Love Story by Taylor Swift - Essay Example

INTRODUCTION of the song: Love story Artiste: Taylor Swift Love Story is the first single from American country singer Taylor Swift’s sophomore studio album, Fearless (2008). The song was Swift’s first international single and was released on 12th September 2008. It debuted at #25 on Billboard’s chart of hot country songs and remained at the top of that chart for two weeks in November. On the chart of Billboard’s Hot 100, the single debuted at #16 and went on to reach the highest position of #4. As for the rest of the world, Swift entered the UK Singles chart at #22 and peaked at #2, spending a total of twenty-eight weeks on the chart, with six weeks in the top ten. In Australia, it spent two weeks (non-consecutive) at #1 on the ARIA Singles music chart and eleven weeks at #2 on the same chart. Love Story also occupied high positions on music charts in Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. Love Story belongs to the country pop genre. Written by Taylor Swift, the lyrics make allusions to the eternal love story of Romeo and Juliet. The song is being sung by Juliet (Taylor), who recalls her first meetings with her lover Romeo. Romeo came up to Juliet during a ball and said hello; he was the one who used to throw pebbles to attract Juliet’s attention, and he was the one who had been told to stay away from Juliet by the girl’s father. Nevertheless, they met in secret, with Juliet sneaking out into the garden. She was a “scarlet letter”, a forbidden something for Romeo. But they were young and deeply in love, and they did not care. Juliet, specially, knew that their love was “difficult”, but “real”, and she wanted Romeo to take her away to some place where they would be alone, and where nobody would tell her how to feel. But Romeo disappeared one day, in spite of the fact that Juliet had begged him not to go. It seemed as though he had been scared away by Juliet’s father. She kept waiting for him, but he never used to come, and her faith in him began to fade. Then one day, she met him on the outskirts of town, and there Romeo went down on his knees and asked her to marry him. He said that he had talked to Juliet’s father, and now Juliet could go and pick out a white dress for the wedding…it was their love story, and all that remained was for Juliet to say yes. The song lasts 3 minutes and 51 seconds (according to the album version) and uses the following instruments: > banjo > classical acoustic guitar > fiddle > electric guitar > drums > bass The lead vocals are by Taylor Swift, and there are some background vocals, especially during the refrains. Taylor Swift’s band includes Amos Heller (bass), Paul Sidoti (guitar), Caitlin Evanson (fiddle), Al Wilson (drums) and Ben Clark (banjo). TIME CHART TIME OBSERVATIONS 0’00’’ (zero minutes, zero seconds) Ready to play song. 0’01’’ (zero minutes, one second) Song starts. Instruments being played: banjo and classical acoustic guitar. The passage is slow and soft. 0’14’’ (zero minutes, fourteen seconds) Fiddle and bass start. 0’16’’ (zero minutes, sixteen seconds) Lead vocals start. First part of first verse begins. to “We were both young When I first saw you, 0’30’’ (zero minutes, thirty seconds) I close my eyes and the flashback starts- I’m standing there, On a balcony in summer air…” 0’31’’ (zero minutes, thirty-one seconds) Drums start. Slow tempo. 0’32’’ (zero minutes, thirty-three seconds) Second part of first verse begins. “See the lights, see the party, the ball to gowns, I see you make your way through the 0’46’’ (zero minutes, forty-six seconds) crowd To say hello. Little did I know…” 0’48’’ (zero minutes, forty-eight seconds) Drums tempo picks up. Vocalist sings: to “That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles, 1’04’’ (one minute, four seconds) And my daddy said “Stay away from Juliet”, And I was crying on the staircase, begging you, “Please don’t go!” And I said…” 1’05’’ (one minute, five seconds) Refrain begins. Drums are played with faster tempo. Electric guitar to and background vocals start. “Romeo, take me somewhere we can 1’21’’ (one minute, twenty-one seconds) be alone I’ll be waiting; all there’s left to do is run, You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess, It’s a love story, Baby, just say yes.” The last word (“yes”) is sung in a pitch lower than that of the rest of the passage. 1’24’’ (one minute, twenty-four seconds) Second verse begins. “So I sneak out to the garden to see you We keep quiet ’cause we’re dead if they knew So close your eyes Escape this town for a little while Oh oh to ’Cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter And my daddy said “Stay away from Juliet”, But you were everything to me, I was begging you, “Please don’t go!” And I said…” 1’57’’ (one minute, fifty-seven seconds) Refrain begins: “Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone I’ll be waiting; all there’s left to do is run, You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the to princess, It’s a love story, Baby, just say yes. Romeo, save me, they try to tell me how to feel 2’28’’ (two minutes, twenty-eight seconds) This love is difficult, but it’s real, Don’t be afraid, we’ll make it out of this mess, It’s a love story, Baby, just say yes.” 2’29’’ (two minutes, twenty-nine seconds) Electric guitar and drums solo. to 2’45’’ (two minutes, forty-five seconds) Tempo of drums slows down.Third verse begins: “But I got tired of waiting Wondering if you were ever coming around to My faith in you was fading When I met you on the outskirts of town And I said…” 3’02’’ (three minutes, two seconds) All instruments, except banjo and acoustic guitar, stop. Lead vocals continue; background vocals stop. “Romeo, save me, I’ve been feeling so alone to I keep waiting for you, but you never come Is this in my head? I don’t know what to think…” 3’11’’ (three minutes, eleven seconds) Drums resume playing. Tempo picks up gradually. Background vocals resume: to “He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring And said…” 