story" was recorded with Pro Tools and tracking vocals, which Swift sang live with the band. The band consisted of acoustic guitars, bass guitars, and drums. All other instruments were overdubbed by Chapman. He said, "I  think there are nine acoustic guitars on that track, and I stacked several background vocals — me singing, 'Ah's'." Audio engineering was executed by Chad Carlson in Blackbird Studios' Studio D, with the usage of the API Legacy Plus equipments: Avantone CV-12, Neve 1073, and Tube-Tech CL-1B. Audio mixing done by Justin Niebank and was set in Studio F, with the usage of the console Solid State Logic 9080 K series and Genelec 1032 console. In between, overdubs were executed in Studio E by Chapman. "Love Story", along with the rest of the album, was mastered by Hank Williams  at MasterMix Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. The song was mixed for mainstream airplay by Chapman. He pulled Niebank's stems into his Mac OS laptop and used Apple Logic to create the pop version. Chapman made mix tweaks and created new elements with his laptop. In order to do so, he muted the country instruments and replaced them with new elements characteristic to pop music, replacing banjo and fiddle with electric guitar. The pop version's opening beat is a Logic loop in the Ultrabeat beat generator. All the new electric guitars were done with the Amplitube Stomp I/O.  Composition. "Love Story" is written by Swift and produced by Swift and Chapman. It is a country pop song with a length of three minutes and 54 seconds. The melody consists of banjo, fiddle, mandolin, and guitar. It is set in common time and has a moderate tempo of 120 beats per minute. It is written in the key of D major and Swift's vocals span one octave, from A to B. Swift sings with a slight twang. It follows the chord progression D (add)–Asus–Bm–G. The song is of a swirling and dreamy soprano. The melody is  simple, containing a rushy pace which continually grows and concludes with a key change to E major. The lyrics of "Love Story" are written in first person, in which Swift refers to herself as the "Romeo and Juliet" character Juliet and her love interest as Romeo. In the narrative, Juliet's father is initially disapproval of their relationship. The first verse introduces the characters at a ball, where they meet. In the second verse, the story transitions to the couple sneaking about after dark and references Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" (1850). The song's refrains have Swift waiting  for her love interest to appear: "Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone/ I'll be waiting/ All there's left to do is run." The song's final refrain has Swift narrating from Romeo's perspective; Romeo has talked to Juliet's father and asks her to marry him. Critical reception. In "Fearless" album reviews, Rob Sheffield from "Blender" and Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic selected "Love Story" as a standout. Deborah Evans Price of "Billboard" applauded the single for its "swirling, dreamy" production and emotional engagement that appealed to a broad audience. Writing for "The Boston Globe , James Reed highlighted Love Story" as an example of Swift's charm in her songwriting: "She knows how to write a hit." In "USA Today", Elysa Gardner highlighted "Love Story" as an example of Swift's songwriting talents at such a young age: "It's a pleasure to hear a gifted teenager who sounds like a gifted teenager, rather than a mouthpiece for a bunch of older pros' collective notion of adolescent yearning." Music scholar James E. Perone found the narrative formulaic and less dramatic than that of the original "Romeo and Juliet", but contended "the melodic hooks are strong  enough to overcome the predictability of the lyrics". In BBC Music, Fraser McAlpine gave the single a four-out-of-five-stars rating. McAlpine deemed the Shakespearean reference unsuccessful and the lyrics generic, but praised the production and wrote: "it's great to see a big pop song being used as a method of direct story telling." In a mixed review, Jonathan Keefe of "Slant Magazine" was impressed by Swift's melodic songwriting for creating "massive pop hooks", but found the literary references inexplicable and clumsy. Keefe deemed the lyrics overall lacking in creativity, and disapproved of Swift's "clipped  phrasing" in the refrain. "Love Story" featured on 2008 year-end lists by "Blender" at number 73 and "The Village Voice" Pazz & Jop critics' poll at number 48. "Taste of Country" listed the song at number 17 on its 2016 list of greatest country songs of all