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On the title track "Fearless," [Taylor Swift] gushes about how the rain-soaked pavement glistens in the moonlight, her date runs his hands through his hair and how she gets all goosepimply in anticipation of a good-night smooch at the end of a perfect night. If you didn't pick it up on her debut, Swift is a stickler for details and sticky sweet on romance. So if you have the lucky opportunity to court her, make sure you're keeping mental notes on the awkward silence, nervous quirks and the inclement weather that transpire or you're done for. True, the song is more frivolous than fearless but, alas, so is love. While she comes off as being more cutesy than cathartic during her declaration of "I don't know why, but with you I'd dance in as storm in my best dress," Swift captures the moment with so much wide-eyed innocence and even promise, that it's hard not to root for her.
Shakespeare must be spinning in his grave every time someone plays "Love Story," Swift's radical revision of "Romeo and Juliet," which suffers from high schmaltz and a low body count. Swift has the audacity to rewrite literature's most celebrated romantic tragedy - with a happy ending, no less. Can't wait to see her take on "Hamlet." "Hey Stephen" is about a real-life secret crush Swift has, which, obviously, isn't that much of a secret anymore. The listener is caught up in Swift's exuberance and charm, especially when she gushes, "Hey Stephen, I could give you fifty reasons why I should be the one you choose/All those other girls, well, they're beautiful but would they write a song for you?" And, in the end, Swift's loose and playful confession is enough to make anybody blush.
"Fearless"
Taylor Swift
Big Machine Records
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Taylor Swift might live in a bubble, but what a bubble it is.
Swift is a precocious teen who embodies the Alfred Lord Tennyson sentiment "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." While her youthful, warm voice is sweet but nothing special, she sings her lovelorn tales of first kisses, secret crushes, romantic breakups and unrequited advances with so much sincerity and enthusiasm that it's hard for those who are young and young at heart not to connect with her.
At first glance, the title "Fearless" sounds as if it would be better suited for a band of heavy-metal head-bangers like Disturbed, not a doe-eyed, curly-haired blond who believes in happily ever after.
Then again, when you listen to her sophomore release, "Fearless" is actually a gutsy move in a world where middle-age Svengalis are often pulling the strings and the mighty Disney moguls are calling all the shots, transforming teens into one of two things - Lolita divas or real-life fashion dolls.
Despite having her likeness molded in 12-inch plastic (so tweens can re-enact Joe Jonas breaking up with the triple-platinum, country-pop phenom on his cell phone), Swift is no Lolita diva or fashion doll. She is very much her own person, and she is very real.
Swift acts her age, which is refreshing, but at times irritating. And she sings about what she knows, about being a teenager. And she does it without talking down to her peers or gyrating in naughty schoolgirl outfits in an effort to get old men in trench coats hot under the collar. With Swift writing eight of the 13 tracks by herself (and collaborating with others for all the rest), "Fearless" is personal and personable, while boasting plenty of personality to boot.
On the title track "Fearless," Swift gushes about how the rain-soaked pavement glistens in the moonlight, her date runs his hands through his hair and how she gets all goosepimply in anticipation of a good-night smooch at the end of a perfect night. If you didn't pick it up on her debut, Swift is a stickler for details and sticky sweet on romance. So if you have the lucky opportunity to court her, make sure you're keeping mental notes on the awkward silence, nervous quirks and the inclement weather that transpire or you're done for. True, the song is more frivolous than fearless but, alas, so is love. While she comes off as being more cutesy than cathartic during her declaration of "I don't know why, but with you I'd dance in as storm in my best dress," Swift captures the moment with so much wide-eyed innocence and even promise, that it's hard not to root for her.
Freshmen girl meets boy. Freshman girl loses virginity to boy. Boy doesn't want to have anything to do with freshmen girl. Freshmen girl and her best friend both cry over boy. So goes "Fifteen," written about Swift's best friend in high school, Abigail, who she mentions by her real name. Swift successfully takes us into the mind-set of a 15-year-old (her hopes, dreams, fears and disappointments) without scandalizing it, sanitizing it or sprucing it up. Only 18, she is able to look at back her idealistic days as a awkward teen (which are not that far behind her), forthrightly and with mature hindsight, as evident in the winning line, "Back then, I swore I was gonna/Marry him someday/But I realized something bigger/Dreams of mine/And Abigail gave everything/She had to a boy/Who changed his mind/And we both cried."
Shakespeare must be spinning in his grave every time someone plays "Love Story," Swift's radical revision of "Romeo and Juliet," which suffers from high schmaltz and a low body count. Swift has the audacity to rewrite literature's most celebrated romantic tragedy - with a happy ending, no less. Can't wait to see her take on "Hamlet." "Hey Stephen" is about a real-life secret crush Swift has, which, obviously, isn't that much of a secret anymore. The listener is caught up in Swift's exuberance and charm, especially when she gushes, "Hey Stephen, I could give you fifty reasons why I should be the one you choose/All those other girls, well, they're beautiful but would they write a song for you?" And, in the end, Swift's loose and playful confession is enough to make anybody blush.
Despite sounding like a hasty rewrite of "Teardrops on My Guitar," the hook-laden gem "You Belong with Me" is an irresistible keeper. Sick and tired of being in the background and admiring a male friend (who is already spoken for) from afar, Swift gives a strong case why the two were made for each other. The listener knows the guy's a complete blockhead if he doesn't come around fast.
Swift gives Joe Jonas his just deserts for breaking up with her on the phone in 27 seconds flat on "Forever & Always," While this song is a far cry from an emasculating, Alanis Morissette screech-fest, Swift does throw in one good jab, in the lines, "Was I out of time? Did I say something way too honest, made you run and hide like a scared little boy?"
On the spirited "The Way I Loved You," Swift has
a boyfriend who is kind, caring and considerate - but there's one problem: He's boring her to tears. Co-penned with John Rich (of Big and Rich fame), this track hints at Swift having a wild (but not too wild) side and a secret attraction to bad (but not too bad) boys who are "wild and crazy/just so frustrating, intoxicating/complicated."
When you think it can't get any better for Swift, the listener learns that she also has a family than makes "The Waltons" look like monsters and grew up in a household that makes "Little House on the Prairie" look like a chamber of horrors. On "The Best Day," Swift praises her parents
("excellent father" and "pretties lady in the whole wide world") and even her kid brother ("Inside and out, he's better than I am"). The initial theme is as appealing as watching someone's else's vacation slides, but Swift is one of the few artists who can get away with a song like this, without sounding insincere or making the listener want to take a power drill to his head.
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