Produced by Swift and Nathan Chapman, the song has a country pop production led by acoustic guitar, and incorporates a 1950s rock chord progression in its refrain.

The song peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Global 200 and entered on the charts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Philippines, and the US.

[1] The title track was inspired by a story of Swift's friend parting ways with her high-school boyfriend in hopes that they would rekindle in the future, but later learning of the ex-boyfriend's new engagement.

Swift recalled, "He had met this girl who's just this horrible, mean person who made him completely stop talking to all of his friends, cut off his family.

"[3] The song was released as a promotional single on October 5, 2010, by Big Machine Records as part of "Countdown to Speak Now", an exclusive campaign launched by the iTunes Store.

[4][5] During the opening week of Speak Now, Swift performed the title track on the Late Show with David Letterman.

[12] In the lyrics of "Speak Now", the narrator crashes her former love's wedding in attempt to win him back because she thinks he is marrying an unsuitable woman.

[10][14] The bridge has Swift responding to the priest's calling of "Speak now or forever hold your peace" before repeating the opening lines.

[21] Simon Vozick-Levinson of Entertainment Weekly deemed "Speak Now" a catchy song and opined that Swift's lyrical delivery makes up for her shortcomings as a vocalist.

[8] Jon Caramanica from The New York Times lauded the production; he stated that it proved Chapman to be "a first-rate producer, and not just of the pop-country that's made Ms.

[11] Ken Tucker, in a radio episode for NPR, commended the track for appealing to casual listeners for its "meticulously detailed" production.

[15] Nate Jones from Vulture described the narrative as "nonsense" but praised the production, especially the "admittedly charming chorus", and remarked: "it's hard not to smile at the unabashed silliness.

[42] Adapted from Speak Now (Taylor's Version) digital album inline notes[43] ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.