I’m a major Swiftie and think that Fearless (Taylor’s Version) was everything I hoped it would be and so much more. Here’s some of my favorite things about the album that double as reasons as to why you should listen to Fearless (Taylor’s Version) even if you feel like you got your Fearless fix in 2008 – when you were listening to the CD (purchased from Limited Too, obviously) in your childhood bedroom.
How clear everything sounds
I cannot stress enough how clear this album sounds compared to the original. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the original…but the production on this album is so crisp and you can definitely hear how Taylor’s voice has matured over the past decade.
The laugh in “Hey Stephen”
She kept the laugh in “Hey Stephen”! I would be lying if I told you that I wasn’t worried about her including the laugh at the 2:55 mark in “Hey Stephen”. To me, this was as essential to Fearless as her country accent is to her Taylor Swift album. So, I knew if she didn’t include it I would be severely disappointed. But she kept it and stayed true to the feel of the original album.
The lack of drama surrounding the album
In 2008, there was so much drama surrounding the drop of this album and Taylor’s then-recent breakup with Joe Jonas. I think the breakup overshadowed Taylor’s talent and contributed to the narrative that Taylor was just a teenage girl capitalizing off of her heartbreak. Being so far removed from the drama helped me realize how good this album really is…just ask Sophie Turner herself. That being said, we don’t talk enough about how she mimics the inflections of Joe Jonas’s own singing style in “Forever & Always”.
The vault tracks!!
I was SO excited to hear new (old) Taylor. I have been saying for forever now that if Taylor ever wanted to come back to country music, I would be obsessed. I think releasing her bonus tracks proved that even her “worst” songs are still album-worthy. Plus, they were produced by Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner – her folklore contributors – which I think completes the perfect mix of old Taylor and new.
The nostalgia
I bought this album in 2008 the weekend it came out and I’ve been obsessed with it ever since. It’s nostalgic for me in so many ways, in the sense that it reminds me both of being 8-years-old but also of being in high school, falling in love for the first time, and going through my first breakup. I remember being 8-years-old and obsessively watching the Grammy performance of Taylor and Miley Cyrus singing “Fifteen”. Listening to it now, a little older than Taylor was during that performance, makes me cry.
Getting to listen to Fearless for the first time again
I love Taylor Swift and getting to listen to her album for the first time again is such a cool experience. I loved getting to hear some of my favorite songs again in a new light and realizing that I relate to some that I’ve never really given much thought to more now in my current stage of life. Also, they all feel like brand new songs, which means I get to re-associate them with my current crushes without being haunted by the ghost of boyfriends past.