You Belong with Me
"You Belong with Me" | |
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Song |
"You Belong With Me" is a song co-written and recorded by American country artist Taylor Swift. It is the third single from her second album, Fearless. The song was originally released as a digital single, peaking at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 based on downloads. In April 2009, it was officially released to radio, debuting at #32 on the Hot Country Songs charts on the chart week of May 2, 2009. The song is Swift's eighth top 10 country hit. This song won the award for "Best Female Video" at the 2009 Video Music Awards. After the official full release, the song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at #2, becoming her highest charting single, as well as her fourth top 10 hit, eighth top 20 hit, and 13th top 40 hit. "You Belong With Me" was the first song in over nine years to be in the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs charts simultaneously (the last one being Faith Hill's 2000 single "Breathe").
The song also distinguished itself by being the first country song ever to top the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay since the list began incorporating Nielsen BDS-monitored data in 1990. [6]
On December 2, 2009, the song became nominated for three Grammy Awards including Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the 52nd Grammy Awards.
Content
"You Belong With Me" is a song in which the young protagonist, singing in first person, has intense romantic feelings for a male friend who is involved with another woman.
Swift commented about the song's background: "I came into the writing session with Liz Rose and said... "I've got this idea. I had overheard a friend of mine talking to his girlfriend and he was completely on the defensive saying, '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.' She was just yelling at him! I felt so bad for him at that moment. So I came up with the first line 'You're on the phone with your girlfriend, she's upset, going off about something that you said', and I ran that into the story line that I'm in love with him and he should be with me instead of her. It just became this whole picture. It was really fun for us to write the line, 'She wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts, She's cheer captain, and I'm on the bleachers'".[7]
Taylor explained to MTV News: "This song is 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 for your whole life, and you know him better than she does but somehow the popular girl gets the guy every time."
Critical reception
Matt Bjorke of Roughstock gave the song a mostly favorable review. Although he said that its production was "not remotely country" except for a prominent banjo line, he still called it a "well-written teen-centric lyric that any girl who isn't 'the pretty one' will absolutely relate to."[8] Dan Milliken of Country Universe similarly said that the song was not suitable for country radio. Nonetheless, he gave it an A- rating, saying that its melody was "perhaps her catchiest yet" and that Swift gave a credible vocal performance.[9]
Tracklist
- Promo CD
- "You Belong With Me" (Album Version) - 3:52
- "You Belong With Me" (Instrumental Version) - 3:50
- Australian CD Single
- "You Belong With Me" (Album Version) - 3:52
- "Love Story" (Stripped) - 3:40
- Australian Digital Single
- "You Belong With Me" (Radio Mix) - 3:51
Music video
Swift plays a typical girl next door, as well as the popular girlfriend (wearing a brunette wig) of a high school football star (Lucas Till). Swift and Till have presumably grown up together communicating through their bedroom windows by writing messages on notepads. At the beginning of the video, Swift and Till are discussing his recent fight with this girlfriend (over the phone), when she writes, "I love you." When she attempts to show him the message, he has already closed his curtains. She starts singing to the mirror and dancing, and Till opens the curtains again, laughing warmly when he sees Swift. Later, they are sitting on a street bench talking when the boy's popular girlfriend, a cheerleader, pulls up in her car. She kisses him in front of Swift, and gives her a dirty look, before pushing him away. At a football game, Swift watches as Till catches the game-winning touchdown. He walks to his girlfriend, only to catch her flirting with his teammate and telling him, "You were awesome." Swift's character watches from her position in the school's marching band. The following night, the boy informs her that he's heading to the school dance and asks if she, too, will be attending. Swift declines at first but ultimately decides to go after seeing Till's sad face and his message, "Wish you were!" She shows up and the school dance in a Cinderella-esque moment. Till makes his way over to her, shocked, despite the protest of his ex-girlfriend. Swift pulls out the "I love you" note she wrote previously, and Till pulls out his own note - which also reads "I Love You." They share a sweet kiss after the revelation of both notes.
