Beat logo

Goodbye, Fearless

Hello, Fearless (Taylor's Version)

By S. FrazerPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
5

It's been one hell of a year for Taylor Swift. Since July of 2020, she's released two chart-topping albums, graced the cover of Rolling Stone with Paul McCartney, and won the coveted Grammy for Album of the Year. And tonight at midnight, her fans will begin our journey into the re-recordings of Swift’s first six albums. More on the reasoning behind that here.

Swift has chosen to start with Fearless, first released in 2008. The most awarded album in the history of country music, Fearless won Album of the Year at the Grammys, the Country Music Association Awards, and the Academy of Country Music Awards. While it was her second studio album, following Taylor Swift in 2006, it's the first she's gone back and re-recorded.

Swift announced the completion of this album on February 11th, with a hidden message to fans containing its release date, April 9th. We were told that Fearless (Taylor's Version) would include six new songs written by Swift in her youth, unreleased tunes "from the vault" that hadn't made it into the original album.

That night, Swift released the re-recorded version of her 2008 hit "Love Story," which has been praised as a nostalgic but fresh take on the original album's lead single.

Since then, Swift has released two of the album’s "From the Vault" songs, “You All Over Me” and “Mr. Perfectly Fine.”

On March 26th, Swift dropped the first of these new songs, "You All Over Me," featuring country singer Maren Morris.

As has been the case with much of Swift's more recent music, initially, I was underwhelmed by this song, which was slow and a bit country for my taste. But, as always, I found myself sucked in a few days later. (I don’t know how she does that; I’ll listen to something a couple of times trying to get a taste for it, not really feel it, and then find myself humming the tune weeks later.)

Now I’m obsessed with this song. It has a soft, soothing melody that's really quite lovely once you get used to it.

And Maren Morris did a phenomenal job. At first, I couldn't even tell that there was someone else singing. When I finally caught the background vocals, I thought it seemed a bit pointless to have included such a subtle feature. But the two women harmonize beautifully together, and Maren's minimal vocals add so much to the song.

Last week, the titles of the album’s other new songs were released in a cryptic video posted by Swift, and fans got to work deciphering them before the singer released the full track list the next day.

And yesterday, Swift had fans buzzing about her second song from the vault, "Mr. Perfectly Fine," believed to have been written about ex-boyfriend Joe Jonas. Swift acknowledged this return to the drama of her past in a humorous Twitter post announcing the song's release.

The speculation surrounding the song's inspiration was heightened after Joe's wife, actress Sophie Turner, reacted positively to it in a post that was then shared by the Game of Thrones-loving Swift.

I, too, am forever bending the knee to the Queen in the North.

Unlike "You All Over Me," this song cemented itself in my head immediately, and it's been playing on repeat ever since. It's fun, catchy, and upbeat. Swift gives us a glimpse back at our own youthful relationships in a way that's nostalgic and still relatable thirteen years later. The lyrics to this song are simple, but they're also deep, clever, and expressive.

And now we've gotten to hear a bit of "You Belong With Me (Taylor's Version)" from singers Olivia Rodrigo and Conan Gray. This song is one of Swift's most iconic and is sure to be something listeners pay special attention to when the album drops.

But tonight isn't just about the 26 new songs we'll be getting. It's also about the 19 we'll be losing. Swift is re-recording these albums so that she can own her music and so that her fans can stream their favorite songs without profiting the men who own the originals. Which means that for many of Swift's loyal fans, this night signals a farewell to Fearless.

This is a bittersweet moment, borne out of solidarity with the singer rather than any desire to leave the original album behind. Many of us grew up with Swift and experienced these eras with her. While it’s exciting to take this trip down memory lane and immerse ourselves in a whole new listening experience, it's sad to say goodbye to the recordings we cherished for so long.

I thought it would be difficult to move on from these beloved albums, but these first few songs have me feeling excited and optimistic about Swift's re-recording project. I'm confident that Swift has pulled this off. I can't wait to see what she has in store for us tonight. And she has me looking forward to the re-recordings of albums with which I'm more familiar, like 1989 and reputation.

Goodbye, Fearless. Hello, Fearless (Taylor's Version)!

album reviews
5

About the Creator

S. Frazer

She/her • 29 • Aspiring writer

Email: [email protected]

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.