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Mine

Lead Single | Speak Now (2010) | Speak Now (Taylor's Version) [2023]

“Mine” is the lead single of Taylor’s third studio album, Speak Now (2010). It tells the story of a girl whose parents’ failed marriage has caused her to take a pessimistic view on love. Over time, however, she falls for someone who convinces her to start believing in love again. The re-recording of the song, “Mine (Taylor’s Version)”, was released on July 7, 2023, on Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).

Background and Release

Taylor wrote “Mine” about her tendency to run from love after seeing many relationships end in goodbye and breakups. In an interview with Rolling Stone, she revealed that the song was specifically inspired by one of her unnamed crushes:

«This is a situation where a guy that I just barely knew put his arm around me by the water and I saw the entire relationship flash before my eyes, almost like a weird science-fiction movie. After I wrote the song, things sort of fell apart, as things so often do. And I hadn’t talked to him in a couple months. And the song came out, and that day I got an e-mail from him. And I was like, ‘Yes!’ Because that one was sort of half-confession and half-prediction or projection of what I saw.»

Taylor Swift

“Mine” was originally planned to be released on August 16, 2010, however, after the leak of an unauthorized low-quality mp3 file, Big Machine Records decided to ship it to country radio and iTunes twelve days earlier than planned on August 4, 2010. Taylor commented that “a leak is so out of my comfort zone, but it ended up good in the end. It made me so emotional that I started crying.”

Lyrical Theme

“Mine” was one of the fourteen tracks on Speak Now that was written solely by Taylor. She also co-produced the song with Nathan Chapman, who had also co-produced all of her studio albums up until that point. Regarding the lyrical theme, Taylor said:

«'Mine' is a song about somebody who's been hurt by love and has seen it fail over and over again. And isn't looking for love, but finds it. And now she has to work through the fact that she's seen all of these people get their hearts broken and she has to realize, 'This time it's worth fighting for. And maybe if we just hold on to this and work through the problems that love inevitably brings on, it could be worth it.' And I do think that about love. That if you find the right person it could be worth fighting for.»

Taylor Swift

She added: “Lately, I’ve had this bad habit of running away from love and kind of getting to a place where you’re about to commit but then you just run in the opposite direction. And this song is about the idea that I could find someone that could be the exception to that. […] Sometimes, I look back on a lot of examples that I’ve seen of love long-term and a lot of times it doesn’t work out. A lot of times there are goodbyes and people get really hurt. So I tend to be a little runaway-ish. But I’m never past hoping that at some point that could change.”

Music Video

The song’s accompanying music video was directed by Roman White who also worked with Taylor on the music videos for “Fifteen” and “You Belong With Me“. It chronicles the romantic relationship between Taylor and her love interest, played by British actor Toby Hemingway, which ends with a marriage. The music video was met with great praise from contemporary critics who deemed it as “rather sweet,” and “heartwarming.” It received the coveted “Video of the Year Award” at the CMT Music Awards 2011.

Live Performances

Taylor sang “Mine” on many occasions. On October 9, 2010, she performed an acoustic version of “Mine” during Grand Ole Opry’s 85th birthday celebration. On October 25, 2010, she sang “Mine” with two other songs from Speak Now on “Speak Now: Taylor Swift Live From New York City,” a special programme which was streamed live on CMT, MTV, VH1 and other MTV Networks in Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America to celebrate the release of her new album. “Mine” was the second song on the set for the “Speak Now World Tour” (2011-2012).

After the Speak Now era ended, “Mine” was performed as the surprise song for the concerts in Indianapolis and Saitama during “The RED Tour” (2013-2014). On December 8, 2015, Taylor dedicated an acoustic performance of the song to 17-year old Rachel Erlandsen, who had died in a car crash before she was able to attend the Australian leg of “The 1989 World Tour” in Brisbane. The song was also performed on Taylor’s “reputation Stadium Tour” in June 2018 as the surprise song for her show in Louisville. “Mine” was the second surprise song during Taylor’s show on “The Eras Tour” (2023-2024) in Nashville on May 7, 2023. She performed a mashup of “Mine” with “Starlight” (2012) in Singapore on March 2, 2024. On June 13, 2024, she played it together with “I Can See You” (2023) in Liverpool. In Toronto on November 15, 2024, she paired it with “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” (2016).

Critical Reception

Critical reception for “Mine” was mostly positive. Taylor was praised for her ability to show a mature perspective on love, although some critics called the song “formulaic” for resonating her earlier works, notably “Love Story“. Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone praised Taylor’s lyrical craftsmanship, calling the song’s couplets “You made a rebel of a careless man’s careful daughter” a “brilliant throwaway detail.”

Commercial Performance

Two days after its official release, it was estimated that “Mine” would sell approximately 350,000 digital downloads with a possible debut in the top three on the Billboard Hot 100. On the week ending August 21, 2010, the song debuted at No. 1 on the Hot Digital Songs due to 297,000 digital downloads, which led to its appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 3. This consequently made Taylor the second female artist in the history of the Hot 100 to have multiple tracks debut in the top five during a calendar year (the first being Mariah Carey). With 297,000 downloads, “Mine” became the eighth-biggest debut sales week ever for a digital song, and the fourth-best of 2010. The song also debuted at No. 26 on the Hot Country Songs on the week ending August 21, 2010, where it peaked at No. 2. “Mine” also reached No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary, No. 7 on the Adult Pop Songs and No. 12 on the Pop Songs. At the end of 2010, “Mine” was ranked at No. 46 on the Billboard Hot 100 “Song of the Year” chart.

Taylor's Version

On June 24, 2023, 13 days before the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), Taylor posted a short video to her social media channels, showcasing the vinyl record. The sound she used was a snippet of “Mine (Taylor’s Version)”. The re-recording was finally released alongside the album on July 7, 2023.

Upon the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), “Mine (Taylor’s Version)” debuted and peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the week ending July 13, 2023.

Lyrics

[Intro]
Oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh

[Verse 1]
You were in college, working part time waiting tables
Left a small town, never looked back
I was a flight risk with a fear of falling
Wondering why we bother with love if it never lasts

[Pre-chorus 1]
I say, “Can you believe it?”
As we’re lying on the couch
The moment I could see it
Yes, yes I can see it now

[Chorus 1]
Do you remember we were sitting there by the water?
You put your arm around me for the first time
You made a rebel of a careless man’s careful daughter
You are the best thing that’s ever been mine

[Verse 2]
Flash forward and we’re taking on the world together
And there’s a drawer of my things at your place
You learn my secrets and you figure out why I’m guarded
You say we’ll never make my parents’ mistakes

[Pre-chorus 2]
But we got bills to pay, we got nothing figured out
When it was hard to take
Yes, yes, this is what I thought about

[Chorus 2]
Do you remember all the city lights on the water?
You saw me start to believe for the first time
You made a rebel of a careless man’s careful daughter
You are the best thing that’s ever been mine

[Bridge]
And I remember that fight, 2:30 am
As everything was slipping right out of our hands
I ran out crying and you followed me out into the street
Braced myself for the goodbye
Cause that’s all I’ve ever known
Then you took me by surprise
You said, “I’ll never leave you alone”

[Chorus 3]
You said, “I remember how we felt sitting by the water
And every time I look at you, it’s like the first time
I fell in love with a careless man’s careful daughter
She is the best thing that’s ever been mine”
(Hold on, make it last)
(Hold on, never turn back)

[Outro]
You made a rebel of a careless man’s careful daughter
You are the best thing that’s ever been mine

[Outro]
Yes, yes, do you believe it?
Yes, yes, we’re gonna make it now
Yes, yes, I can see it
I can see it now