You Belong with Me
"You Belong with Me" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. The song was written by Swift and Liz Rose and produced by Nathan Chapman and Swift. It was released on April 18, 2009, by Big Machine Records as the third single from Swift's second studio album, Fearless. Swift was inspired to write "You Belong with Me" after overhearing a male friend of hers arguing with his girlfriend through a phone call; she continued to develop a story line afterward. The song contains many pop music elements and its lyrics have Swift desiring an out-of-reach love interest.
The song won Favorite song at the 2010 Kids' Choice Awards, and received nominations at the 2010 Grammy Awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. "You Belong with Me" enjoyed commercial success as well; it became a top ten hit in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. In the United States, the song became Swift's highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100 at the time and has become Swift's third best-selling single. It managed to gain the largest crossover radio audience since Faith Hill's "Breathe" did in 2000. The single was certified 7× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The song is one of the best-selling singles worldwide, with worldwide sales of more than 7 million units.
The song's accompanying music video was directed by Roman White. The video featured Swift portraying two characters, a nerd and a popular girl, while American actor Lucas Till portrayed the male lead. The video's plot centers on the protagonist secretively loving the male lead, although he has a girlfriend. The video won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, but during Swift's acceptance speech, rapper Kanye West interrupted, protesting in support of Beyoncé. The incident caused a reaction in the media, with many coming to Swift's defense. The song was performed live at numerous venues, including the 2009–10 Fearless Tour, where it was the opening number. It has been covered by various artists, including Butch Walker and Selena Gomez & the Scene, and parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic.
Background
Swift became inspired to write "You Belong with Me" after she overheard a male friend of hers speaking to his girlfriend on the phone. He acted defensive as his girlfriend yelled at him, and said to her, "No, baby...I had to get off the phone really quickly... I tried to call you right back... Of course I love you. More than anything! Baby, I’m so sorry." Out of the sympathy she felt towards him in the situation, Swift developed a concept for a song. In a writing session with co-writer Liz Rose, Swift explained the situation along with her idea and conceived the song's opening line, "You’re on the phone with your girlfriend / she’s upset / she's going off about something that you said." Together, they developed a story line, which described Swift being in love with the male friend and her having the desire for him to break up with his current girlfriend for her. Swift described the song's concept as "basically about wanting someone who is with this girl who doesn't appreciate him at all. Basically like 'girl-next-door-itis.' You like this guy who you have known for your whole life, and you know him better than she does but somehow the popular girl gets the guy every time." Swift recalled, "It was really fun for us to write the line, 'She wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts'." "You Belong with Me" was first released as a promotional single from Fearless on November 4, 2008, as part of Countdown to Fearless, an exclusive campaign by the iTunes Store; the song was then released as the third single from Fearless on April 18, 2009.Composition
"You Belong with Me" is a country pop song with a length of three minutes and 52 seconds. According to Kate Kiefer of Paste magazine, it is "a straight-up pop song." The song is set in common time and has a moderate tempo of 130 beats per minute. It is written in the key of F major and Swift's vocals spans a little below two octaves, from F#3 to C#5. Swift hints at her country music background in the banjo-inflected introduction of the song. Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly felt Swift's vocals were light and twangy while the melody was "lilting". It follows the chord progression F –C–Gm-B. The instrumentation consists of clucking banjos alongside new wave electric guitars.The lyrics to "You Belong with Me" alternate between narrative modes, where she speaks of herself, a male friend whom she has an unrequited crush on, and his girlfriend. Greenblatt described Swift's role as a storyteller, the song being a narrative set to music, which describes concerning about love and boys "just very hard to catch".
