Headfirst into Fearless

Over the years, Taylor Swift has proven that she can create hit albums out of any genre—whether it be the pop sensation that is “1989” or this year’s Album of The Year “folklore”, she has constantly outdone herself again and again. Let’s be real though, her success all truly started with country music. Before Billie Eilish took the title, she was once the youngest person to win Album of The Year at the Grammys when she took home the award in 2010 for her breakthrough record, “Fearless”.

Fast-forward to 2021, and now she is re-recording the same album that brought her into the spotlight. The re-recording will include songs that never made it into the original album, and she has recently released one of them: You All Over Me, featuring Maren Morris.

In light of all of this, we decided to look back on the most awarded country album in history to relive what made it so special. We don’t know how it gets better than this, but join us as we list down our top 5 songs from Fearless that made us have flashbacks to when nonexistent boys told us Forever and Always.

#5 - The Way I Loved You

Ah yes, The Way I Loved You A.K.A every marupok girl’s anthem. This song highlights those feelings of longing when you miss that one guy despite their toxicity. This song is peak country Taylor. With lyrics like “But I miss screaming and fighting” and “just so frustrating, intoxicating” it's clear that despite growing from that *specific* relationship and finding a guy who’ll hopefully be with her forevermore (we love you King Joe Alwyn), she’s always known how to write a catchy upbeat song regardless of the melodramatic subject matter.

#4 - Fearless

Fearless. The album’s namesake. This song literally makes us want to dance in a storm in our best dress, and we genuinely don’t know how it gets better than this (but it does-- we still have 3 more songs to talk about). This song talks about the highs of a teenage romance and the infatuation that comes with young love. This song was co-written by Liz Rose, Swift’s frequent collaborator and is most well-known for co-writing another little known Taylor song called You Belong With Me, so it’s no wonder this song slaps just as hard as the aforementioned. Taylor wrote this song with one thing in mind: the “fearlessness of falling in love”– that regardless of the doubt and feelings of hesitation when approaching an early relationship, you “jump anyway” because of the possibility of it working out. With lyrics like “And I don’t know how it gets better than this” and “It’s the first kiss, it’s flawless, it’s really something. It’s fearless”, she perfectly captures the childhood innocence and naivety of a high school relationship.

#3 - Fifteen

Here it is, one of the original Taylor Swift sawi songs. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, Fifteen will make you emotional. Surely it makes Taylor feel the same way as well because this song tells one of the heartbreaking personal experiences of her dear friend, Abigail. It serves both as a story and a piece of advice to young girls too! Taylor writes, “back then I swore I was gonna marry him someday, but I realized some bigger dreams of mine.” So remember: Boys aren’t everything and men are trash! We’re kidding, but this song does help us keep in mind that we shouldn’t live our lives shallowly. As she sings, “and when you’re fifteen, don’t forget to look before you fall.”

However, we’re yet again reminded through this song that making a mistake doesn’t mean your life is over. The lyrics say that “I’ve found that time can heal ‘most anything and you just might find who you’re supposed to be.” Everyone is allowed to learn and grow, so take a deep breath and give yourself a little grace to try all over again. It’s through messages like this that Taylor makes one of the most meaningful connections with her fans and listeners, so we would 100% recommend you experience this for yourself!

#2 - The Other Side Of The Door

The Other Side Of The Door being just a bonus track is beyond us. So many Swifties can agree that this song is better than the majority of the album. To some, it’s even higher than what we put as our #1 spot! This song talks about a girl pretending to be tough but actually wanting to fix things after a rough fight with a boy. Now, we’re extremely single, so while we can’t personally relate to this song, it definitely makes us feel like we’ve broken up with our irreplaceable soulmates-- that’s the Taylor Swift effect, everybody.

From the upbeat flow to the classic Taylor Swift imagery in the lyrics, everything about this song is just perfect. Plus, have we mentioned the incredible post-chorus at the end? It’s seriously the cherry on top of this already amazing song. We would not at all regret breaking our necks because of headbanging to this song, so it’s definitely worth a listen!

#1 - Love Story / You Belong With Me

It’s no surprise that these two iconic bops share the number one spot on our list. We just couldn’t choose one over the other! Taylor may have a lot of iconic songs, but you can’t deny that these two are classics that bring you nostalgia even if you’re not a Swiftie.

On one hand, Love Story was a song written in about twenty minutes as a result of Taylor feeling extra dramatic that day after her parents made it clear that they did not like the boy she did. She instantly connected her situation with William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and the rest was history. Until now, she performs the song at every single live show she does because she knows that it’s a fan-favorite.

Next, we have You Belong With Me, a song based on a conversation she heard between her friend and his partner on the phone. From there, she created a narrative wherein she’s in love with her best friend but he doesn’t exactly notice it because he’s taken. The song went on to have one of her most memorable music videos, which won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video, leading to the beginning of her “feud” with Kanye West after he took the mic from her when she won the award.

These two songs will forever be remembered as some of her best, and they essentially explain why Taylor became so popular in the first place. The way she is able to come across as relatable and optimistic draws people towards her, so it’s no wonder she’s still such a big name until now.

In conclusion, this album is untouchable

If this article does reach our target audience, then we're almost 100% sure that you all probably won’t be able to relate to any of the songs on Fearless. Regardless, we still jam to these songs because of how good they are. We step into Taylor’s shoes and sing these songs about breakups and first loves at the top of our lungs even though the biggest heartbreak we’ve probably ever gotten is failing a Math quiz.

With all that being said, we hope you all enjoyed being dragged headfirst into “Fearless”. From reimagining the classic story of Romeo and Juliet to shading Joe Jonas, you can’t deny how iconic this piece of art is. We can’t wait for the re-recorded version of it to experience this fairytale all over again, so mark your calendars for April 10 (PH time) because we know you’ll be dancing in the middle of the parking lot with us when it comes out.