As a teenager starting off her career as a country singer, Taylor Swift signed to a Nashville label called Big Machine records. From there, her career spiraled to success, leading to her writing smash singles and award-winning albums, which has led to some saying that Taylor Swift herself is the music industry. This could not have been foreseen when she first signed to this label and yet over time, as her success grew, so did the value of her albums and work. In response to this, Swift tried to buy her first six albums so they would be in her possession, not the possession of Big Machine Records. However, they refused, and eventually, Big Machine Records was bought by Scooter Braun, who then controlled the mass of Swift’s work. In response to this, Swift has started the journey of rerecording her first six albums, so she will own her past work. The first of the re-recording’s to be released was Swift’s sophomore album, “Fearless,” originally released in 2008 when Swift was eighteen years old. Thirteen years later on April 6, 2021, “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” was released. There is a remarkable difference in the maturity and skill in Swift’s singing and vocals and while the lyrics and instrumentals have remained similar to the originals, there is a similarity to Swift’s new work, such as her albums “Folklore” and “Evermore” in the production and style of singing. She has lost her once signature country twang but summons it at some points throughout the album. In addition to the re-recording of the original songs, Swift also released some songs from “the vault” or her unreleased mass of work. Swift is reclaiming her work and returning to her roots by rerecording her first six albums and many speculate that “1898” will be released. While fans eagerly wait for the next five rerecorded albums, they can certainly enjoy and cherish Swift’s beautiful new version of “Fearless” and should rightfully claim it as her own.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at St. John's chapter.