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"Fearless"
Taylor Swift
Big Machine Records
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Taylor Swift might live in a bubble, but what a bubble it is.
Swift is a precocious teen who embodies the Alfred Lord Tennyson sentiment "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." While her youthful, warm voice is sweet but nothing special, she sings her lovelorn tales of first kisses, secret crushes, romantic breakups and unrequited advances with so much sincerity and enthusiasm that it's hard for those who are young and young at heart not to connect with her.
At first glance, the title "Fearless" sounds as if it would be better suited for a band of heavy-metal head-bangers like Disturbed, not a doe-eyed, curly-haired blond who believes in happily ever after.
Then again, when you listen to her sophomore release, "Fearless" is actually a gutsy move in a world where middle-age Svengalis are often pulling the strings and the mighty Disney moguls are calling all the shots, transforming teens into one of two things - Lolita divas or real-life fashion dolls.
Despite having her likeness molded in 12-inch plastic (so tweens can re-enact Joe Jonas breaking up with the triple-platinum, country-pop phenom on his cell phone), Swift is no Lolita diva or fashion doll. She is very much her own person, and she is very real.
Swift acts her age, which is refreshing, but at times irritating. And she sings about what she knows, about being a teenager. And she does it without talking down to her peers or gyrating in naughty schoolgirl outfits in an effort to get old men in trench...