Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” album has always held a special place in my heart. When I was 4 years old I received a CD version of the album for Christmas, which I played on repeat. Now that I’m a 17-year-old, my interpretations of the songs have changed and I find this album more relatable; I love that as I have grown up, Swift has continued to create more music. Now I get to take a trip down memory lane with the release of “Fearless (Taylor’s version),” and create new memories with the songs “from the vault”  that weren’t included in the original album released in 2008.

In August 2019, Swift announced she would be re-recording her first six albums as a result of her masters being acquired by Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings when he purchased Big Machine Records. Swift did not want Braun to own her masters, due to her past experiences with some of his clients. Kanye West, one of Braun’s current clients, came on stage as Swift accepted her award for Best Video by a Female Artist at the 2009 MTV VMA’s. West proceeded to voice his opinion on her achievement by saying he believed, “Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.”

 After the 2009 storm settled, West consulted with Swift in 2016 when writing his song “Famous,” asking if he could mention her in his song. Swift agreed, which can be seen in a video recorded by Kim Kardashian-West which Swift was not aware of. When the song was released, the lyric Swift agreed to had a new addition: West used a derogatory term to describe Swift, and he claimed to have informed her of it. 

Kardashian-West released a snippet of the phone call to defend West and his fan base turned against Swift. The full phone call was leaked a few years later, leading more of the public to stand with Swift. Now, Swift has begun re-recording all of her masters owned by Braun and will be slowly releasing the “Taylor’s version” of each album under her new label. Swift chose “Fearless (Taylor’s version)” to be the first released album of the re-recordings.

The album begins with the re-recording of “Fearless (Taylor’s version).” I had previously noticed on the re-recording of “Love Story (Taylor’s version),” released on Feb. 12,  the background music sounds quite different from the original; however, in “Fearless (Taylor’s version)” the background music sounds very similar to the 2008 version. Swift’s voice sounds more mature now, as she was 18 when the album was first released 13 years ago. 

As a surprise, Swift released “Mr. Perfectly Fine” from “the vault.” Swift posted to her Instagram story joking about that the song was begging to be released from the vault. Fans, including myself, love this song. Supposedly it is about Swift’s ex-boyfriend Joe Jonas, who broke up with her in a 25-second phone call when she was 18. In the song, Swift describes the journey of moving on after a breakup when the other person seems unaffected by it. Through the lyrics, she shows the progression of being “Miss misery” to “Miss gonna be alright some day.”

The song, “Don’t you,” from the vault is the opposite of “Mr. Perfectly Fine.” In the song, she discusses the complex feelings of trying to hate someone who hurt her, in hopes of moving on but not being able to because of the love she still has for them. Whether the listener has experienced a similar heartbreak or not, I think the song can be applicable to anyone’s life and the trouble people often face when moving on from relationships or friendships. 

If I were to pick a single vault song, “That’s When” featuring Keith Urban would  be my favorite. When Swift first revealed the track list for the “Fearless (Taylor’s version),” I figured I wouldn’t enjoy the song much because I’m not a fan of country music. Man, was I wrong; I have yet to get this song out of my head. The chorus is catchy and the drums have me dancing non-stop. Swift and Urban were the duo I didn’t know I desperately needed.

Although I may not be listening to “Fearless (Taylor’s version)” on a CD this time around, I’ll still be playing it non-stop for at least another 13 years.