Craig Rosen of The Hollywood Reporter believes "You Belong with Me"'s plot is "confessional" and regards scenarios themed with high school, while Swift "is the girl next door who's had her heart broken and takes refuge in music". Lucy Davies of the BBC noted, "Swift deals in the prosaic imagery of high school boys". In one verse, Swift contrasts herself with her friend's girlfriend and states, "She wears high heels, I wear sneakers / She's cheer captain, I'm on the bleachers", which Davies interpreted as the song's protagonist feeling envy towards cheerleaders, in particular, the one dating her male friend. In the choruses, Swift attempts "to persuade some boy to come to his senses and submit to her everygirl charms".
Critical reception
Sean Dooley of About.com labeled "You Belong with Me" as one of the "best songs on Fearless", while Johnny Davis of The Observer believed some parts of the song "may needle British ears", although he felt that it was better than single releases by pop singer Hilary Duff. Lucy Davies of the BBC was not impressed by the song's theme being similar to those of other songs on Fearless or on her eponymous debut album, Taylor Swift. She opined that "You Belong with Me"'s "lyrical palette has few colours and it's repetitive". Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine said, "'You Belong with Me' isn't her best-written song by a long shot, but it's hard to fault its construction." Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone commented, "It's hard not to be won over by the guilelessness".A Times Editor review from The St. Petersburg Times also described it as sounding similar to other hits: "She hankers for a boy who either doesn't love her back or wants to ditch this small town." Josh Love of The Village Voice thought "preternatural wisdom and inclusiveness" shined through the lyrics and theme of "You Belong with Me"; Love also mentioned that it was one of Fearless
In 2020, "You Belong With Me" was ranked at number-one on Teen Vogue's "91 Best Songs About Unrequited Love" list.
Awards and nominations
At the 52nd Grammy Awards, "You Belong with Me" received nominations for three awards. The song received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Song of the Year but lost to Beyoncé's "Single Ladies ", for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year but lost to Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody", and for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance but lost to Beyoncé's "Halo". "You Belong with Me" won Favorite Song at the 2010 Kids Choice Awards and was nominated for Song of the Year at the 45th Academy of Country Music Awards, but lost to Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now". Although "You Belong with Me" did not receive an award for any of the nominations it received at the 52nd Grammy Awards, Swift did win album of the year for Fearless, which the song was a part of.Chart performance
North America
Upon its release as a promotional single, on the week ending November 22, 2008, "You Belong with Me" debuted at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 due to sales of 172,000 digital downloads, tying her with the Jonas Brothers for most top 20 debuts in 2008, a record which she later beat; the song fell from the Billboard Hot 100 in the following week. Following its single release, the song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 87 on the week ending May 16, 2009. "You Belong with Me" moved to number three on the Billboard Hot 100 on the week ending August 15, 2009, thus making the song Swift's second highest-charting effort, surpassing her previous second best-charting effort "Love Story", which peaked at number four in January 2009. Driven by non-country radio airplay, the song established the largest crossover radio audience since Faith Hill's "Breathe". The following week, it peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, being blocked at the top spot by The Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling". It spent 16 weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, and 50 weeks on the chart in total. The song is one of 13 songs from Fearless charted within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, breaking the record for the most top forty entries from a single album. The single was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments exceeding 4 million copies. As of July 2019, "You Belong with Me" has sold 4.9 million copies in the United States."You Belong With Me" became Swift's first song to reach Radio Songs summit with 117 million all-format audience impressions. It also became the first country crossover single to rule Radio Songs since Billboard began incorporating Nielsen BDS-monitored data in 1990. It stayed at number one for two consecutive weeks. On Hot Country Songs, the single debuted at number 32. On the week-ending June 13, 2009, it jumped from number 13 to 10 in the chart, scoring Swift's eighth consecutive top 10 hit. "You Belong With Me" became Swift's fourth number-one song on Hot Country Songs after it reached the summit on the week-ending August 22, 2009. It stayed on the top for two weeks and fell at number six afterwards. The single charted in Hot Country Songs for a total of 20 weeks. On Pop Songs, it debuted at number 40. It jumped at number 26 of the following week and on its fifth week, on the week-ending July 25, 2009, it entered the top 10 at number 10. It reached its peak at number two of the week-ending September 5, 2009 and held from the top spot by Black Eyed Peas' I Gotta Feeling for five weeks. It also reach the top spot on Adult Contemporary for 14 weeks while reaching number two in Adult Pop Songs.
