If you are anything like me, you are counting down the days until April 9th. According to the capitalized letters in Taylor Swift’s Instagram announcement of “Love Story: Taylor’s Version,” fans can expect something huge on that day. Hopefully, and in line with her history of hiding Easter eggs and secret messages, April 9th will be the day she releases the re-recorded version of her Fearless album.
This is huge, I know. I have been listening to Taylor since the days of “Tim McGraw.” I used to bring my copy of Fearless to P.E. class and beg my teacher to play it during warm-ups. Luckily, he was a fellow Swiftie, so I pranced around the gym pretending I was in the “You Belong With Me” music video. It was glorious.
Taylor’s music has been the soundtrack playing in the background during every stage of my life as I have moved from a kid, to a teen, and now to a 21-year-old young adult. When I first listened to Fearless, I related the songs to my adolescent crushes and the heartbreaks I saw on TV. As I have grown and gained more experiences, the more personally relatable the songs have become. But I am certain, even after hearing Taylor’s matured voice sing some of her earliest tracks, I will still be transported back to my own early memories of notes passed around the playground and picking out the best Valentine from the box for that special someone.
The power in Taylor Swift’s music, at least in my view, is how it transcends time. While in her song “The Best Day,” I once identified more with the young girl living a beautiful and imaginative childhood, I am grown now. Like Taylor by the end of the song, “Now I know why all the trees change in the fall.”
Will I revert to my child self when I hear the album? Will I find entirely new meanings in hearing the new recordings? I have no idea. And that is what is most exciting. If you’re now the slightest bit invested in what my experience will be, don’t worry—a full album review is certainly in store.
