THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

847-Taylor Swift-Love Story.

2008-Number 2 single.

Best Bit-At 3.18. In William Shakespeare’s version of Romeo and Juliet there is a tragic ending, but in Taylor Swift’s version, they live happily ever after.

Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13th, 1989, in West Reading, Pennsylvania, United States, her parents named her after the American singer/songwriter James Taylor (see also best songs 558.) Taylor Swift who is one of the all time best selling music artists, with worldwide record sales in excess of 200 million, can probably put her success, and longevity down to recording in several different musical genres. She began songwriting professionally at the age of 14, and in 2005 she became the youngest artist to sign with ‘Big Machine Records,’ in Nashville, Tennessee, an independent record label, distributed by the ‘Universal Music Group,’ that specialises in ‘Country,’ and ‘Pop’ artists. Her self titled debut studio Album, recorded in 2006 has been described as ‘Country,’ while her second (‘Fearless’) in 2008 is considered more ‘Country Pop.’ In 2010 she released her third studio Album ‘Speak Now,’ which incorporated ‘Rock’ influences, then ‘Red,’ in 2012, experimented with ‘Electronic’ instruments. In 2014 she released the ‘Synth Pop’ Album ‘1989,’ and in 2017 her Album ‘Reputation,’ saw her delving into ‘Hip-Hop.’ ‘Lover’ from 2019,’ is a mixture of ‘Electropop,’ and ‘Pop Rock,’ while her 2020 Album releases ‘Folklore,’ and Evermore,’ delve into the ‘Indie Folk,’ and ‘Alternative Rock’ genres. Her latest release (at the time of writing) is her 10th studio Album,’Midnights,’ which was issued in October 2022, and sees her experimenting with genres that are described as ‘Chill-Out,’ and ‘Dream Pop.’ In 2021 after a dispute with ‘Big Machine Records,’ Taylor Swift re-recorded the back catalogue that she had released on that label, and to date three of her studio Albums have been re-released as, ‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version,’) (2021) ‘Red (Taylor’s Version,’) (2021) and ‘Speak Now (Taylor’s Version,) (2023.)

The discography of Taylor Swift includes 10 studio Albums issued between 2006-2022, with the last nine all reaching Number 1 on the Billboard 200 Album chart. She has also released 58 singles as the lead artist, and a further eight as the featured artist. As the lead artist, 48 of her songs have made the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts top 40, with eight of those tracks reaching the Number 1 spot, while as the featured artist, she has charted on a further four occasions. Taylor Swift has also charted within the Hot 100 with a further 123 songs, that have never been officially released as singles, but have charted either on downloads, or Billboard radio airplay rules, these include the track ‘All Too Well,’ which was originally recorded in 2012, for the ‘Red’ Album, and then when released in 2021 on the ‘Red (Taylor’s Version’) Album, the song went all the way to Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and at 10.13 seconds, it is currently the longest song to have ever reached the top of that chart to date. In the UK, Taylor Swift has charted as the lead artist within the top 40 on 29 occasions, with two of those tracks reaching Number 1, while as the featured artist, she has had one further chart entry. She has also charted in the UK a further 15 times, within the top 40 on downloads alone, which is without an official single release.

‘Love Story’ was the first of five singles released from Taylor Swift’s second studio Album ‘Fearless,’ from November 2008, the song was written by Taylor Swift, and co-produced by Swift, and her long term collaborator Nathan Chapman. Many of Taylor Swift’s songs are based on her real life experiences, and ‘Love Story,’ is rumoured to be about her relationship with Joe Jonas of the American ‘Pop/Rock’ band the ‘Jonas Brothers.’ The pair had dated for much of 2008, with Swift’s father strongly objecting to the relationship. Taylor Swift had always been a big fan of the William Shakespeare (1564-1616) play ‘Romeo and Juliet, (1597) and likened her situation to that of those two lovers, but instead of a tragic ending like the the one in the Shakespeare play, Taylor Swift opted for a happy ending, where her Romeo asks for her hand in marriage.

Taylor Swift has spoken about ‘Love Story,’ ‘I was going through a situation like that where I could relate. I used to be in high school where you see a boyfriend every day. Then I was in a situation where it wasn’t so easy for me, and I wrote this song because I could relate to the whole Romeo and Juliet thing. I was really inspired by that story. Except for the ending. 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. I thought, why can’t you make it a happy ending and put a key change in the song, and turn it into a marriage proposal. That’s the girly in me.’

‘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.”