In Canada, "You Belong with Me" entered at number 84. It jumped at the top 10 at number nine and peaked at number three for three non-consecutive weeks. It charted in Canada for 45 weeks. It also reached number one on Canadian Country Radio after only 11 weeks at radio. It was also certified double platinum by Music Canada for sales of 160,000 digital downloads.
Europe and Oceania
"You Belong with Me" debuted at number 99 on the week ending July 18, 2009 on the UK Singles Chart. It reached its peak in the United Kingdom at number 30 on the week ending September 26, 2009. In Ireland, it peaked at number 12 and spent a total of six weeks on the chart. In mainland Europe, "You Belong with Me" peaked at number 61 on the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles Chart, and number 32 in Denmark. "You Belong with Me" experienced similar commercial outcomes throughout the rest of Europe; it became a top 50 hit in Sweden."You Belong with Me" was a success in Australia and New Zealand. On the week ending May 24, 2009, the song entered in Australia at number 50. On the week ending July 5, 2009, the song reached its peak at number five, a position it maintained on for three non-consecutive weeks. "You Belong with Me" was placed at number 88 on the decade-end Austrian Singles Chart. It was certified double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association for shipments exceeding 140,000 copies. On the week ending May 25, 2009, "You Belong with Me" debuted at number 28 in New Zealand and, after two weeks of ascended positions, it peaked at number five. The single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand for shipments exceeding 15,000 copies.
Music video
The song's accompanying music video was directed by Roman White. In the video, Swift portrays both the protagonist and antagonist, which she respectively described as "the nerd, who is pining away for this guy that she can't have" and "the popular girl." Swift described the popular girl's persona as "horrible and scary and intimidating and perfect". Her love interest is portrayed by American actor Lucas Till; Swift met Till while acting on the set of in April 2008. She later asked him to act in the video, as she was intrigued by his "cool look", embodying a "dreamy guy". In regards to his acting on the video, Swift said, "He's absolutely perfect for the part and really fun to be around, too." According to her, the video's plot is "charming"; she also said that, "the whole video, I'm just sitting there pining away, wishing I could be in her position." In regards to the video's conclusion, White explained that Swift "becomes who she really is", while Swift thought it was a happy ending. Swift commented, "One of my favorite things about this video is that there wasn't a standard performance scene. This video was pretty much all story line and I'm narrating it in the moment, basically narrating while all this is happening around me."The video was shot in two days in Gallatin and Hendersonville, Tennessee. On the first day of filming, Swift used a body double in order for both Swift, as the protagonist and antagonist, to appear in one shot. In a scene where she appeared dancing, White replaced Swift's routine with one having no rhythm; she recalled, "It was some of the most fun I'd had in a long time, just freaking out and doing the dumbest moves." On the second day, they first filmed a prom scene and, lastly, the football game, both being filmed at Pope John Paul II High School. The school supplied many students as extras, including football players, band members, cheerleaders and students. The final prom scene used the school's decorations for its real prom the next night. When filming for a touchdown, Till was unable to catch the ball, furthering the length of the shoot. "You put a lot of good solid effort in it and it looks good," Swift stated about filming.
