“I was 17, sitting in my bedroom, mad at my parents,” Swift recalled.

Taylor Swift wrote hit song ‘Love Story’ after her parents wouldn’t let her date older man

"I was 17, sitting in my bedroom, mad at my parents," Swift recalled.

By Marina Watts

Marina Watts

Marina Watts is a news writer for with seven years experience covering entertainment, pop culture and celebrity news. Her previous work appears in PEOPLE, Bustle and Newsweek.

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April 28, 2026 12:17 p.m. ET

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Taylor Swift at the 2025 Grammys; Swift and her parents in 2013. Credit:

Jon Kopaloff/WireImage; Rick Diamond/Getty

- Taylor Swift told *The New York Times Magazine *about the songwriting process for many hits throughout her career, including "Love Story."

- She said the 2008 song came out of anger that her parents wouldn't let her go on a date with someone older than her.

- “I have this very strong opinion that when you’re young, you feel things on such an intense and detailed level,” Swift told the publication.

If you're mad enough at your parents, you can churn out a No. 1 hit song.

Taylor Swift, named this week by *The New York Times* as one of the greatest living American songwriters, spoke to the publication's magazine about her creative process. One of her earliest hits, "Love Story," was born from her anger at her parents, Andrea and Scott Swift, for not allowing her to go on a date with someone older. Swift started writing songs at 12 years old.

“I think the first time I felt I don’t care if people hate this because I love it so much was when I wrote the song ‘Love Story’ when I was 17, sitting in my bedroom, mad at my parents because they wouldn’t let me go on a date with a guy who was too old so I shouldn’t have been on a date with him anyway,” she said.

Album art for the re-released edition of 'Fearless' (Taylor's Version) which features the song 'Love Story'. Taylor Swift

"And this is why you need to discipline your kids because they might write songs that go [to] No. 1," she quipped.

"Love Story" was released in 2008 as the lead single for her second studio album, *Fearless*.

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For Swift, writing songs in the moment when she feels these passionate emotions has been key, especially early in her career.

“I have this very strong opinion that when you’re young, you feel things on such an intense and detailed level,” Swift told the publication.

“There’s an attention to detail when you’re 17-22 years old and you’re longing or you’re reaching and grasping but you’re never holding someone’s attention or someone’s love or someone’s dedication," she continued. "You can’t understand why you spend all day thinking about it."**

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Swift has previously spoken about the inspiration behind "Love Story," telling *Time* in 2009 that it was about someone she almost dated.

"But when I introduced him to my family and my friends, they all said they didn't like him," she told the outlet. "All of them! For the first time, I could relate to that Romeo-and-Juliet situation where the only people who wanted them to be together were them."

At the time, Swift called it "the most romantic song I've written," even though it was about someone she never actually dated. She added that she wrote "Love Story" on her bedroom floor "in about 20 minutes."

"When I get on a roll with something, it's really hard for me to put it down unfinished," she told the outlet.**

Taylor Swift and her mother, Andrea Swift. Kevin Winter/ACMA/Getty Images

Among the other greatest living American songwriters named by the *New York Times* are Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Lionel Richie, Carole King, Bruce Springsteen, and Paul Simon.

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Source: “EW Musicians”