What Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” Means To Me
It seems like yesterday that I got my first ever CD, Taylor Swift’s (in my opinion) most iconic album “Fearless”--a huge thing during 2010 that my 4-year-old self could barely understand. However, as soon as I inserted the disc and pressed play on the album’s first track, I became a lifelong Swiftie. I learned the lyrics to ballads like “You Belong With Me” and “Love Story.” I watched music videos where Swift sang about heartbreak, bad breakups, first loves--things that I had no experience with as a kid but somehow deeply resonated with me.
If you are a fan of Swift’s, you might know that she recently announced that she would be re-recording many of her most popular albums, including “Fearless,” which she released on April 9 and has renamed “Fearless (Taylor’s Version).” Her announcement came after her former record label, Big Machine Label Group, was sold to Ithaca Holdings. Swift had recorded her first six albums with Big Machine and was unaware of the company’s sale. When she attempted to buy back her albums, the company’s terms became intolerable--essentially forcing Swift to try and “earn back” her masters. Swift has since signed with a new label, under which she has produced her more recent albums, “Lover,” “Folklore” and “Evermore.” This is the first of her older albums that she has re-recorded, and many fans are excited to see what comes next.
“Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” is undoubtedly different from the 2008 original, but as I listened to it, I admired the way Swift was able to stay faithful to the songs I grew up belting out. I will admit to not really liking Swift’s newer albums and when she announced this one, I was skeptical as to whether it would stay true to the songs I knew and loved. This version of “Fearless,” is Swift’s way of leveraging the image that many people have of her (dramatic, boy-obsessed) and demonstrating through her fandom and music how themes of love and frustration are universal, and not specific to young women.
The reason “Fearless” remains such a meaningful album to me is because it draws on the wistfulness and naïveté that I related to as a child, only to reveal that the world is not the utopia many (including myself) may originally think it is. Swift addresses it through the context of failed relationships and the loathsome people she encounters, crafting a particular fantasy only to reveal the reality. In a year that has given so many people reasons to lose faith in humanity, from a devastating pandemic to heightened awareness surrounding systemic injustice, Swift’s new release is timely.