The video commences with Till arguing with his girlfriend through a phone call. As soon as Swift, as the protagonist, notices, they begin to communicate by holding up signs through their adjoining bedroom windows. Till closes his curtains, and Swift holds up a sign saying, "I love you". As the song's chorus approaches, Swift starts to sing and dance in front of a mirror, changing to different clothing multiple times reflecting various high school cliques including a goth, a hippie, and a skater. Afterward, Swift is sitting in a bench while reading a book. Till arrives and the two talk. Then, Swift, as the antagonist, arrives in a red convertible car and Till gets in it; Swift, the antagonist, kisses him and gives a hostile look towards the protagonist. Suddenly, the antagonist Swift is seen cheerleading at a football game while Swift's other persona is in the bleachers, performing in the school band. After scoring the winning touchdown, Till moves toward his girlfriend and finds her flirting with a teammate, resulting in a heated argument which results in their breakup. Meanwhile, Swift the protagonist stares in amazement. Back looking at each other through their bedroom windows, Till and Swift again communicate through signs. Till asks Swift the protagonist if she was attending prom and she responds, "no, studying". Swift, however, notices Till has a dejected expression as he leaves, and she changes her mind. Shortly after, Swift is seen entering prom with a white dress, no longer looking like a nerd, while all her peers stare in amazement. When Till spots her, he walks towards her and Swift the antagonist, in a red dress, attempts to stop him, but he ignores her. Ending the video, Till and Swift reveal folded signs saying "I love you" and kiss while Swift the antagonist stares at them in anger.
The video deals with themes such as fitting in and staying true to oneself. As of January 2020, the video has over 1 billion views on YouTube, making it the first country music video on the site that reached that milestone.
Video reception
The video premiered on May 2, 2009, on CMT. Chris Ryan of MTV commented, "'You Belong With Me' was a teen rom-com wrapped up in a music video, wherein Taylor plays two roles. See Dooley of About.com believed Swift worked "doubly hard", playing two roles. A Times Editor review from The St. Petersburg Times compared the large glasses Swift wore to those of Clark Kent. Michael Deacon of The Daily Telegraph felt the video suited the song, "in that they’re equally sappy and dull".At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, the video won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video. During Swift's acceptance speech, rapper Kanye West interrupted her, grabbing her microphone and stating, "Yo Taylor, I'm really happy for you and I'ma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time", regarding Knowles' video for "Single Ladies ". According to Jayson Rodríguez of MTV News, Knowles "looked on from the crowd, stunned". Later in the evening, during her acceptance speech for winning the MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year, Knowles told about her first experience winning her first Video Music Award with Destiny's Child and how much it meant to her. She then called Swift from backstage to complete her acceptance speech. Numerous critics, celebrities, and fans criticized West's actions, including the President of the United States, Barack Obama, who called West a "jackass". At first, West made no effort in contacting Swift, but he later issued an apology, which Swift accepted. The video was nominated for Video of the Year at the 45th Academy of Country Music Awards. At the 2010 CMT Music Awards, the video received nominations for "Video of the Year" and "Female Video of the Year", but lost to Carrie Underwood's "Cowboy Casanova" and Miranda Lambert's "White Liar", respectively. At the 2010 MuchMusic Video Awards, the video was nominated for the MuchMusic Video Award for Best International Artist Video and the, but lost to Miley Cyrus' video for "Party in the U.S.A." and Adam Lambert's video for "Whataya Want From Me", respectively.
Accolades
Live performances
Swift's first televised performance of "You Belong with Me" was at a free outdoor concert on May 29, 2009, broadcast by The Today Show. Following promotion for the song, she performed it on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Studio 330 Sessions, at the 2009 CMA Music Festival, at the 2009 CMT Music Awards, and at the 2009 V Festival, in the summer of 2009. Swift performed "You Belong with Me" at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards on September 13, 2009, the same day in which Kanye West interrupted her acceptance speech. She began the performance in a subway station, dressed in a brown trench coat and black beanie, and continued it in a subway, taking off the trench coat and revealing a red cocktail dress. Once the subway docked at a stop, Swift completed the performance atop a yellow taxi cab. Swift later performed the song on The View and Saturday Night Live. In the fall of 2009 and winter of 2009 through 2010, Swift commenced promotion for "You Belong with Me" countries outside of the United States; she performed the song on the United Kingdom channel GMTV, the Australian charity concert Sydney Sound Relief, and the Japanese talk show The Sukkiri Morning Show.Swift performed a medley, which included "You Belong with Me" at the 52nd Grammy Awards. Wearing casual white blouse and black skinny jeans, Swift performed "Today Was a Fairytale" and then announced, "Its a fairly tale and an honor to share the stage with Stevie Nicks". Following, the two performed a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon". Swift then grabbed her acoustic guitar for the third and final part in her medley, jumping into a twangy version of "You Belong with Me". Nicks stood back, tapping her tambourine and nodding, every so often stepping up to the microphone to sing with Swift. Eric Ditzian of MTV News was disappointed at Swift's and Nicks' harmonies, but said the two "made for a compelling twosome". The performance followed much backlash in regards to Swift's off key singing, which caused Scott Borchetta, CEO of Big Machine Records, to issue a statement defending the performance.
