Fearless

So I bought the Taylor Swift CD.

I've already read rave reviews and rants about how the girl can't sing and how all the songs are whiny teenage fodder, but I formed my own opinion before I read all that stuff. Want to hear it?

I loved Taylor's first album, which was self-titled. I was never overly impressed with the song "Tim McGraw," or her vocals overall, but after watching a documentary of sorts on this SIXTEEN year old girl and finding that she'd written every song on the album--even a few of them completely on her own--I was intrigued. Seeing her sit on a stool with her guitar and a microphone singing, "I'll be 87 you'll be 89, I'll still look at you like the stars that shine in the sky..." I thought, "Oh my, my, my, my." I knew the girl had some talent. She hooked me. I didn't believe it for a minute when one of her friends said, "I think she's better than most of the singers in Nashville right now. As good as Faith Hill, for sure," but that wasn't why I bought the album. I bought the album because this tiny little high school sophomore was writing songs as good or better than the ones I was writing as a college student working on a music degree. It impressed me.

I fell in love with that record, and so obviously, when Fearless was released last week, I bought it immediately.

My initial reaction wasn't one of sheer joy. I wasn't floored, and I think leading the album with "Fearless" was a poor choice, not because it isn't a strong song (it's not the strongest), but because the cover art and the imagery one imagines when branding the whole album as "fearless" didn't match the song of the same name at all. "Fearless," the song, is just a playful little romp-- I was imagining the fiercer side of Taylor to accompany a song title like that, and in that respect, I was disappointed.

What followed was a bunch of songs that blended into each other at first. This is partly due to songwriting--and she did all of the songwriting again, at least half of it on her own--but to be fair, that's largely the fault of producer Nathan Chapman, although it looks as though Taylor had a hand in production this time around too. Point is, not only does it instrumentally sound the same song in and song out (which is preferable, if you're careful about it) but it sounds like the same arrangement over and over. I understand that Taylor has a "sound" and that "sound" has worked, and straying too far from that might be alienating a large number of fans who are too scared to fall in love with anything that sounds different than the last album--but in this case, there wasn't much growth to speak of at all, and for those of us who aren't generally formula radio listeners, a little growth in the sound is definitely nice to have.

Onto the happiness, though, I have to say that vocally, while I still wouldn't ever put her in Faith Hill's league by any means, she has improved. I said from the beginning that she just had a young little voice and that she'd probably grow into it, and if she had smart people working for her, they'd hire her a voice coach. I think those things are happening, and even though she really does still need to grow into her voice, it's obvious now that she certainly will.

Lyrically, the songs have gotten even better. The way this girl (and on occasion, her go-to cowriters) combines words with melody is really special. "There's something 'bout the way the street looks when it's just rained, there's a glow on the pavement, you walk me to the car. And you know I wanna ask you to dance right there in the middle of the parking lot, yeah." Funny thing, because last spring I was trying to verbalize that very feeling and never succeeded. In swoops Taylor, and not only did she do it so incredibly simply right there, but she combined it with a catchy, unique melody worthy of the sentiment.

"Fifteen" is full of poignant comments on high school life, the most jarring one being "Abigail gave everything she had to a boy who changed his mind and we both cried," but I can't help but feel like this song is a rip-off of Brad Paisley's "Letter to Me." And it would make sense, too, right? She did tour with him earlier this year. Still, I can't blame her for that because I've been known to take inspiration for songs directly from other songs too, and she did a good job with it--but let's just hope they're careful about releasing this one as a single. People aren't stupid.

"Love Story," is the one we all know-- the first single and video from this album. The arrangement on this one is actually quite nice (if we're talking album version-- I heard a remix the other day that make my stomach knot itself up) and the theme is lovely, along with the "baby just say yes," hook, which works so well on a few different levels. Still, I wonder... and I have to ask. Taylor, have you ever read The Scarlet Letter? Romeo and Juliet works. The princes and the princesses work. I'm not putting the Scarlet Letter reference together at all.

All that aside, I LOVE "Hey Stephen," and the arrangement ("mm mm") and the sense of humor that shines through in this particular song. "Those other girls, well they're beautiful, but would they write a song for you?" I can't help myself either, Tay.

I especially love these break-up ballads like, "White Horse," because Taylor is so all over the media with any bit of information about herself that she can muster that it's fun trying to guess which story these songs belong with. After seeing her Crossroads special with Def Leppard a week or so ago and hearing her tell a story about Drew (the one from "Teardrops on My Guitar") I want to believe this one's about him. Also, the one line, "stupid girl," is incredibly powerful the way she sings it.

"She wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts. She's cheer captain and I'm in the bleachers." Do I have to say anything else? "You Belong With Me" is an incredibly fun one to car dance and sing along with. The end.

