Taylor Swift’s second studio album Fearless is a classic. I believe that 20 years, or more, from now, the iconic songs from this album will still be playing on the radio. This wasn’t a super hard ranking for me. There are clear songs that deserve to be at the top of the list, and other songs that naturally fall to the bottom. Here is the definitive ranking of Taylor Swift’s Fearless:
18. SuperStar This bonus track is sappy and innocent but doesn’t stick out on the album by any means. It’s a good song, but a little bland.
17. Jump Then Fall This song is sweet, and we all know I love a banjo moment. But, that’s about it.
16. Change This song gave Swift her first U.S. top 10 as being the official anthem for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team. I don’t have much to say about this song, but I’m glad it put Swift on the charts.
15. Come In With The Rain This song gives the listener a little taste of the pop-country sound we all know Swift for. The song is okay, but feels unbalanced. I think this would sound much better with just an acoustic guitar rather than a combination of many different instruments and sounds. It’s a bit overwhelming.
14. You’re Not Sorry This song feels a little melodramatic to me. It’s backed by intense strings and keys and similar to “Come In With The Rain,” I think it might sound better if simplified.
13. Breathe (feat. Colbie Caillat) This song, about a falling out between friends, is largely forgettable. It’s a frequent skip for me.
12. The Other Side Of The Door Speaking of melodrama, I think it works with this one. The song is backed by great guitar and banjo moments, and we all know I love that.
11. Untouchable While this is technically a cover of the Luna Halo song, upon hearing this it’s hard to imagine that Swift didn’t write this. Personally, I really like how the song was mixed and produced. It’s not as big or grand as some of the other songs on the album and it works.
10. The Best Day An ode to Swift’s mother, this song is sweet, happy, and innocent. It’s an easy song to listen to and makes me smile.
9. Tell Me Why I’m realizing Fearless loves a banjo moment. This song is uptempo and angry, and I love sassy Swift. This is on the list of many songs I scream-sing along with Swift. All the songs ranked below this one are unmemorable, and here’s where we get into some of the true bops on the album.
8. Fifteen I feel genuinely bad for ranking this number eight. I love this song, but this just came down to personal preference. This song brings me back to wandering through a Justice store when I was younger and staring out the window pretending I’m the main character. I love the nostalgia this song brings.
7. The Way I Loved You This song recently went viral on Tik Tok, surging the song’s popularity. Despite this, “The Way I Loved You” is a great song. It’s a head-banger with intense orchestrations. Swift is angry and you can hear it in her vocals. I love to scream this song at the top of my lungs.
6. Hey Stephen I think the songwriting in this song is just phenomenal. About a date-gone-right, this song is sickly sweet and cute, but it totally works. The song is also musically simple compared to the rest of the album, which I think offers the listener a much-needed break.
5. Forever & Always This song made Swift feel like a true pop star. Lyrically, the song is witty and clever and does a fantastic job telling the story of a relationship falling apart. I absolutely love the electric guitar solo that precedes the bridge. This song makes me wanna jump around my bedroom and sing with Swift.
4. White Horse This track is my personal favorite on the album. I think it’s fairy-tale like sound reminds me of Speak Now. This heartbreaking love ballad is grounded and raw, in contrast to the rather peppy and sweet sound of the rest of Fearless. This song follows the fifth track pattern in which the fifth track on all of Swift’s albums are the most emotional and vulnerable.
3. Fearless The titular song is just everything you want it to be. It’s clear that Speak Now’s “Mine” and Red’s “State of Grace” are evolutions of “Fearless.” The track has an amazing bridge and the rock-like orchestrations mixed with Swift’s distinct pop sound just works so well.
2. Love Story As I’m reminiscing on all my memories associated with Swift and her music, I think this is the first song of hers I ever heard, and I’m glad it was. This remains one of my all time favorite songs of hers–for good reason. Swift’s interpretation of Romeo and Juliet provides the basis for this song that continues to be played on the radio 12 years later. The world got their first taste of Swift’s storytelling here. This song laid the foundation for her whole career and she only gets better from here. This song is a classic.
1. You Belong With Me This song was not born out of one of Swift’s own experiences, but a friend’s. I don’t think Swift realized in the moment that this song would become what it is today. I don’t know a single person that doesn’t know all the lyrics to this song. The lyrics are iconic and are pop culture moments in themselves. Here, Swift also provides this high school love story to the audience, which of course becomes a trope she resorts back to over the next 12 years and continues to perfect and build upon (see folklore’s “cardigan,” “august,” and “betty”). This song makes the listener the main character, and that’s really the only way to describe it. Swift embodies this feeling of unrequited love here, a feeling I’m assuming most of us have felt before, and does it perfectly. “You Belong With Me” is one of Swift’s greatest hits ever, and it should be. It’s just delightful.
Swift’s Fearless is filled with many unmemorable songs, but was still able to produce some of Swift’s most iconic songs of all time. If you don’t love “You Belong With Me” or “Love Story,” you’re lying to yourself. This album skyrocketed Swift’s fame and for good reason. Listen to Fearless ranked in this order here.