Saying that this song pulls from Romeo and Juliet would be an understatement. Taylor and the love interest in the song are referred to as Romeo and Juliet disrespectively, but even the basics of the story have similarities. Taylor and Romeo are forbidden from being together for unknown reasons, which is a smart decision from a songwriting decision. Taylor often makes the mistake of going into too much detail which can end up making the song feel a lot less relatable. But here it's kept just vague enough to let the audience fill in their reasons for the separation. Regardless, Taylor implies that it has a lot to do with their families.
"We were both young when I first saw you"
"And my daddy said, "Stay away from Juliet"
"We keep quiet 'cause we're dead if they knew
So close your eyes, escape this town for a little while"
Again, the details are left to the imagination but there's plenty to work with here. The lyrics really give the impression that they are trapped together in a small town with a similar social group, but due to the specifics of the structure they just can't be together. It's pretty sappy, but it's great if that's what you're into.
Using Romeo and Juliet as a measure for romance may be cliche, but in my opinion criticizing it for that reason alone would be unfair. Some may see Taylor's use of the play as ignorant since the original text is a tragedy, but I'd like to give her a little more credit. Everything in this song leads the listener to believe that it will end in tragedy, and the allusions to Romeo and Juliet are no exception. They both die in the end (spoilers), and Taylor was well aware of this while writing Love Story. After all, there's a reason her dad has been warning her about not becoming Juliet. This way when all is happy in the end it feels more earned.
There are some problems with the writing, but I think in the end the positives outweigh them. Some of the lines lack subtlety, but it's never too over the top.
"Romeo save me, they're trying to tell me how to feel
This love is difficult, but it's real"
A pretty good line followed by a pretty awful one. The only other major criticism I would have is ending the story with a marriage proposal. I know it's a romance fantasy, but this extends a little too far, especially in the contexts of the song. After all, Romeo and Juliet aren't exactly paragons of lasting love. Romeo had probably already moved on by the time Juliet reached the afterlife. Actually, that's a pretty good idea for a play or something. Someone should get on that. Anyways, that's all for today.
See you tomorrow,
-C
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