time. In retrospective reviews, Hannah Mylrea from "NME" and Nate Jones from "New York" considered "Love Story" one of Swift's strongest songs in her entire discography. Alexis Petridis from "The Guardian" considered that with "Love Story", Swift's songwriting prowess first "fully revealed", and reflected on the literary references: "if the references  to Shakespeare and Hawthorn seem clumsy, they are clumsy in a believably teenage way". Commercial performance. "Love Story" debuted at number 16 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart dated September 27, 2008. The next week, it rose to number five. On the week ending January 17, 2009, the song reached its peak at number four. It remained on the Hot 100 for 49 weeks. "Love Story" peaked at number one on "Billboard" Hot Country Songs chart for two weeks. On "Billboard" Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs) chart, the single reached number one on the week ending February 28, 2009 ; it was the first country crossover to top the chart. The song also reached number one on "Billboard" Adult Contemporary chart and number three on "Billboard" Adult Pop Songs chart. It was the most successful song on US airplay, ranking number one on the year-end Radio Songs chart, of 2009. The single was certified eight times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). By February 2021, "Love Story" had sold 6.13 million copies in the United States, becoming Swift's highest-selling single in the nation. "Love Story" was Swift's first number-one single in Australia . The single was certified ten times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). It peaked within the top five of singles charts in Japan (three) and the English-speaking countries including the United Kingdom (two), Ireland (three), New Zealand (three), Canada (four), and Scotland (five). In mainland Europe, the track peaked at number ten on the European Hot 100 Singles chart, number four in the Czech Republic, number six in Hungary, number seven in Norway, and at number ten in Sweden. "Love Story" was certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and Music Canada (MC), platinum by  the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RMNZ), and gold by IFPI Danmark and the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ). It was the sixth-best-selling single of 2009 worldwide, selling 6.5 million copies throughout the year. By February 2021, estimated worldwide sales of "Love Story" stood at 18 million. Music video. The accompanying music video for "Love Story" was directed by Trey Fanjoy, who had directed the music videos for the singles from "Taylor Swift". Swift collaborated with Fanjoy again because she had been able to balance both of their ideas. For "Love Story", Swift conceived the video  as a period piece drawing influences from the Medieval, Renaissance, and Regency eras, aiming for a timeless narrative that "could happen in the 1700s, 1800s, or 2008". For the male lead, with six months in advance, Swift searched by watching films for actors to interpret the role. An acquaintance of hers, who followed the sixth season of "Nashville Star", recommended contestant Justin Gaston. After Gaston was eliminated from "Nashville Star", Swift contacted him to film the video. She believed Gaston was a perfect choice for the male lead, "I was so impressed by the way his [expressions] were in the  video. Without even saying anything, he would just do a certain glance and it really came across well." The crew considered traveling to Europe to find a castle for the video's setting, but settled on Castle Gwynn in Arrington, Tennessee; Castle Gwynn was built in 1973 and is part of the annual Tennessee Renaissance Festival. Wardrobe for the video was supplied by Jacquard Fabrics, excluding Swift's dress for the balcony scene, which was designed by Sandi Spika with inspiration and suggestions from Swift. The video was filmed in two days in August 2008 in Tennessee. On the first  day, the balcony and field scenes were shot. On the second day, the video was filmed at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee. Swift learned the choreography for the ballroom scene in fifteen minutes prior to filming. Approximately 20 dancers were used for the scene. The video commences with Swift, clothed in a black sweater and jeans, walking through a university campus and spotting Gaston sitting under a tree, reading a textbook. As they make eye contact, the video then transitions to an earlier era, in what seems to be an 18th-century castle, where Swift stands, wearing a corset and  gown, and sings on a