Tim McGraw (song)

"Tim McGraw"
Single by Taylor Swift
from the album Taylor Swift
Written2005
ReleasedJune 19, 2006
Studio
  • Quad
  • Sound Cottage (Nashville)
GenreCountry
Length3:52
LabelBig Machine
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Nathan Chapman
Taylor Swift singles chronology
"Tim McGraw"
(2006)
"Teardrops on My Guitar"
(2007)
Music video
"Tim McGraw" on YouTube

"Tim McGraw" is the debut single by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on June 19, 2006, by Big Machine Records. Swift wrote the song with Liz Rose, and Nathan Chapman produced it for her debut studio album, Taylor Swift (2006). "Tim McGraw" is an acoustic guitar–led country ballad that incorporates the '50s progression and features fiddle, mandolin, and Dobro. The lyrics are about a summer romance that has passed: Swift's narrator pleads with her ex-boyfriend to remember her every time he hears her favorite song by the country musician Tim McGraw, the song's namesake.

Music critics praised Swift's songwriting on "Tim McGraw" for creating an engaging narrative with memorable details and nostalgia-inducing sentiments. Retrospective reviews have regarded the single as a blueprint for Swift's songwriting. Rolling Stone featured it on their lists "100 Greatest Debut Singles of All Time" (2020) and "200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time" (2024). In the United States, "Tim McGraw" peaked at number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number six on Hot Country Songs, and the Recording Industry Association of America certified the track double platinum. The track charted at number 10 on Canada Country.

Trey Fanjoy directed the song's music video, in which Swift's character and the ex-boyfriend reminisce about a past summer romance in rural Tennessee. Swift promoted "Tim McGraw" and her debut album with a six-month radio tour in 2006 and by opening for other country musicians' tours in 2006 and 2007. She performed the song at the 42nd Academy of Country Music Awards in 2007; included it in the set list of her first headlining tour, the Fearless Tour (2009–2010); and performed it on several dates of her later tours.