Songfacts®:

• Many of Taylor's fans believe the subject matter of this song to be American actor Taylor Lautner, whom she dated briefly at the end of 2009. Although the Love Story singer won't confirm whether the speculation is true or not, she told New York magazine about the event that inspired her to pen this song.
  
  "It was at an awards show and there had been this falling-out between me and this guy," she explained. "I think both of us had so much that we wanted to say, but we're sitting six seats away from each other, just fighting this silent war of 'I don't care that you're here.'"
  
  Taylor continued, "I remember getting home and sitting at the kitchen table, and saying to my mom, 'It was like I was standing alone in a crowded room.' That's when my eyes glazed over, and I got distracted and walked away to write." She added, "My mom is used to me doing that."
• Swift was asked in an interview with MTV News if she is aware that her potential suitors might have some reservations as she might write a song about them. She replied: "It's understandable, but I've never kept quiet the fact that I write songs about people. It's like, this is album number three. You guys have had fair warning!"
• This was the last song Swift wrote for Speak Now. She told MTV News that after the incident with her former beau at the awards show, "I just felt so empty, like we were both fighting this silent war of pretending we didn't care that the other was there. And I went home, and I wrote this song about it. And at that point, I had this gut feeling, and I knew the album was finished."
• As on her other albums, Taylor capitalized seemingly random letters in the printed lyrics for each song, which spell out messages, usually about who or what inspired the tune. On this song she spells out "CMT AWARDS," which points the finger at fellow CMT attendee John Mayer, who performed a number with Keith Urban at the ceremony. Also, Mayer is thought to be the subject of another Speak Now track, Dear John, and Taylor confessed to USA Today writer Brian Mansfield that both songs were inspired by the same person.
• The music video was directed by Noble Jones and finds Taylor in college, reminiscing about her relationship with a fellow student. She explained of her input to MTV News: "Noble Jones, the director, had sent in this treatment. He had it set in a library, and I called him and I asked him if he'd be willing to change it to an Ivy League feel." MTV asked Taylor if the heroine in the video was at all connected to her "You belong With Me" character. "Well, I think the biggest difference between the new video and all the other ones is that I love to make a happy ending happen, and with this video, it doesn't happen," she replied.
• The girl who makes out with Swift's love interest in the video was played by her backup singer Liz Huett. Swift told MTV News how she met Huett. "We met in a meet-and-greet line. I started out playing small bars and clubs a few years ago, and she came to one of the shows, and I would sign autographs... and she waited three or four hours," Swift recalled. "And she came up and asked if she could sing for me. She sang for me, and I said, 'You've got to audition for some TV talent show.' And I ran into her a few months later, and one thing led to another and she ended up being my backup singer on tour and making out with a guy in my video."