Out of all the hundreds of songs Taylor Swift has released, ‘Fifteen’ is likely the most universal, relatable to both fans and casual listeners. Equal parts vulnerable and comforting, the retrospective track encapsulates the experiences and emotions prevalent during some of Swift’s most formative years while in high school. This track, in particular, resonates so deeply with fans as Taylor sounds like a pseudo-older sister teaching her younger listeners what to expect and, most importantly, to remind them that even when the worst happens it’ll all be okay. 

It’s no secret by now that Taylor Swift has a redhead best friend named Abigail. ‘Fifteen’ - the first of 8 songs on the Fearless tracklist written entirely by Swift - was inspired by Abigail, who she met at the start of their teens, and who grounded and comforted Taylor with her friendship. “I wrote this around the storyline of my best friend from high school, Abigail. I started everything with the line 'Abigail gave everything she had to a boy who changed his mind' and wrote everything else from that point, almost backwards. I just decided I really wanted to tell that story about our first year of high school because I felt in my freshman year, I grew up more than any year in my life so far.”

The secret message — “I Cried While Recording This” — gives listeners an understanding of both the importance of Swift’s friendship with Abigail and the impact it has had on her songwriting. Knowing what Swift and her friend went through in high school, she said the song is “sung as advice to the fifteen year old” version of her. Up to that point, the bridge in ‘Fifteen’ was one of Swift’s best; alluding to heartbreak and loss of innocence (“Abigail gave everything she had/To a boy who changed his mind/And we both cried”) and the desire as a teen to find the one who wants you just as much as you want them (“When all you wanted was to be wanted/Wish you could go back and tell yourself what you know now”). 

Swift’s love for using high school as a songwriting device occurs throughout her discography; whether she's using it as a battleground to work through her emotions ('The Outside'), to understand love in its purest form ('Betty'), or using it to mirror issues happening in current events ('Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince'). Unlike those songs, 'Fifteen' is a track that is solely dedicated to the time in her life where she was dancing between the fine line of being a normal girl in school with her best friend and slowly on the verge of entering superstardom; a sweet time where Swift was navigating how to be a supportive friend while also tending to her rising career.

Although she was hesitant to play the song for Abigail, when Swift did eventually ask for her thoughts on the track, Abigail declared “If one girl can kind of learn from it or connect to a song like that, it's totally worth it." It’s easy to argue that 'Fifteen' has done just that.