Music / Fearless

"With you I'd dance in a storm in my best dress, fearless…"

^{Click to see the cover for Fearless (Taylor's Version) (2021)}

Click here to see the logo for Fearless (Taylor's Version) on Wikipedia

"To me, Fearless is not the absence of fear. It's not being completely unafraid. To me, Fearless is having fears, Fearless is having doubts. Lots of them. [...] I think loving someone despite what people think is Fearless. I think allowing yourself to cry on the bathroom floor is Fearless. Letting go is Fearless. Then, moving on and being alright... That's Fearless too. But no matter what love throws at you, you have to believe in it. You have to believe in love stories and prince charmings and happily ever after. That's why I write these songs. Because I think love is Fearless."

— The liner notes to the Platinum Edition

Fearless is the second full album by American Singer-Songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released through Big Machine Records on November 11, 2008, when Swift was eighteen years old. A country-pop album, Fearless incorporates both genres, combining banjo, fiddle, and twangy guitar with themes of teenage heartache and catchy hooks.

The album's Radio Friendliness made it an instant hit; it debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and had sold over half a million copies by the end of its first week. It was also a critical darling, winning Grammys, Country Music Association Awards, and Academy of Country Music Awards, making it the most awarded country album in history—and making Swift, then 20 years old, the youngest artist to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year at the time. Eight of its tracks were written by Swift alone, with others co-written by artists including Liz Rose and Hillary Lindsey.

In 2017, NPR named Fearless the 99th Greatest Album Made by a Woman, citing its streamlined composition and significance to its listenership of young women, who finally felt that their voices were being represented in country music, a scene dominated at the time by mostly middle-aged male musicians.

A re-recording of the album, with the original tracklist, all the bonus tracks from the deluxe edition, and six previously unreleased tracks "from the vault", called Fearless (Taylor's Version), was released on April 9, 2021, beginning Swift's plan to re-record her first six albums to regain full control over their use from the client her former record label had sold them to.

Its popular single "You Belong with Me" has its own page.

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Preceded by Taylor Swift, succeeded by Speak Now.

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Tracklist^note singles italicized

1. "Fearless" (4:01)
2. "Fifteen" (4:54)
3. "Love Story" (3:54)
4. "Hey Stephen" (3:55)
5. "White Horse" (4:14)
6. "You Belong with Me" (3:51)
7. "Breathe" (featuring Colbie Caillat) (4:23)
8. "Tell Me Why" (3:20)
9. "You're Not Sorry" (4:21)
10. "The Way I Loved You" (4:04)
11. "Forever & Always" (3:45)
12. "The Best Day" (4:05)
13. "Change" (4:40)
14. "Jump Then Fall" (Bonus Track) (3:58)
15. "Untouchable" (Bonus Track) (5:12)
16. "Forever & Always" (Piano Version) (Bonus Track) (4:38)
17. "Come In With The Rain" (Bonus Track) (3:57)
18. "Superstar" (Bonus Track) (4:24)
19. "The Other Side of the Door" (Bonus Track) (3:58)
20. "Today Was a Fairy Tale" (Bonus Track) (4:02)
21. "You All Over Me" (featuring Maren Morris) (From The Vault) (3:41)
22. "Mr. Perfectly Fine" (From The Vault) (4:38)
23. "We Were Happy" (From The Vault) (4:04)
24. "That's When" (featuring Keith Urban) (From The Vault) (3:09)
25. "Don't You" (From The Vault) (3:29)
26. "Bye Bye Baby" (From The Vault) (4:02)
27. "If This Was A Movie" (Bonus track) (3:57)

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"There's something 'bout the way the tropes look when it's just rained..."