balcony. Afterwards, Gaston enters a party and sees Swift, wearing an elaborate gown, conversing with other young women. The two, along with others, engage in ballroom dancing. After dancing, Gaston whispers into Swift's ear and Swift is then seen pondering at night with a lantern. She meets with Gaston and the two walk, hold hands, and feed a horse by a well. The two then go their separate paths. Later on, Swift stands in the balcony again, looking out from the window. She sees Gaston running towards her and she immediately runs down the  castle's staircase to meet him. Swift and Gaston meet in the field right in front of the castle and hold each other. The video then transitions back into the modern-day college campus as Gaston walks toward Swift and they gaze into each other's eyes, where the video concludes. Cut scenes feature ballroom dancing and Swift performing in the balcony setting. Video reception. The video premiered on September 12, 2008, on CMT. Mandi Bierly of "Entertainment Weekly" was concerned about the video marking Swift's artistic evolution because it seemed too expensive and made her wonder if anything  else about Swift would change. However, she stated: "Worry though I might, I can’t resist Taylor Swift’s evolution from 'Tim McGraw' (2006) to her latest, 'Love Story'." Bierly also compared Swift's acting with that of Keira Knightley. Fraser McAlpine of BBC Online believed Swift played a princess in the video and, therefore, said it would make females envious. The video was nominated for the "Video of the Year" category at the 45th Academy of Country Music Awards, but lost to Brad Paisley's "Waitin' on a Woman" (2008). At the 2009 CMT Music Awards, the video won  the CMT Music Awards for "Video of the Year" and "Female Video of the Year". It also won the award for "Music Video of the Year" at the 43rd Country Music Association Awards. The video won "Favorite International Video" at the Philippine Myx Music Awards 2010. Accolades. At the 35th People's Choice Awards, "Love Story" was nominated for the People's Choice Award for "Favorite Country", but lost to Carrie Underwood's "Last Name" (2008). The song was nominated for "Fave Song" at the Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards 2009, but lost to The Black Eyed Peas' "I Got ta Feeling" (2009) and received the same outcome at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards, when it lost the nomination for "Choice Music: Love Song" to David Archuleta's "Crush" (2008). In 2009, "Love Story" was declared the "Country Song of the Year" by Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI). Live performances. When promoting the single in the United States in late 2008 and early 2009, Swift performed "Love Story" on the "Good Morning America", the "Late Show with David Letterman", "The Ellen DeGeneres Show", the 2008 Country Music Awards, as a duet with English rock band Def Leppard on "CMT Crossroads", the  episode was released as a DVD exclusively through Wal-Mart stores in the United States, Clear Channel Communications's Stripped, Studio 330 Sessions, and "Saturday Night Live". In the United Kingdom, Swift promoted the track during early 2009 with performances on television programs, such as "Loose Women" and "Later... with Jools Holland". Since, Swift has performed the track twice on "The Today Show", at the 2009 CMA Music Festival, the 2009 V Festival, the Australian charity concert Sydney Sound Relief, "Dancing with the Stars", and again on the "Late Show with David Letterman". Swift performed "Love Story" on all venues  of her first headlining concert tour, the Fearless Tour, which extended from April 2009 to June 2010. The performances begun with backup dancers, dressed in Victorian era clothing, dancing ballroom to Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel's Canon, as a castle backdrop was projected onto the stage. Swift emerged to upper level of the stage, from below, donning a crimson, 18th century gown with a golden accents. For the song's last refrain, Swift hid behind backup dancers as she changed her wardrobe to a white wedding dress. Jon Pareles of "The New York Times" said Swift offered the audience with  optimistic thinking with the performance in the August 27, 2009, concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Reviewing the May 22, 2010, concert at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada, Jane Stevenson of "The Toronto Sun" stated the moment was far too girly for her liking. "Love Story" served as the final performance on the setlist of Swift's second concert tour, the Speak Now World Tour (2011); the performances featured Swift roaming throughout the stage, wearing a white sundress. On January 25, 2013, Swift did an acoustic version of the song, followed by "We Are Never  Ever Getting Back Together" at the Los Premios 40 Principales in Spain. In 2014, Swift performed a new arena-rock rendition of "Love Story" during the 2014 iHeartRadio Music Festival. She performed the version again, transformed into a synth-pop ballad, at the 1989 World Tour. The song was performed on Swift's fifth headlining tour, the Reputation Stadium Tour, as part of a medley alongside "Style" and "You Belong with Me". On April 23, 2019, she performed a piano rendition of the song at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts during the "Time" 100 Gala, where she was  honored. On September 9, Swift performed the song at the City of Lover one-off concert in Paris, France. On November 24, she performed the song as part of a medley at the 2019 American Music Awards in Los Angeles. Cover versions and media usage. Swift teamed up with rapper T-Pain for a parody of the song titled "Thug Story", which premiered at the 2009 CMT Music Awards. American pop punk band Forever the Sickest Kids covered "Love Story" for the 2009 deluxe edition of their debut studio album "Underdog Alma Mater" (2008). English singer Joe McElderry, winner of  the sixth series of the United Kingdom talent competition "The X Factor", performed a live cover of "Love Story" on The X Factor Tour in 2010. "Love Story" was featured in the romantic comedy "Letters to Juliet" (2010), as well as its official trailer and in the pilot of the television series "Hart of Dixie" (2011). The song was covered by post-hardcore band Sky Tells All featuring Chris Motionless. In August 2020, an unofficial house remix of "Love Story" by American DJ Disco Lines became popular on TikTok and garnered viral challenges on the platform; additionally, it gained radio  airplay in Poland. In December 2020, a snippet of Swift's re-recorded version of "Love Story" was featured in a Match.com advertisement directed by Ryan Reynolds. The song appears in video games "Band Hero" and "Karaoke Revolution" the former featuring Swift as a playable character; while it's re-recorded version appears in "Just Dance 2022". In 2022, it was covered by British rock band Black Midi. Personnel. Credits adapted from "Fearless" album liner notes Disco Lines remix. In 2020, DJ Disco Lines uploaded an unofficial remix of "Love Story" to TikTok. The remix was later re-released onto  streaming services, with Swift's vocals replaced by Cassidy, and it charted in Poland. Section::::"Love Story (Taylor's Version)". Swift re-recorded "Love Story", subtitled "(Taylor's Version)", for her first re-recorded album, "Fearless (Taylor's Version)". It was released as the re-recorded album's lead single on February 12, 2021, through Republic Records. Music critics received "Love Story (Taylor's Version)" with positive reviews, highlighting Swift's mature vocals, the enhanced instrumentation and mixing, while remaining faithful to the original's emotion. The song peaked in the top 10 on charts of Canada, Ireland, Latvia, Malaysia, and  Singapore. It was Swift's eighth number-one song on the US Hot Country Songs chart. Background and release. In August 2019, Swift revealed her decision to re-record her first six studio albums after her master recordings were sold to American businessman Scooter Braun upon his purchase of her former record label, Big Machine Records. "Love Story (Taylor's Version)" was the first re-recorded track that Swift disclosed to the public when it was used as a jingle for a Match.com advertisement, written by actor Ryan Reynolds, in December 2020. On February 11, 2021, on "Good Morning America  as well as via her social media accounts, Swift announced a re-recorded version of her second studio album, Fearless", titled "Fearless (Taylor's Version)", released on April 9, 2021. "Love Story (Taylor's Version)" serves as the lead single from the re-recording. A lyric video of "Love Story (Taylor's Version)" was released alongside the song. It features photographs of Swift with her fans, which "Times of India" dubbed as a move that replaces Romeo with the singer's fans. "Rolling Stone" shared the same viewpoint, stating that the video depicts "the love between artists and fans". On  March 26, 2021, an electronic version of "Love Story (Taylor's Version)" remixed by Swedish producer Elvira was released. Composition. The re-recorded version remains faithful to the 2008 version, not departing from the original production. Many of the same