Speak Now
Producers
I am not the kind of girl
Who should be rudely bargin' in on a white veil occasion
But you are not the kind of boy
Who should be marrying the wrong girl
I sneak in and see your friends
And her snotty little family all dressed in pastel
And she is yelling at a bridesmaid
Somewhere back inside a room
Wearin' a gown shaped like a pastry
[Pre-Chorus]
This is surely not what you thought it would be
I lose myself in a daydream
Where I stand and say
[Chorus]
Don't say yes, run away now
I'll meet you when you're out
Of the church, at the back door
Don't wait or say a single vow
You need to hear me out
And they said, "Speak now"
[Verse 2]
Fond gestures are exchanged
And the organ starts to play a song that sounds like a death march
And I am hiding in the curtains
It seems that I was uninvited by your lovely bride-to-be
She floats down the aisle like a pageant queen
But I know you wish it was me
You wish it was me, don't you?
[Chorus]
Don't say yes, run away now
I'll meet you when you're out
Of the church, at the back door
Don't wait or say a single vow
You need to hear me out
And they said, "Speak now"
Don't say yes, run away now (Run away now)
I'll meet you when you're out
Of the church, at the back door
Don't wait or say a single vow (Say a single vow)
Your time is running out
And they said, "Speak now"
[Post-Chorus]
Ooh (Run away now), la
Ooh (Say a single vow), ooh
[Bridge]
I hear the preacher say
"Speak now or forever hold your peace"
There's the silence, there's my last chance
I stand up with shaky hands, all eyes on me
Horrified looks from everyone in the room
But I'm only lookin' at you
I am not the kind of girl
Who should be rudely bargin' in on a white veil occasion
But you are not the kind of boy
Who should be marrying the wrong girl, haha
[Chorus]
So, don't say yes, run away now
I'll meet you when you're out
Of the church, at the back door
Don't wait or say a single vow
You need to hear me out
They said, "Speak now"
And you say, "Let's run away now (Run away now)
I'll meet you when I'm out
Of my tux, at the back door
Baby, I didn't say my vows (Say a single vow)
So glad you were around
When they said, 'Speak now'"
About
“Speak Now” transports listeners to Taylor’s daydream where she crashes her ex’s wedding so he won’t be stuck with a girl who doesn’t treat him right. It’s rumored to be inspired by Hayley Williams of Paramore, who had to attend the wedding of ex-boyfriend and ex-bandmate Josh Farro in April 2010.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
In a since-deleted interview with Yahoo! News that was documented by MTV, Swift said:
One of my friends, the guy she had been in love with since childhood was marrying this other girl. And my first inclination was to say, ‘Well, are you gonna speak now?’ And then I started thinking about what I would do if I was still in love with someone who was marrying someone who they shouldn’t be marrying. And so I wrote this song about exactly what my game plan would be.
She also shared on her website:
This song was inspired by one of my friends who was telling me about her childhood sweetheart, crush guy. They were kind of together in high school and went their separate ways, and it was kind of understood that they were gonna get back together. Then, she one day comes in and tells me he’s getting married. He had met this girl who was just this mean person who made him completely stop talking to all of his friends, cut off his family, had him like so completely isolated. And I just, kind of randomly, was like, ‘So, you gonna speak now?’ She was like, ‘What do you mean?’ And I was like ‘Oh, you know, like storm the church, speak now or forever hold your peace? I’ll go with you. I’ll play guitar. It would be great.’ She was just kind of laughing, and later on I just was wrapping my mind around that idea of how tragic it would be if someone you loved was marrying somebody else. Later I had a dream about one of my ex-boyfriends getting married, and it just all came together that I needed to write this song about interrupting a wedding.
No – as the pre-chorus lyric points out, she “[lost herself] in a daydream” about objecting to her ex’s marriage.
In addition to being on the Speak Now World Tour setlist, Tay performed this song at the following events:
- Late Show with David Letterman – October 26th, 2010
- 1.All Too Well
- 3.The Best Day
- 4.Red
- 5.Holy Ground
- 7.Our Song
- 8.22
- 11.Mean
- 13.So It Goes...
- 14.Fifteen
- 15.Mine
- 16.Sparks Fly
- 17.State of Grace
- 18.Haunted
- 19.Never Grow Up
- 20.Treacherous
- 21.Babe
- 23.Fearless
- 24.Enchanted
- 25.Change
- 26.Ours
- 27.Out Of The Woods
- 30.This Love
- 31.The Lucky One
- 32.Invisible
- 33.Breathe
- 34.Better Man
- 35.Jump Then Fall
- 36.Begin Again
- 38.The Story Of Us
- 39.Forever & Always
- 40.Hey Stephen
- 41.Speak Now
- 42.Wonderland
- 43.White Horse
- 45.Starlight
- 46.I Know Places
