Taylor Swift’s ‘Love Story’ Was Inspired by a Crush That Went Nowhere
Taylor Swift‘s “Love Story” is the best country love song of the 2000s, if not the best country love song ever written. Surprisingly, it was inspired by a romance that never got off of the ground. The tune includes references to two classic works of literature. One of these references doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Taylor Swift’s ‘Love Story’ has a nonsensical reference to ‘The Scarlet Letter’
During a 2009 interview with Time, Swift discussed the origin of “Love Story.” “‘Love Story’ is actually about a guy that I almost dated,” he said. “But when I introduced him to my family and my friends, they all said they didn’t like him. All of them!
“For the first time, I could relate to that Romeo-and-Juliet situation where the only people who wanted them to be together were them,” she said. “That’s the most romantic song I’ve written, and it’s not even about a person I really dated.” While “Love Story” draws a lot from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, it also includes a reference to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. The Scarlet Letter is not a romantic story, but Swift is allowed to use a little poetic license.
What Taylor Swift said about the fascination with her personal life
“Love Story” is only distantly related to Swift’s personal life. She was asked about the media’s interest in celebrities’ love lives. “I feel like people paying attention to your personal life when you’re in this position is sort of a given,” she said. “There’s nothing that I can say to make it stop. I don’t live in L.A. I live in Nashville. The paparazzi do not know where Nashville is, so I sort of have a normal life when I’m home.” As time went on, the media would only get more and more obsessed with Swift’s relationships.
Swift also revealed she used her music to cope with her heartbreak. She loved to see songs about her romantic problems hit No. 1. In her opinion, the best part of her career was watching people sing her songs back to her when she got onstage. She would only get to see more and more of that as her career went on!
How ‘Love Story’ rocked the radio waves
“Love Story” became one of the defining hits of Swift’s early years. It became her first top 10 single in the United States, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for 49 weeks. It’s still one of her most popular songs.
“Love Story” appeared on the record Fearless. It climbed to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for 11 weeks. It remained on the chart for 261 weeks. Fearless produced some of Swift’s other classic songs such as “Fearless,” “Fifteen,” “You Belong With Me,” and “White Horse.”
The “Cardigan” singer‘s music would only get more eclectic and sophisticated as time went on. However, Fearless as a whole and “Love Story” in particular encapsulate her early period in all of her innocent country-pop glory. Listening to it is like a time capsule of the highs and lows of the late 2000s.
Swift didn’t have a love story with her crush but her feelings inspired a love story for the ages.