musicians who played on the 2008 version of the instrumental were also involved in the re-recording. However, there is a noticeable change in the timbre of Swift's vocals in the 2021 version, which has a "rounder and fuller" tone, free of much of her older country twang. It is re-recorded with higher precision, and a starker contrast  between the instrumentals; the banjo strums, cymbals, fiddle, and violins in "Love Story (Taylor's Version)" are more prominent, with clearly defined bass instruments, stronger drums, less harsh electric guitars, and lowered harmonies in the mix. Critical reception. "Rolling Stone" critic Simon Vozick-Levinson described "Love Story (Taylor's Version)" as a "brilliantly bittersweet update on a classic", equipped with more emotion, polished instrumentals, and vocal technique. "Pitchfork" writer Vrinda Jagota praised Swift for her commitment to revisiting her teenage work without embarrassment, and branded it "an adult woman's display of ownership and agency". Mikael Wood of "Los Angeles  Times" opined that "Love Story" remains a classic, noticing how the rerecorded version is "virtually indistinguishable" from its 2008 counterpart. While describing this similarity as somewhat a "disappointment" since Swift achieved artistic maturity with her 2020 albums "Folklore" and "Evermore", Wood acknowledged that the rights to "Love Story" could completely belong to the singer, in doing so. Hannah Mylrea, writing for "NME", called it a "charming blast of nostalgia" with improved production, where Swift manages to preserve the "sparkle and warmth" that made "Love Story" a success. Mylrea added that Swift used her newly powerful vocals to channel her younger  self in the 2021 version, whereas, the 2008 version had a more "earnest" tone to it. Lauding Swift's vocal performance, "The Atlantic"s Shirley Li wrote that the singer's voice at age 31 is "much richer", with a controlled tone and precise staccato. Li concluded that the 2008 version contained Swift's "eager, breathless vocals captured that thoroughly teenage sensation of fantasizing over a new crush", while the 2021 version "conjures a mature, amused wistfulness". Richard S. He, reviewing for "Billboard", was impressed with the song's mixing. He wrote that the original was "a loud, dynamically flat mix  and master designed to burst out of FM radio speakers", while the re-recorded version offers a well-balanced, lush, "impressive" mix that elevates the song's dreamy atmosphere. He also pointed out that the instruments in the original's chorus "seemed to blend into one big wall of sound", whereas "Love Story (Taylor's Version)" boasts an ambience with individual instruments. In his BBC review, Mark Savage wrote that the two versions were barely different, praising the "crisper" quality of "Love Story (Taylor's Version)", which allows the listeners to pick up instrumental details that were lost in the  2008 version. He highlighted that Swift's matured vocals and enunciation add depth and warmth to the song, while still capturing the "romantic innocence" of a teenager. Robert Christgau believed "Swift's voice retains a great deal of freshness", but questioned the value of her reproducing past songs, saying that he "can’t imagine even so that I'd lay out money for the re-recordings". Commercial performance. In the United States, "Love Story (Taylor's Version)" sold 10,000 digital downloads and garnered 5.8 million on-demand streams in its first day of release. While not actively promoted to radio , the version drew 144 plays across 89 radio stations for a total of 777,000 audience impressions. With 25,000 sales and 13.7 million streams, "Love Story (Taylor's Version)" landed atop the US Hot Country Songs chart, giving Swift her eighth number-one single and first number-one debut on the chart; it marked her first chart-topper since "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" (2012). She became the first artist to lead the chart in the 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s, and the second artist in history to send both the original and re-recorded version of a song to  the top spot, after Dolly Parton with "I Will Always Love You". Elsewhere, "Love Story (Taylor's Version)" topped Digital Song Sales (Swift's record-extending 22nd number one), Country Digital Song Sales (record-extending 15th number one), and Country Streaming Songs charts. The song debuted and peaked at number 11 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, marking her 129th entry on the chart—the most entries ever amongst women. Credits and personnel. Album version Elvira Remix