“LOVE STORY”
*Acclaim- #1 on Billboard*5 million copies* *Released- September 12, 2008* *Birthday- February 21, 1907 * *Popularized- 2006* Awards- 4 Grammy’s* *Multi Platinum* No story is more associated with forbidden love than “Romeo and Juliet”. “Love Story” by Taylor Swift excludes the betrayal and death of the original and focuses on a relationship that is tough and not necessarily popular with others.
Taylor Swift [T-Swift]
“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 out of this mess.” Our group loves this song for its musicality and for its ability to transport the listener to a fairy tale world of love and romance.
If art tells us something new about what it means to be human, then “Love Story” is not art— though this is a somewhat narrow definition of art. This song certainly contains artistic elements and a message that is relevant and inspiring to our current generation—both of which are likely to have contributed to this song going 5x platinum. In nature, a retelling of Romeo and Juliet, the song has nothing new to say. It does however echo the fantastic love story, one which is as appealing and romantic as it is exaggerated and unlikely.
Each poem represents the song in a different way. Shakespeare looks at how even taboo love can be true. Keats focuses on a darker side of love— full of complication and even deceit— but in the end it somehow works. Auden focuses on the beauty of being in love, specifically in reference to time. Love is often fleeting, as it is in “Love Story”. All poems represent what is so great about Swift’s song— they transport you and tell you something new about love.