Back in 2008, Taylor Swift, an ever-changing artist, released her Grammy winning album Fearless. Fearless represents what it’s like to be young and in love, but contrasting on how being innocent in a relationship can just lead to heartbreak. Her top hits, “You Belong With Me” and “Love Story”, were featured on this album, which also skyrocketed her career to the world. 

Fearless is like a puzzle piece to Swift’s life, but what if someone took that piece? Scott Borchetta, Swift’s old manager from Big Machine Records, declared that Swift does not have the rights to perform any of her songs under his record label, since she switched over to Universal Records. Although with frustration from losing all her hard work, that did not stop Swift from gaining back her lyrical sensations. On April 9th, Swift released her re-recorded version of  Fearless, Fearless (Taylor’s Version), which includes all the original songs on the album and 6 additional tracks. 

The additional songs are ones she wrote when she was still “teen Taylor,” still reflecting the same innocence. Since it has been released, her new melodies are now booming on social media, such as “Mr. Perfectly Fine (Taylor’s Version),” which is allegedly about Joe Jonas, a member of the band the Jonas Brothers, and former member of DNCE. The other new songs consist of “Today Was A Fairytale, You All Over Me, We Were Happy, That’s When, Don’t You, and Bye Bye Baby.” 

On TikTok, thousands of teenagers have been using the song “Mr. Perfectly Fine” to relate to their traumatic romance experiences, such as relating to their past relationships. Even though they are a teen, real love is still possible at that age, and it will hit you like a pickup truck if love pushes you in the middle of the road. 

As a fan of Ms. Taylor Swift, I will have to say that the re-recording of this album has brought me back down memory lane, going back to Taylor’s roots. However, listening to Fearless (Taylor’s Version) has opened my eyes to how she has evolved from the naive high schooler she once was. Along with changing her genres multiple times, she has also changed the theme of her lyrics. It goes from “young love” to “screw you” in about a decade, hence her Artist Of The Decade award. 

That’s why this album is so special. Following the changing of her lyrical themes, if you pay attention to the old Fearless cover, it looks like she’s wearing the Juliet dress she wore in the “Love Story” music video. But when you look at the Fearless (Taylor’s Version) cover, you see that she is not wearing the dress, but instead Romeo’s shirt, indicating that she is her own Romeo, and Juliet didn’t need one after all. 

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To be honest, I was a little skeptical about the re-recording, but to see the product of Fearless (Taylor’s Version), I have never been more excited to hear the rest of her albums under Taylor’s Version, such as Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation. If you would like to listen to this album, click here.