You Belong With Me

Taylor 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. Taylor said the following about the track on a page on Big Machine Records’ website, which has since been removed:

“I had overheard a friend of mine talking to his girlfriend and he was completely on the defensive, saying [things like] ‘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, she’s going off about something that you said,’ and I ran that into the storyline that I’m in love with him and he should be with me instead of her.” — Taylor Swift

Liz Rose has said that “You Belong With Me” was written at the very end of the recording sessions for “Fearless”:

“Taylor said, ‘I’m finishing the record on Monday. Let’s write an uptempo song.’ We wrote ‘You Belong With Me’ in one or two hours. It’s amazing to go back to the work tape and listen to it, because you wouldn’t believe the nuances that show up in the album version, too. When she’s writing something, she’s already producing in her head. She hears it all.” — Liz Rose

COMMERCIAL SUCCESS AND AWARD RECOGNITION
The song received nominations for the 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; in the United States, the song became Taylor’s highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100 at the time, at No. 2. It managed to gain the largest crossover radio audience since Faith Hill’s “Breathe” did in 2000.

The video won the MTV Video Music Award for “Best Female Video” at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, but during Taylor’s acceptance speech, rapper Kanye West interrupted, protesting in support of Beyoncé. The incident caused a reaction in the media, with many coming to Taylor’s defense. It was also the origin of a more than decade long feud between West and Taylor.

MUSIC VIDEO
The song’s accompanying music video was directed by Roman White. The video features Taylor portraying two characters, a nerd (the protagonist and narrator) and a popular girl (the antagonist and girlfriend), 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.