"You Belong with Me" is performed as the opening number on all 2009 and 2010 dates of Swift's first headlining tour, the Fearless Tour. Before Swift or the dancers entered the stage, a video played on the overhead screens; it showed various celebrities, including Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Faith Hill, Lucas Till and Swift herself, sharing their definitions of the word "fearless". Following the video's completion, the band and backup dancers appeared, dressed in yellow cheerleading uniforms. Swift, dressed in a white marching band uniform, then emerges from the bottom of the stage and commences singing. Swift roams around the stage singing and backup dancers perform cheerleading routines while projections of cheerleaders are shown on the stage. Midway through the performance, the backup dancers removed Swift's marching band uniform to reveal a sparkly cocktail dress; she is then handed a rhinestoned acoustic guitar and finishes the performance. Craig Rosen of The Hollywood Reporter believed Swift's performance of "You Belong with Me", coupled with the performance of "Should've Said No", at the May 22, 2009, concert in Los Angeles at the Staples Center made the show a success. The song was also performed on the Speak Now World Tour and The Red Tour., but was not featured on the regular set list for The 1989 World Tour, making it the tour set list to do so. However, in several venues, she performed the song, acoustically, in place of "You Are in Love". In 2018, "You Belong With Me" returned to the regular set list during the Reputation Stadium Tour as part of a medley with "Style" and "Love Story".
Cover versions and media usage
In November 2009, American rock singer Butch Walker covered "You Belong with Me" for a digital single release. James Christopher Monger of Allmusic said the cover was infused "with the same karaoke glee that fueled previous installments". Bill Lamb of About.com described the composition as a "folksy almost honky-tonk sound" and "a bit more country than Taylor Swift's original". According to Mikael Wood of Billboard, the cover's instrumentation is fueled by banjo; he claimed it was an "online success". Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine described the cover's arrangement as "fantastic" and, to him, it "emphasized the terrific melody and structure that are the song's real selling points". After hearing Walker's cover, Swift posted via her official Twitter account, "I'm losing my MIND listening to it! Blown away." Band Hero for consoles features "You Belong with Me" as one of sixty-five songs from "mainstream acts".A parody entitled "TMZ" was included on "Weird Al" Yankovic's studio album Alpocalypse. A music video for the parody, directed by Bill Plympton, was filmed in October 2010, and was included on the album's DVD. The music video was released on "Weird Al"'s Vevo on June 24, 2011.
Scenes from the song’s music video—particularly those featuring Swift and her neighbor communicating in their windows by sharing handwritten messages on notepads—became an Internet meme during the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020 when people were instructed to practice social distancing.
Track listings
- US digital download
- "You Belong with Me" – 3:52
- 2-Track CD single
- "You Belong with Me" – 3:52
- "Love Story" – 3:54
- AUS / EU Promo single
- "You Belong with Me" – 3:54
- 2-Track CD single 2
- "You Belong with Me" – 3:52
- "You Belong with Me" – 3:54
- US digital Pop Mix
- "You Belong with Me" – 3:47
Charts