Content
Background
Fearless is the second studio album by American singer and songwriter, Taylor Swift. Released on November, 11, 2008 by Big Machine Records, the album was a commercial success being certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2017. The album spent 11 weeks atop the Billboard 200 and thirty-five on the Country Top Album charts and peaked in the top five in five other countries. The album won Album of the Year at both the CMAs and the ACM Awards in 2009 and in 2010 at the Grammys where it also won Best Country Album.
To promote the album Swift released five songs digitally, four through Amazon and iTunes and one through Rhapsody. The four released to Amazon and iTunes were part of a Countdown to Fearless promotion. “Change” was released as a promotional single on August 8, 2008, “Fearless” followed on October 14, 2008, “Breathe” (released through Rhapsody and not part of the Countdown) was released on October 21, 2008, “You’re Not Sorry” was released on October 28, 2008 and the final song “You Belong with Me” was released on November 4, 2008. Swift would also embark on her first headlining tour, known as the Fearless Tour, beginning on April 23, 2009 and ending on June 5, 2010.
Swift wrote seven of the thirteen original songs on the standard album by herself, while the remaining six were written with co-writers. Additionally, on the album’s release, a Target exclusive version featured a limited time DVD featuring behind-the-scene recordings of two songs on the album was released. A Rhapsody exclusive was also released with a bonus track featuring an acoustic version of “Tell Me Why”. A karaoke edition with a CD+G and DVD version was released on March 31, 2009.
In September of 2009, Swift announced a reissue of Fearless, subtitled as the Platinum Edition, would be released on October 26, 2009. The Platinum Edition featured five new songs and a piano version of the song, “Forever & Always”, that was featured on the original album. It also contained a bonus DVD featuring music videos Swift had released at the time as well as behind the scenes footage of the making of three of the videos, a photo gallery of the 2009 leg of the Fearless Tour, as well as behind the scenes footage of the first show of the tour and Swift’s “Thug Story” video short featuring T-Pain, which was exclusively for the 2009 CMA Music Awards and when bought at US Target stores, two bonus Clear Channel Stripped performances were included as bonus content on the DVD, while when bought at US Walmart stores, two performances from V-Fest UK were included, both for a limited time.
In a publicized dispute over the ownership of Swift’s master recordings to her first six albums being sold off twice without her being allowed to purchase them and Scooter Braun still being able to make money off her original work after Braun purchased Big Machine Records and later sold her back catalogue to Shamrock Holdings, on April 9, 2021, Swift released Fearless (Taylor’s Version) to regain control of her original work and subsequently diminish the value of the original masters.
Singles
Five singles were released radio to promote the album between 2008 and 2010. The lead single “Love Story” was released on September 15, 2008 and was a success, peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs, Adult Contemporary and Mainstream Top 40 charts, making it the first country song to top the Mainstream Top 40 and a success on pop radio. The song also peaking at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. “White Horse” was released as the second single from the album on December 8, 2008 and gained critical acclaim and won Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance at the 2010 Grammy Awards. The song peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, while peaking at number 13 on the Billboard 100. On April 18, 2009, “You Belong with Me” was released as the third single and peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, two on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the first country song to reach number one on the all-genre Billboard Radio Songs chart. The song also won Best Female Video at the 2009 VMA Awards. The fourth single, “Fifteen” was released August 31, 2009 and did not do as well at the first three singles that preceded it. While peaking in the top 10 of the Hot Country Songs chart, the song only reached number 7 and number 10 on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40. The song only got as high as 23 on the Billboard Hot 100, 12 on the Adult Contemporary chart and 14 on the Adult Top 40. The fifth and final single to be released off the album would be the title-track, “Fearless”, on January 4, 2010. The song peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, 18 on the Billboard Pop 100 and 10 on the Top Country Songs chart.
Track listing
| Standard | |||
| Track/Title | Writers | Producers | Length |
| 1. “Fearless” | Hilary Lindsey, Liz Rose, Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 4:02 |
| 2. “Fifteen” | Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 4:54 |
| 3. “Love Story” | Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 3:55 |
| 4.”Hey Stephen” | Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 4:15 |
| 5. “White Horse” | Liz Rose, Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 3:54 |
| 6. “You Belong with Me” | Liz Rose, Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 3:51 |
| 7. “Breathe” (featuring Colbie Caillat) | Colbie Caillat, Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 4:24 |
| 8. “Tell Me Why” | Liz Rose, Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 3:20 |
| 9. “You’re Not Sorry” | Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 4:22 |
| 10. “The Way I Loved You” | John Rich, Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 4:04 |
| 11. “Forever & Always” | Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 3:45 |
| 12. “The Best Day” | Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 4:05 |
| 13. “Change” | Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 4:39 |
| Fearless DVD (Target Exclusive) | |||
| Track/Title | Writers | Editors | Length |
| 1. Watch the Recording Session of “Change” | Taylor Swift | Todd Cassetty | 16:36 |
