25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Taylor Swift fans had no idea iconic song was originally written for movie
Taylor Swift fans have been left baffled after discovering one of the singer's tracks was actually written to be part of a 2013 film - and it's not one you'd expect
Taylor Swift fans are just discovering the origins of one of her lesser-known songs. The singer-songwriter has 11 studio albums to her name and has released hundreds of songs, including tracks that have been written as part of film soundtracks or standalone singles that don't appear on her albums.
But one little-known Taylor Swift track has got people talking lately, as some of her fans have only just found out how it came into existence. Following the 2019 dispute over the ownership of Swift's back catalogue, the singer began re-recording some of her earlier albums and often included unreleased tracks that hadn't been on the original release.
On the Tangerine Edition of 1989 (Taylor's Version), released in 2023, Swift included a track titled Sweeter Than Fiction. She also performed it live for the first time during her Eras Tour in Amsterdam in 2024.
But although the song had never appeared on an album before, it was not a new song - and it was actually released in 2013 as part of the soundtrack for a very unlikely film.
In a TikTok clip shared by the podcast Talk of the Townsends, co-hosts Benedict and Hannah Townsend talk about the little-known song and reveal that it was created for the 2013 film, One Chance.
One Chance is a biographical film about Britain's Got Talent winner and opera singer Paul Potts. It stars James Corden as the singer and Julie Walters as Paul's mother, Yvonne.
In the video, Hannah stated: "I genuinely think a Taylor Swift fact that a lot of people won't know is that she wrote Sweeter Than Fiction for the Paul Potts movie.
"At the time, Taylor Swift was out of cycle, meaning she wasn't releasing any more music until the next album. But the Paul Potts story, with James Corden, apparently, she was like, 'I have to be involved in that'. I'm not sure if she was just so enthralled with Paul Potts and his story.
"So she wrote Sweeter Than Fiction [for it]. And she sang it on The Eras Tour, I believe it was in Amsterdam. She sang Sweeter Than Fiction. A song from the Paul Potts movie was sung on The Eras Tour."
Swift previously spoke about wanting to be involved in the film during an interview with BBC Newsbeat in 2013, where she said her record label didn't want her to take on the project until she begged them to be a part of it.
She said: "My management, my label were like, 'No new music until the next album comes out.' Then I saw the movie and I was like, 'I have to be a part of this.'
"I think this movie is so incredible, it's funny, it's adorable, it's heart-warming, and I'm lucky to be a part of it."
The song even earned Swift a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song, although it lost out to Ordinary Love by U2, which was written for Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.
Commenters on the Townsends' video were baffled to learn of the song's origin. Even some who declared it their "favourite Taylor Swift song" had no idea where it came from.
One person said: "I do love Taylor, but sometimes I am just flabbergasted by some of the projects she's been involved in." Another added: "This is how I learn there's a whole Paul Potts movie."
