You Belong with Me

"You Belong with Me" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the third single from her second studio album, Fearless (2008). Big Machine Records released the song to radio on April 20, 2009. Swift was inspired to write "You Belong with Me" after overhearing a phone call between a touring band member and his girlfriend; she and Liz Rose wrote the lyrics depicting an unrequited love. Swift and Nathan Chapman produced the track, which features a banjo-led country pop production and incorporates fiddle, mandolin, and rock-influenced bass and electric guitars. Although the single was promoted to country radio, some critics categorized it into 1980s pop subgenres such as pop rock and power pop.

Early reviews generally praised the radio-friendly production and emotional engagement of the lyrics, although a few deemed the songwriting formulaic. Although some feminist critics took issue with the lyrics as slut-shaming, retrospective opinions have considered "You Belong with Me" one of Swift's signature songs. At the 2010 Grammy Awards, the song was nominated in three categories, including Song of the Year and Record of the Year. The single reached the top 10 on charts and received certifications in Australia, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand. In the United States, it peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the first country song to reach number one on both the Hot Country Songs chart and the all-genre Radio Songs chart. The single was certified seven times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Roman White directed the song's music video, which stars Swift as both the antagonist (an unsympathetic, popular brunette cheerleader) and the protagonist (a sympathetic, blonde girl next door who yearns for the antagonist's boyfriend). At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, the rapper Kanye West interrupted Swift's acceptance speech for Best Female Video, which caused a controversy widely covered by the media. Following the 2019 dispute regarding the ownership of Swift's back catalog, she rerecorded the song as "You Belong with Me (Taylor's Version)" for her rerecorded album Fearless (Taylor's Version) (2021). "You Belong with Me" was included on the set lists for five of Swift's six headlining tours as of 2023.