"Tim McGraw" is the debut single of American country pop artist Taylor Swift. She was sixteen years old when she debuted with the song, which she co-wrote with Liz Rose. The song tells of Taylor's remembrance of a summer love, and how an un-named song by country music artist Tim McGraw (identified later on as "Can't Tell Me Nothin'" from his Live Like You Were Dying album[2]) brings back memories of that love.
| "Tim McGraw" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
Swift has said she wrote the song during math class in high school. The song, she says, is about her and her boyfriend, when he was moving away to go to college, and they would eventually have to break up. Taylor goes on to say, "I started thinking of all the things that reminded me of him." The music video has been viewed over 400,000 times on YouTube.
Alternate versions
On the album version of the song, the first stanzas are sung a second time at the end; the radio edit ends after the last chorus.
The line "Someday you'll turn your radio on" in the final chorus was altered in some markets, with "your radio" being replaced with either the name of the radio station or some popular show or host featured on that station. A similar change was made for the song on Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40, a radio countdown show, wherein the line was altered to "And turn the Bob Kingsley Countdown on".
Chart positions
| Chart (2006-2007) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs | 6 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 40 (January 2, 2007) |
| U.S. Billboard Pop 100 | 43 |
| Canadian Radio & Records Country Singles | 10 |