Begin Again

Taylor Swift previewed this country ballad on the September 24, 2012 episode of ABC's Good Morning America. The song finds the country-pop star singing about a girl embarking on a first date after getting over a bad relationship. The new guy turns out to have a lot of qualities that her ex didn't have. She explained: "It's actually a song about when you've gotten through a really bad relationship and you finally dust yourself off and go on that first date after a horrible break up. And the vulnerability that goes along with all of that."

Regarding whom Taylor is singing about, she does give some clues by referencing her new guy's strong ties to his family ("You start to talk about the movies that your family watches every single Christmas)," his shyness, and their shared love for James Taylor.

Chatting about the moving-on theme of the song, Swift told Marie Claire: "Even after [a relationship] explodes into a million pieces and burns down and you're standing in a pile of the ash of what it once was, thinking, 'Why did I have to meet this person, why did this have to happen?' . But then, when you make eye contact with someone across the room and it clicks and, bam, you're there. In love again."