| "Love Story" | ||||
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| Single by Taylor Swift | ||||
| from the album Fearless | ||||
| Released | September 15, 2008 | |||
| Recorded | March 2008 | |||
| Studio | Blackbird (Nashville) | |||
| Genre | Country pop | |||
| Length | 3:55 | |||
| Label | Big Machine | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Taylor Swift | |||
| Producer(s) |
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| Taylor Swift singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Love Story" on YouTube | ||||
"Love Story" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released as the lead single from her second studio album, Fearless, on September 15, 2008, by Big Machine Records. Inspired by a boy who was unpopular with her family and friends, Swift wrote the song using William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet as a reference point. The lyrics narrate a troubled romance that ends with a marriage proposal, contrary to Shakespeare's tragic conclusion. Produced by Swift and Nathan Chapman, the midtempo country pop song includes a key change after the bridge and uses acoustic instruments including banjo, fiddle, mandolin, and guitar.
At the time of the song's release, music critics praised the production but deemed the literary references ineffective. In retrospect, critics have considered it one of Swift's best singles. "Love Story" peaked atop the chart in Australia, where it was certified fourteen-times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), and reached the top five on charts in Canada, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. In the United States, the single peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the first country song to reach number one on Pop Songs. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified it eight-times platinum. "Love Story" has sold over six million copies in the United States and 18 million copies worldwide.
Trey Fanjoy directed the accompanying music video, which stars Swift and Justin Gaston as lovers in a prior era. Drawing from historical periods such as the Renaissance and the Regency era, it won Video of the Year at both the Country Music Association Awards and CMT Music Awards in 2009. The song became a staple in Swift's live concerts and has been a part of the set lists in all of her headlining tours from the Fearless Tour (2009–2010) to the Eras Tour (2023–2024). Following a 2019 dispute regarding the ownership of Swift's back catalog, she re-recorded the song and released it as "Love Story (Taylor's Version)" in February 2021. The track topped the Hot Country Songs chart and made Swift the second artist after Dolly Parton to top that chart with both the original and re-recorded versions of a song.