Beth GarrabrantTaylor Swift’s re-recorded version of “Love Story” has debuted at number-one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart — the singer’s first to do so — and enters the Billboard Hot 100 at number 11. Looking back, Taylor explains what inspired her to write that song for her 2008 album Fearless.
“‘Love Story’ is a song that I wrote when I was 17 and I think it involved some teenage angst,” Taylor said in a conversation with her record label. “I think I was mad at my parents for not letting me go on a date or something, and it also is a good example of what a hopeless romantic I was — and still am!”
For further inspiration, Taylor looked to a William Shakespeare classic…but put her own stamp on it.
“I really loved the story of Romeo and Juliet, except for the ending because that was just, like, too devastating to process,” she explains. Spoiler alert: Both Romeo and Juliet die at the end of Shakespeare’s play.
“So, I changed the ending in the song,” says Taylor. “And I’ve just ever since been so honored by the fact that people have celebrated this song so much. I feel really lucky that people responded to it the way that they did and continue to.”
“Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” is also her 129th single to appear on the Billboard Hot 100.
By Andrea Dresdale
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