"Breathe" was cowritten by Colbie Caillat. I knew long ahead of time that there would be a Colbie song on this album, and before I ever looked at the songwriting credits, I figured it was this one. It blends in well with the rest of Taylor's album. It doesn't feel out of place at all. Yet, it's got such a signature Colbie feel to it, not to mention harmony vocals, which I found out later are sung by Coco herself, that to a girl who knows Colbie's debut inside and out, it was obviously this one. And considering that these are two of my favorite female songwriters, this song is definitely one of my favorites, if not because it's just a good song, then by default. But it really is just a good song.

Talk about getting beat up. "I know that you see what you're doing to me, tell me why." Yeah, I've felt that way once or eight times. Way to verbalize it, Tay.

"You're Not Sorry" is turning into one of my favorites on the album. I love the strings and piano--even though I HATE the way the piano sounds, but like I said, that's another issue. The way this entire song is put together is beautiful. It fits like puzzle pieces fit.

All this time I was wasting hoping you would come around
I’ve been giving out chances everytime and all you do is let me down
And its taking me this long but baby I figured you out
And you think it will be fine again but not this time around

You don’t have to call anymore
I won’t pick up the phone
This is the last straw
Don’t want to hurt anymore
And you can tell me that you’re sorry
But I won’t believe you baby like I did before
You’re not sorry no, no, no

Lookin’ so innocent
I might believe you if I didn’t know
Could’a loved you all my life
If you hadn’t left me waiting in the cold
And you got your share of secrets
And I’m tired of being last to know
And now you’re asking me to listen
Cuz its worked each time before

But you don’t have to call anymore
I won’t pick up the phone
This is the last straw
Don’t want to hurt anymore
And you can tell me that you’re sorry
But I don’t believe you baby like I did before
You’re not sorry no no no noo
You’re not sorry no no no noo

You had me calling for you honey
And it never would’ve gone away no
You use to shine so bright
But I watched our love it fade

So you don’t have to call anymore
I won’t pick up the phone
This is the last straw
There’s nothing left to beg for
And you can tell me that you’re sorry
But I won’t believe you baby like I did before
You're not sorry, no no

And while we're guessing who these songs are about, I read somewhere that there was at least one song on this album about the Jonas Brother Breakup Extreme-- I'm gonna take a wild guess and say it's this one. You may know that Taylor leaves secret messages for every song in her liner notes. The secret message in this one was, "She can have you."

So long, Joe.

"The Way I Loved You" was cowritten by John Rich of Big & Rich and formerly of Lonestar (although if you don't know the name John Rich on its own yet, well, shame on you). JR songs for me are hit and miss, but this one is definitely a hit-- it's passionate, it's a "rollercoaster kinda rush," and definitely reminds me of a relationship or two that I've been in.

"Forever and Always?" HELLO HIGH SCHOOL. Don't totally love (or get) the "rains in your bedroom" line but love the rest of the chorus-- the quirky little rhythmic and vocal things she does. Works. Totally works.

"The Best Day," is THE BEST SONG on this album. Listen, music doesn't make me cry very often. Very rarely. The last song I can think of that consistently has me tearing up (and still does) is Sarabeth by Rascal Flatts. Something about it has to be just right, and just because it's a sappy story doesn't mean anything. But the very first time I heard this song, my eyes got all misty and my heart got all gooey and there was no going back. My eyes still blur up a little when I hear it, and I certainly can't listen to it while I'm driving. Oh no. "There is a video I found from back when I was three, you set up a paint set in the kitchen and you're talking to me, it's the age of princesses and pirate ships and the seven dwarves, daddy's smart and you're the prettiest lady in the whole wide world." Where does this girl get off loving her mom so much she writes a song about her? This is one truly original, sweet, heartmelting piece of music that really solidifies who Taylor Swift is and why she is in this business.

Because she belongs here.

The last song, "Change," is one of those FIERCE Taylor songs, but not in a "you broke up with me and I'm angry" way, just in an "I'm strong and you are too and we'll show the world some day" kind of way. If this says anything to you, it was included on the Olympic Soundtrack this summer, and listening to it, I wonder if they specifically asked her to write it. It's one of those very inspiring, obstacle overcoming, championed kind of songs. "These things will change, can you see it now? These walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down."

Who's holding Taylor back?
Um, nobody.


So, to recap, if you're still with me:

The album is worth it. I always expect more, and I'm afraid that's where my small bit of disappointment came in... but here's the way I look at it. There's this thing called the sophomore slump-- it refers to sales, mostly, but also to the way an album is presented artistically. After a successful debut, an artist really has to build upon the successful image he or she created with that first album. Sometimes the pressure is too much. Sometimes there was a lot of extra help the first time around where the second time there won't be any. Sometimes it just has to do with having a lot less time to make the second one than the first, considering the touring schedule and any other factor you can think up. I look at some of my favorite artists and realize I loved the first album, the second was just okay, but OH MAN THE THIRD ALBUM.

And if this is Taylor's sophomore "slump," oh man, I really can't wait to hear what's next.