| Fearless | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Taylor Swift | |||||
| Album | Fearless | ||||
| Released | January 3, 2010 | ||||
| Recorded | 2006 | ||||
| Genre(s) | Pop rock | ||||
| Length | 4:01 | ||||
| Label(s) | Big Machine | ||||
| Producer(s) | Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift | ||||
| Fearless chronology | |||||
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Fearless is a song recorded by Taylor Swift originally for her second studio album of the same name, which was released on November 11, 2008. It was then released on January 3, 2010, via Big Machine Records as the fifth and final single of the album.
The song was written by Swift, Liz Rose and Hillary Lindsey, and produced by Swift and Nathan Chapman. Swift wrote the pop rock song while traveling on tour to promote her self-titled debut studio album (2006). She wrote "Fearless" in regard to the fearlessness of falling in love and eventually titled her second studio album after the song. Musically, it contains qualities commonly found in pop rock music and, lyrically, is about a perfect first date.
Production[]
"Fearless" was written by Swift in collaboration with Liz Rose and Hillary Lindsey and produced by Nathan Chapman alongside Swift. Swift conceived the song while touring as opening act in order to promote her eponymous debut album, Taylor Swift (2006). While writing the song, she was not dating anyone or "even in the beginning stages of dating anybody." She wrote the song after she analyzed the ideology of what was the best first date. While developing "Fearless", Swift explained the writing process, stating, "I think sometimes when you’re writing love songs, you don’t write them about what you’re going through at the moment, you write about what you wish you had." The song was composed with two concepts in mind. Swift described the song's primary concept to be about "the fearlessness of falling in love", and "no matter how many times you get hurt, you will always fall in love again." The second, is about the best first date, which Swift stated she hadn't experienced at the time of writing "Fearless". After completing the song, Swift deeply deliberated her personal definition of the word "fearless". To her, "fearless doesn't mean you're completely unafraid and it doesn't mean that you're bulletproof. It means that you have a lot of fears, but you jump anyway." That influenced her to title the album Fearless. The song was first released as a promotional single from the album on October 14, 2008 as part of Countdown to Fearless an exclusive campaign by the iTunes Store; it was later released as the fifth and final single from Fearless on January 4, 2010.
Composition[]
"Fearless" is four minutes and one second in length. Alexis Petridis of The Guardian described the song's genre as a "kind of orthodontically perfect pop rock". He said the most country part of the song was a lyric that referenced a "one horse town". The song is set in common time and has a moderate tempo of 100 beats per minute. It is written in the key of F major and Swift's vocals span two octaves, from F3 to C5. It follows the chord progression F–C–Gm–B♭-C. Tom Ronald of Great American Country interpreted the song's message to be about "taking courage on the dating circuit." In a different perspective, Rob Sheffield of Blender magazine said the lyrics "And I don't know why but with you / I'd dance in a storm in my best dress, fearless" demonstrated how Swift enjoyed making a scene. He added that she would not wear "anything else to go ride around in a storm".
Music video[]
Various performances from the Fearless Tour were used to comprise a music video for "Fearless", directed by Todd Cassetty. The video premiered on February 17, 2010 on CMT. It begins when Swift tells her band before they step onstage, "You guys, this tour has been the best experience of my entire life." The video intermingles footage from the tour itself with fans excitedly showing off signs to Swift with behind-the-scenes footage of Swift and her band as they travel on the Fearless Tour. The video ends with the singer waving goodbye as she exits the stage. Upon watching the video, Jocelyn Vena of MTV News interpreted it to be "Swift's love letter to her fans", as it showed an "inside view of what it's like to go on tour".