• Accent Upon The Wrong Syllable: Combined with a strange line-break, the bridge of "Fearless" is hard to decipher:
  Well you stood there with me in the door—
  —way, my hands shake, I'm not usually this way
• Adaptational Alternate Ending: "Love Story" is an homage to Romeo and Juliet, but whereas both protagonists die in the play, the song has an unexpected Happy Ending.
• Advertised Extra: Colbie Caillat on "Breathe". It's supposed to be a duet, but Colbie's voice is really hard to hear; some might be surprised that she's on the track.
• Age-Progression Song: The first verse of "The Best Day" takes place with Taylor at five years old. The next skips to 13, and the rest is from the perspective of the adult Taylor.
• Album Closure: The record ends with "Change," a song to Swift's band about how they will overcome all the obstacles holding them back and go on to greater things. (This would get a triumphant Sequel Song in the closing track to her next album, Speak Now.)
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: In "The Way I Loved You", though she expresses genuine affection for her new boyfriend (who is very much a Nice Guy) the narrator still reminisces passionately about the excitement of "screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain" with her bad-boy ex.
• Arc Number: Taylor's favorite number, 13, gets a couple references:
  • The standard edition has thirteen tracks.
  • The second verse of "The Best Day" specifies that Taylor is now thirteen.
  • Fearless (Taylor's Version) adds another reference: The total number of songs is 26, so the physical edition is split into two 13-track discs.
• Balcony Wooing Scene: Referenced in "Love Story", where the Romeo character throws pebbles at the POV character's window in a Star-Crossed Lovers scenario. She also claims to have first seen him from her balcony, overlooking a party.
• Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: The conflict in "Love Story" is provided by the singer's father, who doesn't want the lovers to be together.
  My daddy said, "Stay away from Juliet"
• Break-Up Song:
  • "You're Not Sorry," an accusation to a former lover.
  • "White Horse," where she warns her ex not to try to come after her because she's gone and not coming back.
  • "Forever & Always," an ironic dig at a dishonest ex.
  • "Breathe," where the singer laments the end of a love she thought was forever.
  • "You All Over Me" is a lament about how the singer is not over her ex.
  • "Mr. Perfectly Fine" is about the narrator being hurt that her ex is moving on so quickly after their relationship and lamenting their shared history and potential future.
  • "We Were Happy" is about the narrator falling out of love and breaking up with a boy who she knew was about to propose to her.
  • "Don't You" is another song where narrator is spiteful that her ex moving on so quickly and ignoring their shared history together.
  • "Bye Bye Baby" has the singer saying goodbye to the good time she had with her ex.
• Celeb Crush: "SuperStar" (on the Platinum Edition) is about having a crush on a rock star.
  You smile that beautiful smile and all the girls in the front row
  Scream your name ...
  So dim that spotlight, tell me things like
  I can't take my eyes off of you
  I'm no one special, just another wide-eyed girl
  Who's desperately in love with you
  Give me a photograph to hang on my wall, superstar
• Country Music: It's very much a country album, despite being on the pop-ier end of the spectrum. It was crowned Album of the Year at two separate country award ceremonies.
• Dance of Romance:
  • In "Fearless," Taylor sings about wanting to dance with her lover in various situations.
    There's a glow off the pavement, you walk me to the car
    And you know I wanna ask you to dance right there
    In the middle of the parking lot
  • In the "Love Story" video, Taylor and her love interest fall for each other while dancing at a party.
• The Diss Track: "Forever & Always" is this towards Joe Jonas for leaving her for Camilla Belle; she refers to him as "a scared little boy".
• Easter Egg: The "random" capitalized letters in the liner notes spell out secret messages.
• Face on the Cover: Swift facing to the side with her eyes closed and long hair being blown behind her. Taylor's Version recreates this with her face in the opposite direction, her appearing to be blown by the natural wind rather than the obvious big fan of the original, her arms raised instead of by her sides, and going full sepia-tone with the coloration.
• Fairytale Motifs: Fairytale imagery features heavily on the album. Swift explores the disconnect "between fairy tales and the reality of love": "We're raised as little girls to think that we're a princess and that Prince Charming is going to sweep us off our feet". Seen in "Love Story" "White Horse" especially.
• Fantasy Sequence: Most of the "Love Story" video is this. Taylor is walking outside her high school when she sees a beautiful boy under a tree, and she begins to fantasize about meeting him under Romeo and Juliet-style circumstances.
• Fix Fic: "Love Story" is, by her own admission, this for Romeo and Juliet. In some live performances, she talks about how she read the play in school and was moved to write a version where everything works out for the kids and they get to live Happily Ever After.
  Taylor: I hope it's okay with you... but I changed the ending.
• Gorgeous Period Dress: In cream tones for the "Love Story" music video. The "Fearless" music video shows that she also wears dresses like these when she performs the song at concerts.
• Gossipy Hens: Taylor learns about her boyfriend's infidelity through her best friend in the "White Horse" music video.
• Happy Ending: "Love Story" ends with her boyfriend working things out with her dad and proposing to her.
  I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress
  It's a love story, baby, just say 'yes'
• The Insomniac: In "The Way I Loved You," the narrator loses sleep over her ex she still loves.
  But I miss screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain
  And it's 2 a.m. and I'm cursing your name
• I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine: The video for "Fifteen" co-stars one Abigail Anderson, Swift's high school friend who is named in the song's lyrics.
• Love at First Sight: In "Love Story," Taylor meets a boy at a party and falls in love then and there.
• Love Makes You Crazy: "The Way I Loved You":
  You're so in love that you act insane
  And that's the way I loved you
• Lyrical Shoehorn: "Fearless": "And I don't know why, but with you I'd dance / In a storm in my best dress, fearless". On top of that, nearly half of the line breaks are in odd places.
