Produced by Swift and Nathan Chapman, "You're Not Sorry" is a rock power ballad with a sound that critics describe as mournful or dramatic: its verses are driven by piano and fiddle, while its refrains incorporate dynamic, crescendoing electric guitars.

[1][2] Continuing the romantic themes of Taylor Swift, Fearless is about love and heartbreak from the perspective of a teenage girl, using autobiographical narratives embedded with high-school and fairy-tale imagery.

[5][6] Swift was inspired to write "You're Not Sorry" by an ex-boyfriend whom she realized was not being honest with her, and it took her a while to figure out his lies: "He came across as Prince Charming [...] who had a lot of secrets that he didn't tell me about.

[6] Big Machine Records released "You're Not Sorry" for download exclusively via the iTunes Store on October 28, 2008, as part of the campaign "Countdown to Fearless".

[17] The song was certified gold in 2009[18] and platinum in 2017 by the Recording Industry Association of America,[19] and its US digital sales as of December 2011 stood at 653,000 copies.

[26] Swift produced "You're Not Sorry (Taylor's Version)" with Christopher Rowe, who recorded her lead vocals at Kitty Committee Studio in London.

[37] The critic Annie Zaleski characterized the song as a "thundering ballad" and attributed this quality to what she described as melodramatic piano, mournful fiddle, and crescendoing electric guitars.

[7] Jordan Levin of the Miami Herald deemed it a "rebellious" tune,[38] and Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine wrote that the refrains feature prominent pop hooks.

[48] MTV's Kyle Anderson remarked that the lyricism was "surprisingly heavy" and the slow-burning arrangement made the emotional tension more palpable.

[46] Ash Amanda of the Edmonton Journal contended that "You're Not Sorry" retained the "feminine passion" of Swift's first album, but it represented a more contemplative and reflective tone that replaced the vengeful attitude of tracks like "Picture to Burn" or "Should've Said No".

[52] Positive reviews that complimented the production were from Keefe, who highlighted the prominent pop hooks,[39] and The Sudbury Star's John Law, who praised the "big-league" sound that would suggest new musical directions for Swift's artistry and "level the competition".

[53] Nick Catucci of New York said that he could come up with better songs in the last ten years, but he admitted that "this bittersweet bit of pop fluff succeeds splendidly" and remarked that Swift operated "on her own terms".

[56] Joe Coscarelli from The New York Times said he had admired Swift's songwriting but felt the original production "[plods] a little", and the "fresh and refined" re-recording made him more appreciative of the track.

[42] Rhian Daly of The Forty-Five selected it as one of Swift's most underrated songs, saying that the "rockier" sound and the "Nashville twang" suggested the diverse musical experimentations that contributed to her later works.

[58] She entered the stage with a magic trick by David Copperfield that made her appear in a seemingly empty cage suspended in the air.

[60] She began by singing "You're Not Sorry" while playing a black baby grand piano[61] and then covered snippets of Justin Timberlake's 2006 single "What Goes Around... Comes Around" while whipping her hair.

Towards the number's conclusion, Swift intermingled between the two songs as stage lights flashed, smoke swirled, and backup dancers performed hip-hop acrobatics.