| 2. In the Studio with Taylor and Colbie Caillat Recording “Breathe” | Colbie Caillat, Taylor Swift | Todd Cassetty | 12:59 |
| Rhapsody Exclusive Bonus Track | |||
| Track/Title | Writers | Producers | Length |
| 14. “Tell Me Why” (Rhapsody Exclusive) | Liz Rose, Taylor Swift | 3:12 | |
| International Bonus Tracks | |||
| 14. “Our Song” | Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman | 3:20 |
| 15. “Teardrops on My Guitar” | Liz Rose, Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman | 3:14 |
| 16. “Should’ve Said No” | Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman | 4:05 |
| Australian Tour Edition Bonus Track | |||
| 17. “Love Story” (U.S. Pop Mix) | Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 3:54 |
| Japanese Edition Bonus Tracks | |||
| 17. “Beautiful Eyes” | Taylor Swift | Robert Ellis Orrall | 2:58 |
| 18. “Picture to Burn” | Liz Rose, Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman | 2:53 |
| 19. “I’m Only Me When I’m With You” | Angelo, Rober Ellis Orrall, Taylor Swift | Angelo, Robert Ellis Orrall | 3:33 |
| 20. “I Heart ?” | Taylor Swift | Robert Ellis Orrall | 3:14 |
| European Apple Music Edition Bonus Tracks | |||
| 17. Umbrella (Live) | Jay-Z, Kuk Harrell, Terius Nash, Christopher “Tricky” Stewart | 1:31 | |
| 18. Mary Songs (Oh My My My) (Live) | Brian Dean Maher, Liz Rose, Taylor Swift | 3:49 | |
| Fearless Platinum Edition | |||
| 1. “Jump Then Fall” | Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 3:57 |
| 2. “Untouchable” | Cary Barlowe, Nathan Barlowe, Taylor Swift, Tommy Lee James | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 5:11 |
| 3. “Forever & Always” (Piano Version) | Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 4:27 |
| 4. “Come in with the Rain” | Liz Rose, Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 3:58 |
| 5. “Superstar” | Liz Rose, Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 4:22 |
| 6. “The Other Side of the Door” | Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 3:57 |
| 7. “Fearless” | Hilary Lindsey, Liz Rose, Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 4:02 |
| 8. “Fifteen” | Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 4:54 |
| 9. “Love Story” | Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 3:55 |
| 10.”Hey Stephen” | Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 4:15 |
| 11. “White Horse” | Liz Rose, Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 3:54 |
| 12. “You Belong with Me” | Liz Rose, Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 3:51 |
| 13. “Breathe” (featuring Colbie Caillat) | Colbie Caillat, Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 4:24 |
| 14. “Tell Me Why” | Liz Rose, Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 3:20 |
| 15. “You’re Not Sorry” | Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 4:22 |
| 16. “The Way I Loved You” | John Rich, Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 4:04 |
| 17. “Forever & Always” | Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 3:45 |
| 18. “The Best Day” | Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 4:05 |
| 19. “Change” | Taylor Swift | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | 4:39 |
| Fearless Platinum Edition DVD | |||
| Track/Title | Writers | Directors | Length |
| 1. “Change” (music video) | Taylor Swift | Shawn Robbins | 3:47 |
| 2. “The Best Day” (music video) | Taylor Swift | Taylor Swift | 4:34 |
| 3. “Love Story” (music video) | Taylor Swift | Trey Fanjoy | 3:54 |
| 4. “White Horse” (music video) | Liz Rose, Taylor Swift | Trey Fanjoy | 4:03 |
| 5. “You Belong With Me” (music video) | Liz Rose, Taylor Swift | Roman White | 4:37 |
| 6. “Love Story” (“On The Set” Behind the Scenes at the Music Video) | 22:00 | ||
| 7. “White Horse” (“On The Set” Behind the Scenes at the Music Video) | 22:00 | ||
| 8. “You Belong With Me” (“On The Set” Behind the Scenes at the Music Video) | 20:45 | ||
| 9. “Fearless Tour Photo Gallery” | |||
| 10.”Fearless Tour 2009 First Show Behind the Scenes” | 10:41 | ||
| 11. “CMT Awards “Thug Story”” | Nash Overstreet, R.K. Follese, Taylor Swift | Peter Zavadil | 1:26 |
| Fearless Platinum Edition DVD (Target Exclusive) | |||
| 12. “Untouchable” (Clear Channeld Stripped) | Cary Barlowe, Nathan Barlowe, Taylor Swift, Tommy Lee James | Mitchell Stuart | 3:45 |
| 13. “Fearless”(Clear Channeled Stripped) | Hilary Lindsey, Liz Rose, Taylor Swift | Mitchell Stuart | 3:23 |
| Fearless Platinum Edition DVD (Walmtart Exclusive) | |||
| 12.”Love Story” (V-Fest UK: Live Performance) | Taylor Swift | 4:27 | |
| 13. “You Belong With Me” (V-Fest UK: Live Performance) | Liz Rose, Taylor Swift | 5:01 |
Hidden messages
Fearless – Standard
- Fearless – I loved you before I met you.
- Fifteen – I cried while recording this.
- Love Story – Someday I’ll find this.
- Hey Stephen – Love and Theft.
- White Horse – All I ever wanted was the truth.
- You Belong With Me – Love is blind so you wouldn’t see me.
- Breathe – I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry.
- Tell Me Why – Guess I was fooled by your smile.
- You’re Not Sorry – She can have you.
- The Way I Loved You – We can’t go back.
- Forever & Always – If you play these games, we’re both going to lose.
- The Best Day – God bless Andrea Swift
- Change – You made things change for me
Fearless – Platinum Edition
- Jump Then Fall – Last summer was magical
- Untouchable – We always want what we can’t reach
- Forever & Always (Piano Version) – Still miss who I thought he was
- Come In With the Rain – I won’t admit that I’d wish you’d come back
- Superstar – I’ll never tell
- The Other Side of the Door – What I was really thinking when I slammed the door
- Fearless – I loved you before I met you.
- Fifteen – I cried while recording this.
- Love Story – Someday I’ll find this.
- Hey Stephen – Love and Theft.
- White Horse – All I ever wanted was the truth.
- You Belong With Me – Love is blind so you wouldn’t see me.
- Breathe – I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry.
- Tell Me Why – Guess I was fooled by your smile.
- You’re Not Sorry – She can have you.
- The Way I Loved You – We can’t go back.
- Forever & Always – If you play these games, we’re both going to lose.
- The Best Day – God bless Andrea Swift
- Change – You made things change for me