Spring Break
Taylor Swift's 'Fearless'
Charlotte Downes
Issue date: 11/19/08 Section: The Edge
You wouldn't borrow your little sister's Jonas Brothers CD, but you may want to grab Taylor Swift's "Fearless" and take a listen.
While its first single, "Love Story," features romantic Romeo and Juliet song lyrics that have snuck their way onto every Facebook page of any 15- to 20-year-old who is in a relationship or whose crush is currently being nice to her, "Fearless" is packed with break-up songs and mature songwriting.
Swift has often been compared to Dolly Parton, and while this may have older Parton fans looking like they swallowed a lemon and 14-year-old girls everywhere looking confused and running to Wikipedia, the comparison may accurately speak to Swift's potential. The 18-year-old singer-songwriter has some chops, writing or co-writing every song on the album.
In "Fifteen," where Swift moans, "When you're 15 and somebody tells you they love you, you're gonna believe them," Swift advises young girls to be wary of boys promising big things and only turning their poor little hearts into freshman-year roadkill, reassuring them that "in your life, you'll do things greater than dating the boy on the football team." From the sound of the rest of the album, not only is Swift is speaking from experience, but she has undergone some serious growing pains and carnage since her triple-platinum self-titled debut in 2006.
Capturing the heartbreaking period when na've perceptions of romance are shattered and reality begins to set in before adolescents are able to reconcile the conflict between idealism and real life, "White Horse" could be an anthem for every disillusioned and frustrated girl. Singing "I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairy tale, I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet," Swift can dig up painful memories of not only your high school crush, but maybe even the jerk you were seeing over the summer.
In the arresting song "Breathe," Swift sings, "you're the only thing I know like the back of my hand, and I can't breathe without you." "Breathe" features some lovely strings that compliment Swift's acoustic guitar very well. Other than "Breathe" and a few other songs, instrumentation is pretty practical and standard, focusing mostly on typical pop-country acoustics with light production. Lyrics and Swift's voice take center stage on this album.
While its first single, "Love Story," features romantic Romeo and Juliet song lyrics that have snuck their way onto every Facebook page of any 15- to 20-year-old who is in a relationship or whose crush is currently being nice to her, "Fearless" is packed with break-up songs and mature songwriting.
Swift has often been compared to Dolly Parton, and while this may have older Parton fans looking like they swallowed a lemon and 14-year-old girls everywhere looking confused and running to Wikipedia, the comparison may accurately speak to Swift's potential. The 18-year-old singer-songwriter has some chops, writing or co-writing every song on the album.
In "Fifteen," where Swift moans, "When you're 15 and somebody tells you they love you, you're gonna believe them," Swift advises young girls to be wary of boys promising big things and only turning their poor little hearts into freshman-year roadkill, reassuring them that "in your life, you'll do things greater than dating the boy on the football team." From the sound of the rest of the album, not only is Swift is speaking from experience, but she has undergone some serious growing pains and carnage since her triple-platinum self-titled debut in 2006.
Capturing the heartbreaking period when na've perceptions of romance are shattered and reality begins to set in before adolescents are able to reconcile the conflict between idealism and real life, "White Horse" could be an anthem for every disillusioned and frustrated girl. Singing "I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairy tale, I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet," Swift can dig up painful memories of not only your high school crush, but maybe even the jerk you were seeing over the summer.
In the arresting song "Breathe," Swift sings, "you're the only thing I know like the back of my hand, and I can't breathe without you." "Breathe" features some lovely strings that compliment Swift's acoustic guitar very well. Other than "Breathe" and a few other songs, instrumentation is pretty practical and standard, focusing mostly on typical pop-country acoustics with light production. Lyrics and Swift's voice take center stage on this album.
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