Swifties react to re-release of Fearless 

From “Our Song” to “Willow,” singer-songwriter Taylor Swift has changed the pop music scene permanently. As a controversial household name for over a decade, Swift is now more popular than ever. Through genre diversity across her 10 studio albums and personal, honest lyricism, Taylor Swift’s music appeals to a wide audience and has generated massive success.

“I have been a swiftie for almost my whole life,” said sophomore Michael Robinson. “I have grown up listening to Taylor and watching her grow as an artist and performer. I love Taylor Swift because she is an icon, an incredible artist, and a good person overall.”

But, not everyone loves Swift. As a successful woman in the music industry, she has found herself in the center of multiple controversies. She has been harshly criticized by the media for her sudden success, accusing her of cheating her way to the top. Some find her annoying. But most of all, she has been bashed for her public relationships with men and the stories told about these relationships in her songs. Some say she’s being ‘too hard on them’, while others say she’s simply ‘been through too many guys’. Much of this dislike for Swift stems from misunderstandings and swifties like English teacher Victoria Macoul learned to love Swift by simply hearing her out.

“I truly didn’t appreciate the enormity of Taylor Swift”s career until I saw her documentary ‘Miss Americana’ on Netflix,” said Macoul. “I realized after watching behind-the-scenes videos of her stadium set ups and recording sessions just how involved she is in her brand and her music. It’s great to see a female artist that has such a high level of control over her image and music.”

Swift’s second studio album, “Fearless,” won four Grammy awards in 2010, featuring hit songs “You Belong with Me” and “Love Story.” Swift profited off of “Fearless” for years until her masters for her first six albums went into the possession of talent manager Scooter Braun. This was after Braun acquired Swift”s record company, Big Machine Records in June of 2019. Swift then ended her contract with Big Machine Records and signed to Republic Records. Losing her masters, Swift no longer makes money off of sales or streams of those albums. So, she has been re-recording and re-releasing said albums so they are under her name and truly “hers.” As one of her most popular albums, she started by releasing the re-recordings of “Fearless” first.

“The Fearless re-recordings were a nostalgic gift that made my swiftie heart burst with joy,” said sophomore Jess McMillan. ”Being able to hear the growth in quality Taylor has filled me with so many mixed emotions. Hearing these songs Taylor wrote when she was 18 when she is now 31 years old is mind blowing.”

Taylor Swift released her new recordings of “Fearless” on April 9th, 2021, under the title “Fearless (Taylor’s Version).” The albums consist of all the original tracks, the original bonus tracks, and six all-new tracks that were scrapped from the original album. “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” is a massive hit, selling approximately 291,000 units in the US in the first week of sales and earning her her third number one album.

“The Fearless Re-Recordings are brilliant both musically and from a business perspective,” said Macoul. “She made the conscious choice to re-record the tracks almost exactly as they were before. It allowed the Fearless generation to relive their love for the album, while also ensuring that there would be no reason to revisit the original recordings that Scooter [Braun] now owns.”

A big part of the success of the Fearless re-recordings can be attributed to the “vault” songs, or the previously unreleased tracks. “Mr. Perfectly Fine” is a “vault” song that was released as a single a week before the full album was released, debuting in the Billboard Hot 100 and going viral on TikTok. 

“[The vault songs were] a glimpse into her life at the time and gave us fans more songs,” said Robinson. “‘Mr. Perfectly Fine’ was a ‘vault’ song released with the rerecordings for the first time and was a pretty big hit, getting some attention from my friends who didn’t even listen to Taylor Swift.”

More is to come for Taylor Swift and the revival of her past ‘eras’, and swifties are more than ready. From her self-titled debut album to Reputation, there is much to look forward to.

“The re-recording I’m looking forward to the most is the Speak Now album because it’s my favorite album of hers,” said McMillan. “It has a lot of my favorite songs like Enchanted, Back To December, Dear John, and many more.”

Swifties are willing to support her unconditionally. She is an inspiration through her accomplishments, her music, and her presence. 

“What I really admire [about] her is her standing up for what she believes in and how much perseverance she has,” said McMillan. “She has dealt with a lot of misogyny throughout [her] career. People critiqued her for writing break up songs even though that”s what everyone else in the industry wrote about. She also has stood up against sexual harassment and even won her case which gave courage to millions of girls to speak up for what they went through. Taylor also called out Scooter Braun and has worked so hard to gain her ownership over her music back.”

Taylor Swift’s Fearless (Taylor’s Version) is streaming now on all major music platforms. Her films Miss Americana and Reputation Stadium Tour are now streaming on Netflix, along with Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions and City of Lover Concert streaming on Disney+.