Love Story — Taylor Swift (2008)

Why it's in this book

"Love Story" is the anchor song for November. It is here because it uses the most-sung loop in pop: four chords that repeat, I–V–vi–IV. In class we play it in C, with C, G, A minor and F, the same four you will find in Anti-Hero, Riptide or Perfect, starting from a different place. On the record the verse puts the chords in another order and the last chorus goes up a tone; in class we keep the chorus loop all the way through and do not go up, so your hand has nothing new to learn. In the classroom with no instruments we sing it with a body-percussion drum beat, on every beat; with ukuleles we strum the loop; and in the music room the whole band plays, with the keyboard taking the banjo's part. The second voice sings a third in the chorus. This same month, with Lean On Me, you start rotating in the band.

Why this song

You probably know the story of Romeo and Juliet: two young people in love and two families who will not let them be together. In the end, they both die.

Taylor Swift thought it was the best love story ever told, except for the ending. So she wrote one with a happy ending.

The question on this page is: what does a song that tells a story sound like? Listen to what happens just before the last chorus.

Historical context

Taylor Swift started out as a country singer. Country is the traditional music of the southern United States. She moved to Nashville, the capital of country music, and released her first album at 16.

"Love Story" came from a boy nobody around her liked. Not her family, not her friends. That reminded her of Romeo and Juliet, a play Shakespeare wrote more than four hundred years ago.

Foto: Frank Dicksee, dominio público, vía Wikimedia Commons

The balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet, painted by Frank Dicksee in 1884. The first verse of "Love Story" starts right there: on a balcony, in summer.

Swift wrote the song in about twenty minutes, sitting on her bedroom floor. The next day she recorded a demo in a quarter of an hour. It came out in 2008 on her second album, Fearless.

It was a huge hit. It reached number 4 in the United States and was the first country song to reach number 1 on pop radio. In 2021 she recorded it again from scratch, as "Love Story (Taylor's Version)".

Musical characteristics

Country instruments. Listen to the intro. One instrument picks notes very fast, with a metallic sound: that is the banjo. Then a violin comes in, which in country music is called a fiddle. Banjo and fiddle are what say "this is country". For pop radio they made another mix where both were replaced with electric guitars.

The four-chord loop. The chorus uses four chords that repeat: on the record, D, A, B minor and G. In class, one tone lower: C, G, A minor and F. This chord progression is the most used in pop over the last twenty years. Once you learn it, you will hear it everywhere.

A walking drum beat. The drums mark the four beats of each bar with no frills, at 119 beats per minute. It is a light pace, like walking fast.

The final leap. After the bridge, the drums speed up and the song goes up a whole tone: from D major to E major. That change of key is called a modulation. It is like climbing a step just before the happy ending. And it is no accident: in that last chorus, Romeo asks Juliet to marry him.

Hard facts: D major, with the last chorus in E major, 4/4, 119 beats per minute, 3:55. The form: intro, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge and final chorus.

Guided listening

Play the music video. In the intro, look for the banjo: the fast metallic sound underneath everything.

In the first verse, listen to how the voice tells the story, almost speaking. She is describing a scene.

When the chorus arrives, play the chords in the air or count how many times they change. There are four, and then they start again.

After the bridge, pay attention: the drums speed up and everything sounds one step higher. Sing the first note of the chorus before and after the leap. Is it the same?

At the end, compare the last chorus with the first. The words change, and so does the story.

Trivia and curiosities

• The music video mixes historical periods: a castle, dresses from past centuries and a ballroom dance. It won Video of the Year at the 2009 country music awards.

• Swift's favourite line in the song is the one where she says this love is difficult, but real.

• The second verse mentions another book: The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Some critics thought the reference made no sense.

• The producer, Nathan Chapman, recorded nine different acoustic guitars on top of each other. That is why it sounds so full without any electric guitars.

Classroom activities

• Body-percussion drums. Foot on beats 1 and 3, clap on 2 and 4. Keep it going through a whole chorus without speeding up.

• The loop on ukulele. C, G, A minor, F, one chord per bar. Start with downstrokes on every beat.

• Find the leap. With the record playing, raise your hand when you hear the song change key. What do the drums do just before?

• Second voice. Half the class sings the chorus melody and the other half a third above.

• Band. In the music room the whole band plays. The keyboard imitates the banjo with short, quick notes over the chords.

Key vocabulary

• Banjo — banjo
• Chord progression — progresión de acordes
• Chorus — estribillo
• Key change / modulation — modulación: cambiar de tonalidad en mitad de la canción

Resources

Official music video — Romeo and Juliet in a castle, with costumes from another age.

Ukulele tutorial — Bernadette Teaches Music. A play-along, with the chords on screen.

Guitar tutorial — Andy Guitar. Step by step: chords, strumming and changes.

Piano tutorial — Piano Beginner. The melody, slowly, to get started.