Love Story

Love Story is a song written and recorded by Taylor Swift. She produced the song with Nathan Chapman. It was released on September 12, 2008 by Big Machine Records, as the lead single from Swift's second studio album, Fearless.

It was written about a love interest of Swift's who was not popular among her family and friends. Because of the scenario, Swift related to the plot of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (1597) and used it as a source of inspiration to compose the song.

However, she replaced the play's original tragic conclusion with a happy ending. It is a midtempo song with a dreamy soprano voice, while the melody continually builds. The lyrics are from the perspective of Juliet.

The song received widespread critical praise with critics complimenting Swift's writing style and the song's catchiness. It was a massive commercial success, selling over 18 million copies worldwide, therefore establishing itself among the best-selling singles of all time. In the United States, the song peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold over 9 million paid digital downloads, becoming Swift's best-selling single to date and was once the best-selling download by a female country solo artist. It is also one of the best-selling singles in the United States and it was once the best-selling digital country single of all time there. The single was certified 8× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Internationally, "Love Story" became Swift's first number one single in Australia, followed by "Shake It Off" in 2014. The song has been certified 7x platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). The song is one of the best-selling singles worldwide, with worldwide sales of more than 15 million units by 2010.

The song's accompanying music video was directed by Trey Fanjoy, who directed the majority of Swift's prior videos. The video is 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 in a prior era. "Love Story" was promoted through numerous live performances. The song was included on all of Swift's headlining tours, the Fearless Tour (2009–10), the Speak Now World Tour (2011–12), The Red Tour (2013–14), The 1989 World Tour (2015) and the Reputation Stadium Tour (2018). "Love Story" has been covered by several artists, including Joe McElderry and Forever the Sickest Kids.

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 continued their relationship, but then separated because it was hard for them to see each other. To Swift, the song 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.

Music video[]

The accompanying music video for "Love Story" was directed by Trey Fanjoy, who previously directed the videos for the singles from Taylor Swift. Swift decided to collaborate with Fanjoy once again because she had been able to balance both of their ideas for music videos, something Swift appreciated deeply. The video is a period piece that draws influence from the Medieval, Renaissance, and Regency eras. Swift had previously desired to film a period piece music video because of its distinctiveness from modern videos and videos she had filmed. When writing the song, she envisioned it in a prior time period, and encoded it with details accordingly. She believed "Love Story"'s plot was a timeless scenario: "I think it could happen in the 1700s, the 1800s, or 2008." Thus, she searched for a timeless quality in demeanor of her love interest. 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. Swift then looked through his pictures, and concluded he was suitable for the music video. Gaston fulfilled the requirements Swift had set out, describing him as a "Prince Charming that could've been alive in the 1800s." However, because Gaston was competing on Nashville Star, he was unable to participate in the music video. Gaston was eventually eliminated and Swift contacted him immediately to film the video. Swift was very impressed by Gaston's acting skills: "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."

A castle was chosen for the video's setting. Personnel researched numerous castles in the United States and were unable to locate one in sufficient condition for filming. They had considered traveling to Europe to find a castle, but were then informed about a castle south of Nashville, Tennessee. Named Castle Gwynn, a castle that is part of the Tennessee Renaissance Festival, both located in Arrington, Tennessee, it was built in 1973 and chosen as the video's setting. Wardrobe for the video was supplied by Jacquard Fabrics, excluding Swift's dress for the balcony scene. The dress was designed by Sandi Spika with inspiration and suggestions from Swift. "She loves to put her input in her dresses", stated Spika. The two had discussed the dress two months prior to the filming of the video. Accentuates were made on the video set. 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 set, someone had replaced the playback CD with a high-pitch, altered version of the song. As a result, Swift lent the crew her iPod to play the original track. While filming another scene, sunset was about to occur and, therefore, the process was executed rather rapidly. For the scene, Fanjoy suggested a kiss between Swift and Gaston, but Swift refused to because she believed it would make for a sweeter moment. On the second day, scenes at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee and at a ballroom were filmed. Swift learned the choreography for the latter 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 in 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.

Track listing[]

Promo CD single / digital download
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Love Story"	3:57

Pop Mix digital download
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Love Story" (Pop Mix)	3:53

US CD single
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Love Story" (US Pop Mix)	3:53
2.	"Love Story"	3:57

AUS / EU CD single
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Love Story"	3:57
2.	"Love Story" (Digital Dog Radio Mix)	3:11

UK CD single
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Love Story"	3:57
2.	"Beautiful Eyes"	2:56
3.	"Love Story" (Digital Dog Radio Mix)	3:11

UK digital download Remix Bundle
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Love Story" (Digital Dog Remix)	5:58
2.	"Love Story" (J Stax Club Mix)	5:28

UK Stripped Performance single
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Love Story" (Stripped)	3:42

GER CD single
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Love Story"	3:57
2.	"Beautiful Eyes"	2:56
3.	"Love Story" (Digital Dog Radio Mix)	3:11
4.	"Love Story" (Music Video)	3:54

The Remixes Maxi-CD single
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Love Story" (Digital Dog Remix)	5:59
2.	"Love Story" (Digital Dog Radio Mix)	3:11
3.	"Love Story" (Digital Dog Dub)	5:38
4.	"Love Story" (J Stax Club Mix)	5:29
5.	"Love Story" (J Stax Radio Mix)	3:42
6.	"Love Story" (Album Version)	3:57

Lyrics[]

We were both young when I first saw you
I close my eyes and the flashback starts
I'm standing there
On a balcony in summer air

See the lights, see the party, the ball gowns
See you make your way through the crowd
And say hello
Little did I know

That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles
And my daddy said, "Stay away from Juliet"
And I was crying on the staircase
Begging you please don't go
And I said

Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone
I'll be waiting, all there's left to do is run
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess
It's a love story, baby, just say yes

So I sneak out to the garden to see you
We keep quiet, 'cause we're dead if they knew
So close your eyes
Escape this town for a little while

'Cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter
And my daddy said stay away from Juliet
But you were everything to me
I was begging you please don't go
And I said

Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone
I'll be waiting, all there's left to do is run
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess
It's a love story, baby, just say yes

Romeo, save me, they're trying to tell me how to feel
This love is difficult, but it's real
Don't be afraid, we'll make it out of this mess
It's a love story, baby, just say yes

Oh, oh

I got tired of waiting
Wondering if you were ever coming around
My faith in you was fading
When I met you on the outskirts of town
And I said

Romeo, save me, I've been feeling so alone
I keep waiting for you but you never come
Is this in my head, I don't know what to think
He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring and said

Marry me, Juliet, you'll never have to be alone
I love you and that's all I really know
I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress
It's a love story, baby, just say yes

Oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh

'Cause we were both young when I first saw you

External Links[]

Music video

Music Hub