"You Belong with Me" debuted at #13 on CMT's Top Twenty Countdown for the week of May 8, 2009, and has peaked at #1 for 11 consecutive weeks (as of August 21, 2009).[10]
Awards
The music video won the Best Female Video at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards,[11] making Swift the first country artist in history to win a moonman.[12] During her acceptance speech, Swift was interrupted by Kanye West, which caused a media stir.[13] Swift was invited back on stage to finish her acceptance speech by singer Beyoncé Knowles, who won "Video of the Year" for her "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", instead of Knowles delivering a speech for her win.[14]
Chart performance
Watch now "You Belong with Me" first charted on the Billboard Hot 100 and Pop 100 charts in 2008 based on downloads after its release as a digital single. Upon the song's release to country radio in April 2009, it debuted at #32 on the Hot Country Songs chart dated for May 2, 2009. It re-entered the Hot 100 at #87 on the chart week of May 16. As of August 12, 2009, it has reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and become her highest charting single. On the chart week of August 22, 2009, it became her fourth number one country hit in the U.S (and fifth overall). The song reached number one on the ARC Weekly Top 40, replacing "I Gotta Feeling" by The Black Eyed Peas. It has also become the highest charting country single on the Hot 100 since Carrie Underwood's "Inside Your Heaven" reached #1 in 2005. As of October 21, 2009, "You Belong With Me" has sold 2,167,000 in the U.S.[15]In the UK, "You Belong with Me" first appeared in the top 100 singles at #99 in mid-July 2009. Over a period of 11 weeks, it has since climbed to #30, following the 'Best Female Video' awards at the Video Music Awards in 2009, making it Swift's second UK Top 30 hit and her second highest charting single behind only "Love Story" at #2.[16]
Chart (2008-2009) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian ARIA Singles Chart[17] | 5 |
Canadian Adult Contemporary Singles | 3 |
Canadian Radio & Records Country Singles | 1 |
Canadian Hot 100[18] | 3 |
Irish Singles Chart | 12 |
New Zealand Singles Chart[19] | 5 |
UK Singles Chart | 30 |
Swedish Singles Chart | 47 |
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 2 |
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[20] | 1 |
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs | 1 |
U.S. Billboard Pop Songs[21] | 2 |
References
- ^ R&R::Going For Adds::Country
- ^ http://www.radio1.gr/music/forthcoming_uk_singles.htm
- ^ [1]
- ^ Taylor Swift - Fearless - Cut by Cut, Bigmachinerecords.com
- ^ http://www.rianz.org.nz/rianz/chart.asp
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/news/taylor-swift-climbs-hot-100-black-eyed-peas-1004015743.story#/news/taylor-swift-climbs-hot-100-black-eyed-peas-1004015743.story
- ^ Taylor Swift - Fearless - Cut By Cut , bigmachinerecords.com
- ^ Bjorke, Matt (2009-04-13). "Taylor Swift — [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDZe3vWWxAA "You Belong With Me"]". Roughstock. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
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- ^ Milliken, Dan (2009-04-19). "Taylor Swift — "You Belong with Me"". Country Universe. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
- ^ The video also topped the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown.MCT.com Top Twenty Countdown: May 8, 2009
- ^ http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/2009/best-female-video/
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDZe3vWWxAA
- ^ Finn, Natalie (2009-09-14). "Kanye West to "Take Some Time Off" After Taylor Swift Diss". Eonline.com. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
- ^ MTV. Accessed September 15,2009. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1621406/20090913/knowles_beyonce.jhtml
- ^ Week Ending Oct. 18, 2009: Taylor Swift's Minor Miracle. Oct 18, 2009. Retrieved Oct 21, 2009.
- ^ http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=34435
- ^ "Australia Singles Top 50". Australian Recording Industry Association. acharts.us. June 29, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
- ^ Canadian Hot 100
- ^ "New Zealand Singles Chart". 2009-06-15.
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(help) - ^ Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
- ^ "You Belong with Me - Taylor Swift". Billboard. August 2008. Retrieved October 27, 2009.
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