Remember When Taylor Swift Released ‘Our Song?’
Legendary singer/songwriter Taylor Swift released her award-winning track “Our Song” as the third single off of her debut self-titled album…
Photo Courtesy Taylor Swift YouTube
Legendary singer/songwriter Taylor Swift released her award-winning track “Our Song” as the third single off of her debut self-titled album on this day in 2006.
Originally written for her freshman year high school talent show, Swift pumped out the iconic, self-penned track in a mere 20 minutes.
“I wrote this song in my freshman year of high school, for my ninth-grade talent show. So I was sitting there thinking, ‘I’ve gotta write a song that’s gonna relate to everyone in the talent show, and it’s gotta be upbeat.’ And at that time, I was dating a guy, and we didn’t have a song. So I went ahead and wrote us one, and I played it at the talent show at the end of the year. And months later, people would come up to me, and they’re like, ‘I loved that song that you played — ‘Our Song.” And then they’d start singing lines of it back to me. And they’d only heard it once, so I thought, ‘There must be something here!’” the singer previously shared with The Boot.
As a result of the success of the song with her classmates, Swift knew she had to convince her then-label, Big Machine Records, to feature the song on her upcoming album.
“I’m so glad this song is a single,” Taylor explained in an interview with Great American Country. “When we were picking songs for the album, I stood by this one and made sure it got recorded. I just knew there was something about it.”
With relatable lyrics that highlight a young couple’s relationship through normal everyday activities they share together paired with an upbeat banjo-driven track produced by Nathan Chapman, the single was destined to be an enormous hit.
“Our Song” was released to US country radio in September of 2007, as well as a crossover single for the US pop radio later in March of 2008.
In a backstage interview at the 2008 CMT Awards, Swift shared, “The fact that pop radio stations are playing my songs is amazing to me. I am so blown away and so thankful for it. I like to think of it less as crossover and more as spillover. That’s what they call it at my record label — ’spillover.’ I am so thankful for the spillover and for everybody who’s just been so amazing.”
The single brought in tremendous success for the superstar, securing her the number sixteen spot on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at the number thirty spot on the Canadian Hot 100 and making her the youngest person at 18 years old to write and sing a number-one track by herself on the Hot Country Songs chart. The single remained at the top of the chart for a total of six weeks. It was also included on Rolling Stone’s 2019 list of the greatest female country songs since 2000, certified 4X platinum by the RIAA and certified platinum by Music Canada.
Written by
Ally Roden