Few teen pop stars are willing to tackle personal, age-appropriate topics in their songs. Singers like Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears delivered a salvo of pop trifles in their youth, but weren't interested in giving us any soul-revealing lyrics ("E-mail My Heart" anyone?). on Fearless, then 18-year old Taylor Swift takes a different tack.Fearless is a concept album, as explained in her liner notes: "Fearless is not the absence of fear...(but) living in spite of those things that scare you death." Swift's songs largely adhere to this idea, tackling with remarkable honesty a number of key moments in a teenage girl's life--her first kiss ("Fearless"), the first day of high school, ("Fifteen"), and unrequited love...an awful lot of unrequited love. But wasn't that what defined the teen years for most of us?
Taylor wrote or co-wrote every song here, and it's clear that she's already an uncannily gifted songwriter with a knack for both revealing country story-telling and catchy pop hooks. Both of this album's major hits--"Love Story" and "You Belong with Me"--achieve both quite effectively. "You were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter, and Daddy said stay away from Juliet" intones Swift on the former, a clever literary-inspired tale of forbidden love. "You Belong with Me" is particularly charming--the story of a somewhat awkward girl (normal, in other words), in love with a male friend who's dating the homecoming queen and doesn't notice her affections. (Is it wrong that I still tear up at the end of the super cute video when they show each other the "I love you" signs?)
Most of the songs are pretty mid-tempo, save for the more upbeat "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me," but there are also a few good ballads. "White Horse" is a touching lost love story that invokes similar fairy-tale imagery to that of "Love Story," but without the happily ever after. "You're Not Sorry," scored with piano and violins, is gorgeous and tragic as it relates the end of a doomed relationship.
There are few songs on the album that don't live up to its potential. I'm not particularly keen on "Breathe," a duet with Colbie Caillat, partly because Caillat's voice isn't that different from Swift's, so it's hard to tell the two apart, plus it's rather ho-hum musically. Parents everywhere must be cheering In "The Best Day," Swift reflects on how important her parents have been to her--a message I imagine many of her friends aren't old enough to appreciate yet.
Although billed as country, Fearless is a pop album through and through. If it weren't for the "small town" references and occasional banjo, it would be hard to hear this as country, a genre that finds many of its artists blending with AC more and more. What sets it apart from most other teen pop is its honesty and unpretentiousness, and that's what makes it special.
Best: You Belong with Me, Love Story, Fifteen, Fearless, White Horse, You're Not Sorry
3 comments:
well well well someone's changed their tune. I love this album too! such a great write-up too bad it won't feature in your best albums of 09 list
Maybe it will. Wasn't it released in 2009 in the UK? I think that counts.
This is an insightful review. As a former teenage girl myself, it makes me want to give Taylor Swift a second chance.
Then again, I'm not sure I want to relive that part of my life. Nevertheless, this was nicely written. Well done.
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