While I do love a good Taylor Swift Song every now and then, I would not consider myself a “Swiftie”. I just love music videos. So here are some reasons (frame by frame) of why Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me” (2009) is one of the most iconic music videos of all time, fulfilling every cheesy romcom film dream you’ve ever had.
1. We start off and the two protagonists of the video live next door to each other, so close that they could basically touch the other person’s hand if they reached out the window. We love a good girl/boy next-door love story.
2. They, of course, communicate exclusively by hand written note (I mean this was really before texting and SMS got popular, plus they literally don’t need that since they live so close).
3. And when our main man turns his back, Taylor writes “I love you” on her notebook, but since it’s unrequited love, the boy will never know.
4.Not only that but Taylor is relatable in this music video (especially at societal standards in 2009). 2009 was peak “I’m not like other girls” culture; as the song goes, “She wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts, She’s cheer captain, and I’m on the bleachers”. While not the most feminist lyrics when looking back on it, it did show representation of girls who were deemed “nerds” as cool. Also she’s singing into a hairbrush and, like, who hasn’t done that in their bedroom by themselves?
5.The first appearance of the boy-next-door’s mean girlfriend is Taylor herself. This is possibly why this music video is the most ionic. No other music video (such as Selena Gomez’s “Bad Idea”) can claim this idea originally, because Taylor Swift was the first one to do it in “You Belong With Me”. This also makes the dynamic hilarious.
6. The plot of the music video follows the lyrics, so it’s easy to tell the storyline. This is different from music videos nowadays where the music video plot line and the song plot line seem entirely separate.
7.AWWWWW, he wishes Taylor was coming to the dance. This is where us viewers can get hopeful and happy over how mushy gushy it is!
8.Taylor comes to the dance! Of course, she has to have an entrance where everyone makes way for her because they are all dazzled by her beauty (typical rom-com, but we love it).
9.The reappearance of the “I love you” sign from earlier. Taylor admits her feelings to her crush.
10.And it wouldn’t be a rom-com without a reciprocation of the feelings, making it all the more sweet that he also wrote his confession out.
This music video which shows many tropes of rom-coms is just the best. It was also one of the first music videos where the singer played multiple roles which is just genius. I usually cringe at rom-coms but there is just something about this music video that makes my heart swell. It might be because it’s so short (as most music videos are). This is why I love music videos; they are able to show a whole storyline in the span of three minutes as well as provide extra information about the song, whether that be how it was made, how the lyrics came to be or the message it is trying to send. If you haven’t seen “You Belong With Me” by Taylor Swift, go watch it right now for the cinematic masterpiece that it is!