3’18’’ (three minutes, eighteen seconds) Lead vocals changes pitch from a lower to a higher level. Tempo of drums becomes faster; banjo, electric guitar and acoustic guitar, fiddle, bass and drums are the instruments being played. to “Marry me, Juliet, you’ll never have to be alone, I love you, and that’s all I really know I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress It’s a love story, 3’36’’ (three minutes, thirty-six seconds) Baby, just say yes.” The portion “that’s” in the line “that’s all I really know” is sung at a higher pitch than the rest of the passage; and there is a slight pause between “Baby just say” and “yes” in the last line. This marks the fact that the song has almost come to an end. 3’37’’ (three minutes, thirty-seven seconds) Solo with electric guitar, violin and drums. to 3’46’’ (three minutes, forty-six seconds) First two lines are repeated by lead vocalist. Background vocals are to absent. Drums and electric guitar accompany the voice of the lead 3’51’’ (three minutes, fifty-one seconds) vocalist. “’Cause we were both young When I first saw you.” The word “saw” is dragged out a bit in a note of finality. LYRICS We were both young When I first saw you, I close my eyes and the flashback starts- I’m standing there, On a balcony in summer air… See the lights, see the party, the ball gowns, I see you make your way through the crowd To say hello. Little did I know That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles, And my daddy said “Stay away from Juliet”, And I was crying on the staircase, begging you, “Please don’t go!” And I said Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone I’ll be waiting; all there’s left to do is run, You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess, It’s a love story, Baby, just say yes. So I sneak out to the garden to see you We keep quiet ’cause we’re dead if they knew So close your eyes Escape this town for a little while Oh oh ’Cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter And my daddy said “Stay away from Juliet”, But you were everything to me, I was begging you, “Please don’t go!” And I said Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone I’ll be waiting; all there’s left to do is run, You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess, It’s a love story, Baby, just say yes. Romeo, save me, they try to tell me how to feel This love is difficult, but it’s real, Don’t be afraid, we’ll make it out of this mess, It’s a love story, Baby, just say yes. Oh oh But I got tired of waiting Wondering if you were ever coming around My faith in you was fading When I met you on the outskirts of town And I said Romeo, save me, I’ve been feeling so alone I keep waiting for you, but you never come Is this in my head? I don’t know what to think He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring And said Marry me, Juliet; you’ll never have to be alone I love you and that’s all I really know, I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress, It’s a love story, Baby, just say yes. Oh oh oh oh ’Cause we were both young When I first saw you. (Written by Taylor Swift. Produced by Nathan Chapman and Taylor Swift.) SUMMARY Love Story received mixed reviews. While it scored high on the music charts and went down very well with certain sections of the audience, there have been people who have also called this song mediocre. However, critics in general have given this song a thumbs-up. Jim Malec, the managing editor of The 9513 pointed out that although the song’s lyrics make references to the immortal love story of Romeo and Juliet, the song has a happy ending contrary to the actual tragedy of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. “After all, the syrupy, idealized ending to the ‘love story’ Swift constructs is fundamentally delineated from Shakespeare’s tragedy,” says Malec. However, he maintains that Swift’s lyric is founded on the fact that when two people who are not supposed to be together fall in love, their love story is full of complications, with peaks and pits- with joy and heartache. “And by comparing the song’s characters to Shakespeare’s, she’s simply alluding to the idea that all love stories are fundamentally the same, regardless of their origin or outcome,” Malec comments. Commenting on the music itself, Malec says that the song has a pulsing beat and “slick, pop-based production” and “shows an artist willing to take chances by venturing from the format’s standard song structure, and to let her personality shine through”, and while it is not brilliant, it definitely proves that Swift has got talent. Other critics have also appreciated the effectiveness of Love Story and the impact it has had on the audience. According to many listeners, what doesn’t work in this song is the fact that the literary allusions made by Swift in this song are all wrong. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy, and if “scarlet letter” alludes to The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne, then obviously it would mean that in the song, Juliet is a sinner and Romeo is sinning by being close to her. However, this problem with literary allusions has been discounted by many, who argue that this is a song, after all, and even more importantly, this is a teenager (Swift is 19) writing for teenagers, who wouldn’t care about the allusions anyway. What works in this song is its wonderful rhythm and tune- something that makes it stand out as a country crossover. The variations in pitch also work to stress importance on parts of the story- where the emphasis is more, the pitch is higher, and the sound louder, while in places which are not that important, the sound is soft. Overall, the song has a smooth, flowing texture which has to be appreciated by any connoisseur of music. SOURCES: Malec, Jim. “Taylor Swift-Love Story”. The 9513 Country Music. The 9513 Country Music Blog. Published September 16th 2008. Web. Accessed November 2nd, 2009. Swift, Taylor. Fearless. CD-ROM. Big Machine and Universal Music Group, November 2008. Read More