Taylor's Version, Nothing Short of Fearless

Let’s set the scene. It’s 2010. I set up my iCarly CD player on my bathroom countertop and insert my beloved Fearless CD. I play each track on full blast, while my mom is begging me to turn it down, but I’m pretending I can’t hear her over the running shower. I’m scream-singing “You Belong With Me” with such passion that if you were walking down the hall you might think I was actually a 20-something that had just broken up with the boy I thought I would be with forever. I was ten, and prepping for my elementary school talent show. 

Taylor Swift has been an icon in my eyes since elementary school days, and now with the release of her first re-recorded album, I feel obligated to tell you what makes this woman so damn—fearless. 

Taylor signed with Big Machine Records at the very start of her career, releasing her first six albums Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation with them. Swift did not depart from Big Machine until 2018, in which she was leaving them for Republic Records. 

The buzz around Taylor’s old albums began in 2019 when well-known music manager Scooter Braun acquired Taylor’s previous label. Why does this truly matter if Taylor was no longer with Big Machine?

When Taylor left in 2018, she was not just departing from the label, she was leaving behind the masters to her first six albums, her entire discography that started her career at the age of sixteen. Taylor could have chosen to stay with Big Machine in order to gain the rights to her previous albums. but—there was a catch.

She would not just simply gain the rights to her music, even though that is what easily seems to be the morally right conclusion, she would have to earn back her albums. One new album, in exchange for the masters to an old one. Ridiculous? Outrageous? Infuriating? Absolutely. Glad we’re on the same page. 

It only gets worse from here.

Taylor knew that by leaving Big Machine, Scott Borchetta, former owner, would be selling the label. After her departure, she thought she would have the opportunity to put in an offer for the label just as other artists could. However, the label was sold before Taylor was even aware that her opportunity to make an offer was there.

Scooter Braun, Taylor’s version of a high school bully, had purchased Big Machine Records and along with that the master to those first six albums. Despite his success with other artists, Braun was not a friend to Taylor in the industry. Braun managed Kanye West during their very public and long-running feud, and she considered him to be a perpetuating bully throughout her career. Taylor spoke out about the purchase, she was upset and unaware of the sale taking place making her unable to put in an offer, which only strengthened the public feud between the two parties.

Braun reacted, saying he was interested in negotiating, but he would like to remove the discussion from social media, likely because of the (deserved) backlash he was receiving. After some discussion, it was clear that the two were not going to come to an agreement, and Braun looked to find new buyers. 

In November of 2020, Braun sold the masters to Shamrock Holdings for $300 million. At this point, many believed that Taylor may have bought back her previous holding through the investment fund but sadly, that was not the case. Not only was she uninvolved, but the company’s deal with Scooter meant that he would still be profiting off of her albums, making her completely uninterested in working with them.

Despite the unfulfilled determination to own her own work—her story was not over. According to Taylor’s original contract, she could begin re-recording her first five albums starting in November 2020, which finally leads us to now.

Source: wsj.com

Source: headlineplanet.com

Ladies and gentlemen, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) has officially arrived. This 26-song masterpiece has transported us back into 2008 —yes, 26 songs. Not only does this album feature the original songs from both the original album and the platinum edition, but it includes six songs ‘From the Vault.’ These songs were written with the original album and never made it to the final tracklist. 

Most artists have dozens of albums worth of music that never actually get released. Now, we get the chance to see what Taylor wrote along with the rest of Fearless when she was eighteen. Many of these songs simply never made it on the final tracklist but were still beloved pieces of Taylor’s from the Fearless era. The six songs ‘from the vault’ include “You All Over Me” featuring Maren Morris, “Mr. Perfectly Fine”, “We Were Happy”, “That’s When” featuring Keith Urban, “Don’t You”, and “Bye Bye Baby”. These songs are quickly becoming just as beloved by fans, as they feature all of teenage Taylor’s country-pop charm that we all fall in love with over a decade ago.

“Mr. Perfectly Fine” has quickly become one of the most popular songs ‘from the vault,’ as many believe it is about Taylor’s teenage ex-boyfriend Joe Jonas. “Forever and Always” was a last-minute addition to the original Fearless album following their famous breakup, which took place over a 27-second phone call. Fans are speculating that the songs were written at the same time.

Listening to Taylor’s Version the differences in the original songs are very subtle. Aside from her voice being more mature many of the original songs don’t differ in more than a note change. Honestly, the differences are almost unrecognizable. This was not surprising as throughout the last year Taylor has said many times between interviews and social media that she wanted to stay true to the original work by creating a version that was just—new and improved.

Two albums, released during a pandemic the first “Taylor’s Version” album, and five more in the works—wow. This woman clearly lives up to her Fearless title. 

Get excited for more of “Taylor’s Versions” are coming soon. In the meantime I’ll be enjoying the fact that I’m no longer 10 years old and singing about a boy I’ve never kissed, but can now sing along to a new Fearless album at 20 years old while driving my own car with the windows down, sunbathing in my past heartbreaks.