Early into the album production, in a meeting where Borchetta and Swift discussed potential songs for Swift's debut album, she performed 'Tim McGraw' for Borchetta on fluke ukulele. Soon after, Scott Borchetta, CEO of Big Machine Records, signed Swift to his newly formed label. The writing process, as with ' Our Song', took place in approximately twenty minutes, and was executed with the use of a piano. McGraw's mentioning was a reference to Swift's favorite song, 'Can't Tell Me Nothin' from his 2004 album Live Like You Were Dying, rather than McGraw as a person. 'To her surprise, the first thing that came to mind was love of Tim McGraw's music.' Several personal details were listed for the song. It was written about all the different things that would remind the subject of Swift and their time spent together, once he departed. Rose said Swift showed up at her after school job, writing songs for Sony/ ATV Music, 'with the idea and the melody, knowing exactly what she wanted.' She desired for the song to capture the sweetness and sadness of loving and losing someone. In order to cope with the complicated emotions she was experiencing, Swift wrote the song. Swift knew that she and her senior boyfriend would break up at the end of the year when he left for college. She conceived the idea in the midst of her mathematics class: 'I was just sitting there, and I started humming this melody.' She then related the melody to a predicament she was encountering at the moment. Swift and Liz Rose wrote 'Tim McGraw' during Swift's freshman year at Hendersonville High School. By the time production wrapped, Swift had completed her first year of high school in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Near the end of 2005, Swift recorded songs for her self-titled debut album with producer Nathan Chapman. She signed with Sony/ATV in 2004 to become a professional songwriter, and with Big Machine Records in 2005 to become a country-music singer. In 2004, Pennsylvania-born Taylor Swift moved to Nashville, Tennessee at fourteen to pursue a career in country music. She included 'Tim McGraw' in the set list of her first headlining tour, the Fearless Tour (2009–2010) and performed it on her later tours: the Red Tour (2013), the Reputation Stadium Tour (2018), and the Eras Tour (2023). Swift promoted 'Tim McGraw' and her debut album with a six-month radio tour in 2006, and she performed the song at the 42nd Academy of Country Music Awards.

The accompanying music video, directed by Trey Fanjoy, sees Swift's character and the ex-boyfriend both reminiscing about a past summer romance in rural Tennessee. The single also charted at number 10 on Canada Country. '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.

Retrospective reviews regarded the single as a defining career moment and a blueprint for Swift's songwriting on subsequent albums Rolling Stone featured it on their list of the '100 Greatest Debut Singles of All Time' in 2020. Music critics acclaimed Swift's songwriting on 'Tim McGraw' for creating engaging and nostalgia-inducing music and lyrics. In the lyrics, Swift's character 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. Produced by Nathan Chapman, 'Tim McGraw' is an acoustic guitar-led country ballad that incorporates the '50s progression and elements of alternative rock. Big Machine Records released the song to US country radio on June 19, 2006. ' Tim McGraw' is the debut single by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, who wrote it with Liz Rose for her self-titled debut studio album (2006).

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