Love Story- Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is a country pop singer-songwriter who is loved by many. In September 2008 Taylor Swift released the song “Love Story”. By November “Love Story” reached the top of the Billboard Country Chart. In the song Taylor writes in first person narrative about two people in love that have to hide their relationship from their parents. It is also ironic because Taylor relates the relationship to Romeo and Juliet. However, is the story told in “Love Story” really like the story Romeo and Juliet?

            Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. Two people from two different families end up meeting and falling in love. Romeo and Juliet have to hide their relationship from their families, but when the parents found out everything went wrong. Romeo and Juliet decide to run away together so they can have a life of their own. Things however did not go as planned and Romeo kills himself because he thought the love of his life, Juliet, was dead. After he died Juliet saw his dead body and killed herself. In the end what Romeo and Juliet thought would be a happy ending turned out to be a tragic one instead.

            In the song “Love Story” by Taylor Swift, Taylor compares the couple’s relationship to the story of Romeo and Juliet. However, the song does not fully go along with the actual story. In “Love Story” two people meet at a young age and fall in love. Just like in Romeo and Juliet, their families do not get along with one another. They sneak around without their parents knowing. Unlike like Romeo and Juliet the two people in “Love Story” do not plan on running away. Instead, the guy in “Love Story” decides to ask the girl’s father for her hand in marriage and the father finally said yes. In the end the story told in “Love Story” by Taylor Swift has a happy ending.

            Taylor Swift is a great song writer that wrote about two people in love. She related this relationship to the story Romeo and Juliet. It is ironic because Taylor’s version of the story has a happy ending. In the real story there is no happy ending. Two people kill themselves because they could not live without one another.

           

Love Story

We were both young when I first saw you.

I close my eyes, and the flashback starts,
I'm standing there,
On the balcony in summer air.

I see the lights, see the party, the ballgowns.
See you make your way through the crowd,
And 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 that's left to do is run.
You 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 he knew,
So close your eyes,
Escape this town for a little while.

'Cause you were Romeo,
I was a scarlet letter,
And my daddy said, "Stay away from Juliet."
But you were everything to me,
Begging you, "Please don't go".

And I said,
"Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone.
I'll be waiting, all that's left to do is run.
You be the prince, and I'll be the princess,
It's a love story, baby, just say, 'yes'."

"Romeo, save me, they're trying to tell me how to feel.
This love is difficult, but it's real.
Don't be afraid, we'll make it of this mess,
It's a love story, baby, just say, 'yes'."

Well, 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,"

You 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."

We were both young when I first saw you...