Country music from a fan's point of view since 2008
When Taylor Swift released the best song she’s ever sang, and one of my personal favorites, it became her lowest charting single ever. For some reason ‘Fifteen’ wasn’t massive, but Swift follows it up with the title track and fifth single from her sophomore album, Fearless.
After ‘Fifteen’, ‘Fearless’ is just so juvenile. Sure, teenage girls will connect with wanting to be kissed in the rain, but I honestly have no intention of doing so as an adult male. The message of the song is about being fearless in love, but Swift’s past singles have dealt with the same theme in much better ways. ‘You Belong With Me’ was real and engaging, while “Love Story” had the whole Romeo and Juliet motifs going for it: ‘Fearless’ is just less by comparison.
This song is catchy and fun, and Swift sings it fine (as well as she can), but I just feel like she has better versions of this song out there. This song is definitely more pop than country, but who would expect anything different? Regardless, she can do better than this. And has.
Grade: C+
‘Fearless’ was written by: Taylor Swift, Liz Rose and Hillary Lindsey and can be purchased at iTunes and streamed at Last FM.
My Kind of Country 
I thought ‘Fifteen’ was a great song too, as far as teen-country goes anyway. And I agree this track isn’t as memorable or even as clever as the previous single. I think it’s only fair that an artist’s latest is compared to their previous releases, and you’re right, Taylor had a superior song before this one.
Well-written review, Chris.
Good review, I’m not a fan of this song. It’s catchy but the lyrics always bothered me. It’s a little too lightweight, especially coming off of “Fifteen” which was my favorite song she’s done so far. Actually both “Fifteen” and “You Belong With Me” were pretty good and I thought she was on a roll. This is the fifth single though so there’s not many other choices left on the album that would be radio friendly, but if they wanted to go that direction “Forever & Always” or “Hey Stephen” would’ve been better choices.
Spot-on review. Although it’s not really my cup of tea, ‘Fifteen’ was a well-written and original song that said a lot of interesting things. This one isn’t nearly as creative or memorable.
I disagree with your review, and the following comments. While Fifteen is also one of my favorites from Taylor, and I was very pleased that it was released as a single, I think Fearless is also a great song. And it makes perfect sense, with it being the title track and all…her whole year (2009) has revolved around the theme “fearless.” Her tour is called the Fearless Tour, her album…she references being ‘fearless’ constantly. It makes perfect sense..and I think the song is very good. I’m actually surprised that you cite YBWM as a better version of Fearless; I disagree. While it’s a good song, I don’t think the lyrics and melody are that engaging or original. Also, it’s so specifically targeted at a certain age group; if you want to talk juvenile, YBWM would be better suited for your description. I personally find Fearless to be a better song. It’s not meant to be a serious song..it speaks true feelings about what it’s like to be “fearless” in love, and I think the song does a fabulous job of expressing those feelings.
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