• The Masochism Tango: The kind of love she misses in "The Way I Loved You".
  But I miss screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain
  And it's 2am and I'm cursing your name
  You're so in love that you act insane
  And that's the way I loved you
• Mixed Metaphor: "Love Story" is often criticized for randomly referencing The Scarlet Letter in an otherwise Romeo and Juliet-themed song.
• Ode to Youth: "Fifteen" is about all the joys and tribulations of being a high school freshman.
  Wish you could go back
  And tell yourself what you know now
• One-Word Title: Just Fearless.
• Parental Love Song: "The Best Day" is about Taylor and her mother and the good times they had as she grew up. She also affectionately mentions her father (and brother) in the last verse.
  And I didn't know if you knew
  So I'm taking this chance to say
  That I had the best day with you today
• Performance Video: "Change" and "Fearless" each have one.
• Princess Phase: Mentioned specifically in "The Best Day," when describing early memories of her and her mother.
  There is a video I found from back when I was three ...
  It's the age of princesses and pirate ships and the seven dwarfs
• Real Life Writes the Plot: Even more so than on her later albums.
  • "Fifteen" is based on Taylor's experience of starting high school, meeting her best friend, and navigating dating as a teen.
    You sit in class next to a redhead named Abigail
    And soon enough you're best friends
    Laughing at the other girls who think they're so cool
• Rearrange the Song: Some of the singles were remixed for airplay on stations less friendly to country music:
  • "Love Story", in particular, drops the banjo and strings, pushes the bass and drums forward, distorts the vocals more so than the original, and adds a brief electric guitar solo.^note This is also how the song is performed in concert.
  • "You Belong With Me" replaces the banjo with electric guitar.
    • For the Red tour, Swift herself rearranged the song entirely as a doo-wop number.
  • Also seen on the deluxe version of Fearless, where "Forever & Always" appears both as an up-tempo pop song and as a slowed-down solo piano piece.
• Regal Ringlets: Her character in the "Love Story" video sports them, to go with her Gorgeous Period Dress.
• Romantic Rain:
  • A motif throughout the Title Track. In the chorus, Swift declares, "with you I'd dance / In a storm in my best dress," and the song begins with the line:
    There's something 'bout the way the street looks when it's just rained
  • "The Way I Loved You" mentions "kissing in the rain" as a high point of a relationship.
  • "Hey Stephen":
    Can't help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain
• Room Full of Crazy: The image accompanying "You're Not Sorry" in the liner notes shows Taylor sitting on the floor in the bathroom, with "I'm Sorry" scribbled around her on the walls and the tub, over and over.
• Sarcasm Mode: "Mr. Perfectly Fine" has a lot of this, as it's a Break-Up Song in which the narrator is still very hurt. She tells him how she's still heartbroken over his cruelty and disloyalty and is still dealing with the emotional baggage of their relationship... but, no, seriously, she's so glad to know he's doing well.
  It takes everything in me just to get up each day,
  but it's wonderful to see that you're okay!
• Second-Person Narration: "Fifteen", despite being clearly autobiographical, switches between this and first person.
  You take a deep breath and you walk through the doors
  It's the morning of your very first day
• Shout-Out to Shakespeare: "Love Story," by Taylor's own admission, is a Fix Fic for Romeo and Juliet.
  That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles
  And my daddy said, "Stay away from Juliet."
• Silly Love Songs:
  • "Fearless" is a song about her and her love interest being fearlessly in love and doing silly romantic things like dancing in a storm.
  • "Love Story" lampshades itself as this.
    You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess
    It's a love story, baby, just say "yes"
  • Also lampshaded in "Hey Stephen."
    All those other girls, well they're beautiful, but would they write a song for you?^note cue Taylor chuckling at the deliberate corniness of this line
  • "Jump Then Fall" is about all the things she loves about her love interest and proclaiming that she will catch them when they "jump then fall".
  • "Superstar"'s narrator is in love with a singer and wants them to see her as equally special.
  • "Today Was a Fairytale" is about a great date with a guy who she is falling in love with.
  • "That's When", while more angsty then some examples, is a song about the narrator and her love interest (sung by Keith Urban) reconciling and appreciating the good parts of their relationship.
• Small Town Boredom:
  • Implied in "Fifteen":
    We'll be outta here soon as we can
  • Particularly in "White Horse".
    This ain't Hollywood, this is a small town
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Subverted. The teens in "Love Story," like in its inspiration, Romeo and Juliet, are kept apart by their families. But in the end the boy works things out with Taylor's father and is allowed to propose to her.
• Stepford Smiler:
  • She pretends to be happy with her new boyfriend in "The Way I Loved You" while missing her ex.
  He can't see the smile I'm faking
  And my heart's not breaking
  Cause I'm not feeling anything at all
  • In "You Belong With Me", she notices her love interest being unhappy with his girlfriend and how he is trying to hide it but she sees through his lies.
  And you've got a smile
  That can light up this whole town
  I haven't seen it in a while
  Since she brought you down
  You say you're fine, I know you better than that
  Hey, what you doing with a girl like that?
• Symbolic Serene Submersion: The image that accompanies "Breathe" in the liner notes to shows Taylor floating under the surface of the water, her gauzy dress billowing out around her. The song's lyrics describe a difficult breakup, with Taylor lamenting, "I can't breathe without you."
• Title Track: The album was named after its first track, "Fearless."
• Undercrank: Used for no freaking reason in the end of the "Fearless" video. It's just a curtain going down.
• White Stallion: "White Horse":
  I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairytale
  I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet
  Lead her up the stairwell ...
  Now it's too late for you and your white horse
  To come around
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Her self-portrayal in "White Horse", all the way to the sad ending.

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"'Cause we were both young when I first saw you"