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If This Was A Movie

Bonus Track | Promotional Single | Speak Now (2010) | Fearless (Taylor's Version) [2021]

“If This Was A Movie” is track sixteen on the deluxe edition of Taylor’s third studio album, Speak Now (2010). She wishes for a lost love to come back to her, like he would in a movie. The re-recorded version of the song, titled “If This Was A Movie (Taylor’s Version)” was released on March 17, 2023, and is featured on The More Fearless (Taylor’s Version) Chapter EP.

Background and Lyrical Theme

Taylor wrote “If This Was A Movie” with Martin Johnson, who is the lead singer of the band Boys Like Girls. It is her only co-write on Speak Now. Previous collaborations between the pair include “You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home” from the soundtrack of Hannah Montana: The Movie and the Boys Like Girls single “Two Is Better Than One.” A recurring guitar riff moves the song along, while its chorus features simple harmonies providing backup to Taylor’s signature twang. The lyrics suggest that she had gone through a breakup a few months earlier and still hopes things could go back to how they were before: “I just want it back the way it was before/And I just wanna see you back at my front door.”

Live Performance

Taylor first performed “If This Was A Movie” during her sixth headlining concert tour, “The Eras Tour” (2023-2024), almost 13 years after its release. It was the second surprise song during her show on June 23, 2023, in Minneapolis. She performed it acoustically on piano.

Critical Reception

“If This Was A Movie” was released on the deluxe edition of Speak Now and was made a promotional single in November 2011. The song received positive reviews from music critics, with Billboard rating it 4/5 stars.

Taylor's Version

Even though “If This Was A Movie” originally appeared as a deluxe track on Speak Now, the re-recording of the song is featured as a track on the EP The More Fearless (Taylor’s Version) Chapter (2023). It is worth noting that the song was the only track on Speak Now not to be written solely by Taylor. Fans have speculated this might be the reason why it’s now being promoted as a Fearless (Taylor’s Version) song. Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) would be, therefore, entirely written by Taylor alone.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Last night I heard my own heart beating
Sounded like footsteps on my stairs
Six months gone and I’m still reachin’
Even though I know you’re not there
I was playing back a thousand memories, baby
Thinkin’ ’bout everything we’ve been through
Maybe I’ve been going back too much lately
When time stood still and I had you

[Chorus]
Come back, come back, come back to me
Like you would, you would if this was a movie
Stand in the rain outside till I came out
Come back, come back, come back to me
Like you could, you could if you just said you’re sorry
I know that we can work it out somehow
But if this was a movie you’d be here by now

[Verse 2]
I know people change and these things happen
But I remember how it was back then
Locked up in your arms and our friends are laughing
‘Cause nothing like this ever happened to them
Now I’m pacing down the hall, chasing down your street
Flashback to a night when you said to me
That nothing’s gonna change, not for me and you
Not before I knew how much I had to lose

[Bridge]
If you’re out there, if you’re somewhere, if you’re moving on
I’ve been waiting for you every day since you’ve been gone
I just want it back the way it was before
And I just wanna see you back at my front door
And I’d say

[Chorus Variation]
Come back, come back, come back to me
Like you would before you said, “It’s not that easy”
Before the fight, before I locked you out
But I’d take it all back now

[Final Chorus]
Come back, come back, come back to me
Like you would, you would if this was a movie
Stand in the rain outside till I came out
Come back, come back, come back to me
Like you could, you could if you just said you’re sorry
I know that we could work it out somehow
But if this was a movie you’d be here by now

[Outro]
You’d be here by now
It’s not the kind of ending you wanna see now
Baby, what about the ending?
Oh, I thought you’d be here by now
That you’d be here by now