 Swift became inspired to write " You Belong with Me " after she overheard a male friend of hers speaking to his girlfriend through a phone call . He acted defensive as his girlfriend yelled at him , and said to her , " No , baby ... I had to get off the phone really quickly ... I tried to call you right back ... Of course I love you . More than anything ! Baby , I ’ m so sorry . " Out of the sympathy she felt towards him in the situation , Swift developed a concept for a song . In a writing session with co @-@ writer Liz Rose , Swift explained the situation along with her idea and conceived the song 's opening line , " You ’ re on the phone with your girlfriend / she ’ s upset / she 's going off about something that you said . " Together , they developed a story line , which described Swift being in love with the male friend and her having the desire for him to break up with his current girlfriend for her . Swift described the song 's concept as " basically about wanting someone who is with this girl who doesn 't appreciate him at all . Basically like ' girl @-@ next @-@ door @-@ itis . ' You like this guy who you have for your whole life , and you know him better than she does but somehow the popular girl gets the guy every time . " Swift recalled , " It was really fun for us to write the line , ' She wears short skirts , I wear T @-@ shirts ' . " " You Belong with Me " was first released as a promotional single from Fearless on November 4 , 2008 , as part of Countdown to Fearless , an exclusive campaign by the iTunes Store ; the song was then released as the third single from Fearless on April 18 , 2009 . 
