Fearless

Peach’s Picks Rating


Title:
Fearless

Artist:
Taylor Swift

Author:
Taylor Swift along with Liz Rose and Hillary Lindsey

ASIN:
B001EYGOEM

Publisher:
Nashville, TN: Big Machine Records

Release Date:
November 2008

Length:
Approx. 55 minutes

Summary:
Taylor Swift’s second album, Fearless, is pop music with country undertones. All songs included on the CD were written or co-written by Swift. She also plays guitar on the CD. Fearless contains 13 songs whose subjects include boyfriends, love, the first day of high school, relationships, family, and determination; but the major focus is boys and relationships with boys. The songs have a universal appeal, reflecting the longings and emotions experienced by high school girls. They are so authentically written because she was a teen while writing and performing the songs. The listener feels as though they are reading Taylor’s diary as they listen to the lyrics. The title track, Fearless, tells of a girl who falls in love, breaks up, and falls in love again with someone else. The song Hey Stephen closes with the phrase “All those other girls, well they’re beautiful…but would they write a song for you?” The listener wonders if there really is a Stephen in Taylor’s life. The lyrics to all the songs are printed on a booklet enclosed with CD. It includes beautiful fairy-like photos of Taylor.

Critical Evaluation:
The lyrics lean a little heavily on the theme of boys, boys, boys, but that liability can be excused because the songs were written by a teen girl for other teen girls. The photos included with the CD do not portray Swift as a vixen à la Britney Spears; rather they are attractively age-appropriate. The lyrics are oriented towards girls’ emotions, but, curiously, appeal to boys as well. Boys get a peep into what is going on in a girl’s thoughts and also identify as the boy she is singing about. Teens will find this CD irresistible and parents will not cringe when their teen play it over and over and emulate Taylor Swift. Parents will probably pop the CD in when they are driving, even when their teens are not in the car. The songs will withstand the test of time and become classics. The music world will benefit from Taylor Swift’s talents and love of writing and performing.

Listener’s Annotation:
This CD will have you singing along and dancing to it before you finish listening to the end. Check out Taylor’s website and blog to view the awesome videos that accompany the songs.

Artist Information:
County singer/songwriter
Born December 1989 in Wyomissing, PA
Began writing songs and playing guitar at the age of 12
Family consists of mother, father, and younger brother
Fearless was named 2009 ACM Album of the Year.
Admires the work of: Shania Twain, Tim McGraw, LeAnn Rimes, among others

Genre:
Popular music - CD

Curriculum Ties:
Use in secondary school music classes when studying music styles, singers, and musicians.

Listening Ideas:
Does Taylor really know Stephen on the track Hey Stephen and why does she say, “All those other girls, well, they're beautiful, but would they write a song for you?"

The lyrics to the song Fifteen sum up your freshman year in high school: “You take a deep breath and you walk through the doors, it’s the morning of your very first day…hoping one of those senior boys will wink at you and say you know I haven’t seen you around before.”

Reading Level/Interest Age:
Teens

Additional CDs by Artist:
Taylor Swift (2007)
Taylor Swift – Holiday Collection: Sounds of the Season (2007)

Challenge Issues:
None apparent, but if challenged deal with challenge by having a challenge policy in place, selection policy in place (ALA policies). Meet with library administration if necessary. Provide positive review(s) from professional publications.

Why this work is included in Peach’s Picks:
This CD received a positive review in Rolling Stone magazine and Taylor Swift won an MTV award for Best Female Video (2009) for You Belong to Me which is included on the Fearless CD. As I listened to the music I reminisced about my teen years, sang along with the lyrics, and got up and danced. Five peaches for Fearless.

Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Fearless-Taylor-Swift/dp/B001EYGOEM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1272596206&sr=1-1

Additional Information available at:
http://www.taylorswift.com/
http://blogs.myspace.com/taylorswift
www.bigmachinerecords.com/fearless

References:
Rosen, J. (2008). “Country's most precocious teen princess lets the world read her diary”. Rolling Stone, (1065),89. Retrieved March 16, 2010, from MAS Ultra - School Edition database.

Swift, T. (2010). “Bio.” Taylor Swift. Retrieved March, 16, 2010, from http://www.taylorswift.com/bio