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The Best Day

Fearless (2008) | Fearless (Taylor's Version) [2021]

“The Best Day” track twelve on Taylor’s second studio album Fearless (2008). It is a love letter Taylor wrote to her mother, Andrea Swift. It was a Christmas gift for her, put into a music video with photos and videos from Taylor’s childhood. The re-recording of the song, “The Best Day (Taylor’s Version)”, was released on April 9, 2021, on Fearless (Taylor’s Version).

Background

Taylor wrote “The Best Day” while she was touring with country star Brad Paisley in the summer of 2007. She saw an old picture of her and her baby brother Austin inside her tour bus that inspired her to write the lyrics, “God smiles on my little brother, inside and out he’s better than I am.”

Lyrical Theme and Music Video

Although much of Fearless is written about the challenges of love from a teenage girl’s perspective, a few songs are about life lessons and family love. Taylor dedicated “The Best Day” to her family for their support of her music career, the emphasis being her mother. She then edited an accompanying home video without telling her mom because she wanted to surprise her on Christmas that year:

«I wrote this song on the road and didn’t tell my mom about it. I decided that I was going to keep it a secret and give it to her as a surprise for Christmas. I wrote it in the summer and then recorded it secretly with the band in the studio. After it was done, I synched the song up to all these home videos of her, and my family. She didn’t even realize it was me singing until halfway through the song! She didn’t have any idea that I could possibly write and record a song without her knowing about it. When she finally got it, she just started bawling her eyes out.»

Taylor Swift

In an interview with Taste of Country, Taylor talked about how special her mom is to her: “She would just take me on these adventures and we would drive around and go to towns we’d never seen before. Those adventures and those days of just running away from my problems — you’re not supposed to run away from your problems, but when you’re 13 and your friends won’t talk to you and they move when you sit down at the lunch table, and your mom lets you run from those problems, I think it’s a good thing…my mom was my escape in a lot of ways.”

Live Performances

Taylor first performed “The Best Day” during the first two concerts of her “Fearless Tour” in Evansville, Indiana (April 2009), but she had to drop the touching song from the setlist as her mother burst into tears backstage every time she heard it. Andrea explained, “She had to drop it from the set because I kept breaking down.” However, when Taylor has a show on Mother’s Day she always performs “The Best Day”, the first time in Moline, Illinois (May 2010), again as part of the “Fearless Tour”. She sang the song again as part of an acoustic segment on the Cleveland, Ohio, concert of “The RED Tour” in April 2013. During her show in Santa Clara, California, in May 2018 as part of her “reputation Stadium Tour“, Taylor again dedicated it to her mother. Most recently, she sang “The Best Day” during her “The Eras Tour” (2023-2024) show in Philadelphia on May 14, 2023. During the tour’s final weekend on December 6, 2024, she paired the song with “Never Grow Up” (2010) in Vancouver. Her parents both attended said show.

Critical Reception

James Reed of The Boston Globe called “The Best Day” the best song on Fearless, opining that while on first listen, the song is understated enough to be unnoticed, “after an entire album of wide-open choruses, it’s refreshing to hear Swift tell her story simply. If the melody doesn’t stick in your mind, the message at least speaks to the heart”. In a Billboard 2017 retrospective of Fearless, Jennifer Keishin Armstrong wrote that storytelling is used to “tear-jerking, emotionally manipulative effect” on “The Best Day”, and that Taylor “looks back at scenes from just five years earlier with the nostalgia, wisdom and sap of a 40-year-old”, despite her being aged only 18 when writing the song. Slant Magazine‘s Jonathan Keefe called “The Best Day” one of the most charming songs on Fearless, comparing it to George Strait’s 2000 song of the same name.

Taylor's Version

The re-recording of the song, “The Best Day (Taylor’s Version)” was released on April 9, 2021. According to Taylor, when she was recording the new vocals for the track she had to stop singing multiple times. “My emotions have overtaken me! I’m 31 years old and I’m soft.”

Accolades

The music video for “The Best Day (Taylor’s Version)” won “Best Family Feature” at the 2021 CMT Awards. Accepting the honor Twitter, Taylor wrote: “I LOVE YOU MOM.”

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
I’m five years old, it’s getting cold, I’ve got my big coat on
I hear your laugh and look up smiling at you, I run and run
Past the pumpkin patch and the tractor rides, look now the sky is gold
I hug your legs and fall asleep on the way home

[Chorus 1]
I don’t know why all the trees change in the fall
I know you’re not scared of anything at all
Don’t know if Snow White’s house is near or far away
But I know I had the best day with you today

[Verse 2]
I’m thirteen now and don’t know how my friends could be so mean
I come home crying and you hold me tight and grab the keys
And we drive and drive until we found a town far enough away
And we talk and window shop till I forgot all their names

[Chorus 2]
I don’t know who I’m gonna talk to now at school
But I know I’m laughing on the car ride home with you
Don’t know how long it’s gonna take to feel ok
But I know I had the best day with you today

[Bridge]
I have an excellent father
His strength is making me stronger
God smiles on my little brother
Inside and out he’s better than I am
I grew up in a pretty house and I had space to run
And I had the best days with you

[Verse 3]
There is a video I found from back when I was three
You set up a paint set in the kitchen and you’re talking to me
It’s the age of princesses and pirate ships and the seven dwarfs
Daddy’s smart and you’re the prettiest lady in the whole wide world

[Chorus 3]
Now I know why the all the trees change in the fall
I know you were on my side, even when I was wrong
And I love you for giving me your eyes
Staying back and watching me shine and I didn’t know if you knew
So I’m taking this chance to say that I had the best day with you today