"Speak Now" Song Meaning

Today's Taylor Swift song is the meaning of the song "Speak Now" from her Speak Now album.

This song inspired the name of her third album Speak Now. Taylor tells The Boot in November 2010 "I've always been fascinated by that moment, in a wedding because I think it's a metaphor for a lot of times in our life when we're just about to do something, and that's when we realize that we want it, and that's when we realize that we have to speak up."  This song is not about Taylor, but about one of her close friends.  Who is it?

Taylor Swift and Kellie Pickler

Her friend Kellie Pickler!  Taylor says in an exclusive E! News interview, "She [Kellie Pickler] one day comes in and tells me, "He's getting married." He had met this girl who was this horrible mean person who made him like completely stop talking to all of his friends, cut off his family, had him so completely isolated. And I just kind of randomly was like "Huh, are you going to speak now?"  She's like, 'What do you mean?' 'You know like storm the church? Speak now or forever hold your peace? I'll go with you, I'll play guitar."

"The song was inspired by the idea of bursting into your ex-boyfriend's wedding and saying 'Don't do it'-which was originally inspired by one of my friends and the fact that the guy she had been in love with since childhood was marrying this other girl," she explained to me. "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..

The secret message in this song is, YOU ALWAYS REGRET WHAT YOU DON'T SAY.  You definitely regret what you don't say.  I love this album because it is all about speaking your mind and letting those around you know how you feel.

Click here for lyrics to the song, "Speak Now".

A bit of trivia, Taylor also wrote another song with Kellie, "The Best Days of Your Life."  Taylor plays the guitar in the music video and sings back up vocals.

Click here to see the music video. It tells a great story.

Kellie told AOL, "Taylor Swift and I actually wrote this song together while we were on tour with Brad Paisley. I had went through a really bad break-up a while back, so we wrote the song about the relationship that went sour. It's so funny, because Taylor always says that she has the 'Picture to Burn' song and Carrie Underwood has 'Before He Cheats' ... and now 'Best Days Of Your Life' - that's my kiss off song! He [my ex] has heard it and so has the person he's with now, so I guess it's bittersweet."

Speak Now Lyrics

Speak Now Lyrics (Speak Now Album)

Written by Taylor Swift

I am not the kind of girl
Who should be rudely barging 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
Wearing a gown shaped like a pastry

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"

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,
I’ll meet you when you’re out of the church at the back door.
Don’t wait or say a single vow,
Your time is running out,
And they said, "Speak now".

Oh, la, la
Oh, oh
Say a single vow

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 looking at you.

I am not the kind of girl
Who should be rudely barging in on a white veil occasion
But you are not the kind of boy
Who should be marrying the wrong girl

[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,
And they said, "Speak now".
And you’ll say "Let’s 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,
So glad you were around
When they said, "Speak now".