by Lucy Graves
Taylor Swift’s widely loved “Fearless” album from 2008 was rerecorded and released on Apr. 9 as “Fearless (Taylor’s Version).” After Swift departed from her previous label, Big Machine Records, she decided to reclaim ownership of her most successful album.
At first listen, you won’t hear much of a difference, but her vocal and musical talent have grown exponentially since 2008, when she was 18, and it shows. Beyond that, her reclaiming the extremely successful part of her life that was taken from her is inspiring.
All of the original bangers start off the record. “Fearless,” the album title track, is the same as it has always been — catchy. The instrumentals are more intense and well-developed. I have nothing but good things to say about this song; I loved it. Leaving her label was fearless, as is this song.
My favorite song from when I was very young to now was and will always be “Hey Stephen,” so much so that I even listened to the original nonstop during the lockdown. I’ve since listened to the rerecorded and then the original over and over again and can’t help but enjoy the original more. I think her young voice and the style of how she recorded this in 2007 just worked.
“You Belong With Me” has always been a crowd-pleaser and is an even better one now. The instrumentals are strong, distinct and made the song just a bit better.
The rest of the record past “The Other Side of the Door” does not consist of original “Fearless” songs. Swift knew people would want context, so prior to the release, she put out a statement on Instagram saying she had decided to give the whole story of “Fearless.”
The new songs included at the end are “You All Over Me,” “That’s When” and “Mr. Perfectly Fine.” They create a story we didn’t get to see at all from the first album, delving just a little more into what she was going through back then. It’s a beautiful story, and now even more so because of this reclamation of her work.
“White Horse” is mildly heartbreaking. It’s the first song on this record in which Swift delves into her own personal heartbreak. It’s the same naive feeling many teenagers get after their first breakup. At the end of the song, Swift sings she’s going to “find somebody someday who might actually treat [her] well,” and I think this was an exceptional rerecording because it seems she finally has at 31.
“Fifteen” will make you feel like it’s your first day of high school, or maybe you wish it felt like that. There’s something about Swift going back to that song, now 31 years old, that makes it special. “Love Story” is the reason I have unfulfilled expectations. It’s the same fairy-tale track people know and love, a little heightened by the rich composition it did not have previously.
Taylor Swift’s matured vocals create a deeper feeling in the rerecorded songs, with the same young, naive personality she has now abandoned. All these songs have shown how she has grown as a performer and master of her craft.
I can’t help but feel like this fearless attitude she once had is truly here with her now, more so than it was back then. This is absolutely, positively the most I’ve liked one of her new albums.
