:Fearless (Taylor Swift album)

Taylor Swift signed a publishing contract with Sony/ATV Tree Publishing in 2004 to become a songwriter;{{Cite magazine|last1=Hiatt|first1=Brian|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/taylor-swift-in-wonderland-20121025|title=Taylor Swift in Wonderland|magazine=Rolling Stone|url-access=limited|date=October 25, 2012|access-date=August 1, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160731171417/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/taylor-swift-in-wonderland-20121025|archive-date=July 31, 2016}} at 14 years old, she became the youngest Sony/ATV signee in its history.{{cite web|last=DeLuca|first=Dan|title=Focused On 'great songs' Taylor Swift Isn't Thinking About 'the Next Level' or Joe Jonas Gossip|url=http://articles.philly.com/2008-11-11/news/25256467_1_big-machine-records-joe-jonas-country-music-association-awards|page=1|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|access-date=April 17, 2012|date=November 11, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121118235847/http://articles.philly.com/2008-11-11/news/25256467_1_big-machine-records-joe-jonas-country-music-association-awards|archive-date=November 18, 2012}} After signing a recording contract with Nashville-based Big Machine Records in 2005 to become a country music singer, Swift wrote songs with other Music Row songwriters and recorded her first album Taylor Swift with the producer Nathan Chapman for four months near the end of 2005.{{cite web|url=http://www.cmt.com/news/1546980/when-she-thinks-tim-mcgraw-taylor-swift-savors-payoff/|title=When She Thinks 'Tim McGraw,' Taylor Swift Savors Payoff|website=CMT News|first=Edward|last=Morris|date=December 1, 2006|access-date=November 12, 2021|archive-date=June 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626105553/http://www.cmt.com/news/1546980/when-she-thinks-tim-mcgraw-taylor-swift-savors-payoff/|url-status=dead}}{{sfn|Spencer|2010|p=27}} Released on October 24, 2006, the album Taylor Swift was the longest-charting album on the US Billboard 200 of the 2000s decade, and established Swift as one of country music's rising stars.{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/gallery/taylor-swift-first-album-photos/|title=Flashback to Taylor Swift's First Album Drop|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|first=Madeline|last=Boardman|date=August 25, 2017|access-date=August 25, 2017|archive-date=July 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170721012123/http://ew.com/gallery/taylor-swift-first-album-photos/|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/266889/chart-beat-thursday-taylor-swift-tim-mcgraw-linked-again|title=Chart Beat Thursday: Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw Linked Again|date=October 29, 2009|magazine=Billboard|access-date=July 12, 2019|first=Gary|last=Trust|archive-date=June 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626194521/https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/266889/chart-beat-thursday-taylor-swift-tim-mcgraw-linked-again|url-status=live}} Its third single, "Our Song", made Swift the youngest person to single-handedly write and sing a number-one song on the Hot Country Songs chart.{{cite web|url=https://www.songhall.org/awards/winner/taylor_swift|title=Taylor Swift|publisher=Songwriters Hall of Fame|access-date=February 27, 2021|archive-date=February 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212003228/https://www.songhall.org/awards/winner/taylor_swift|url-status=live}} Her success was rare for a female teenage artist, as country music had been dominated by mostly middle-aged male musicians.{{Cite news|url=http://www.americansongwriter.com/2011/05/taylor-swift-the-garden-in-the-machine/4/|title=Taylor Swift: The Garden in the Machine|first=Jim|last=Malec|work=American Songwriter|date=May 2, 2011|access-date=May 21, 2012|page=4|quote=It also established her as one of only a handful of new female voices to break out at country radio in a decade that was almost completely dominated by males|archive-date=March 26, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160326122606/http://americansongwriter.com/2011/05/taylor-swift-the-garden-in-the-machine/4/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/arts/music/09cara.html|title=My Music, MySpace, My Life|first=Jon|last=Caramanica|authorlink=Jon Caramanica|work=The New York Times|url-access=limited|date=November 9, 2008|access-date=February 28, 2010|archive-date=April 11, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411152015/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/arts/music/09cara.html|url-status=live}}

To promote Taylor Swift, Swift toured as the opening act for other country musicians, including Rascal Flatts and George Strait, during 2007–2008. While on tour, she continued writing songs for her follow-up album mostly by herself on the road, "at the concert venue{{nbsp}}... a quiet place in some room at the venue, like the locker room".{{cite web|url=http://www.songwriteruniverse.com/taylorswift123.htm|title=Special Interview (2007): Taylor Swift Discusses Her Debut Album, Early Hits, and How She Got Started|first=Dale|last=Kawashima|website=Songwriting Universe|date=February 16, 2007|access-date=December 17, 2010|archive-date=March 24, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324060932/http://www.songwriteruniverse.com/taylorswift123.htm|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine |url= https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1046063/the-billboard-qa-taylor-swift |title= The Billboard Q&A: Taylor Swift |magazine= Billboard| first=Ken|last=Tucker|author-link=Ken Tucker|date=March 26, 2008|access-date= June 21, 2011 |archive-date= July 5, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130705032846/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1046063/the-billboard-qa-taylor-swift |url-status= live }} In addition to self-penned material, Swift had songwriting sessions with Liz Rose, with whom she had largely collaborated on her first album.{{cite web|url=https://www.dallasobserver.com/music/liz-rose-talks-taylor-swift-all-too-well-girl-crush-and-more-11546761|title=From Irving to Nashville to a Grammy: Songwriter Liz Rose Crushes It|work=Dallas Observer|first=Paige|last=Skinner|date=February 6, 2019|access-date=November 12, 2021|archive-date=July 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730163049/https://www.dallasobserver.com/music/liz-rose-talks-taylor-swift-all-too-well-girl-crush-and-more-11546761|url-status=live}} She also wrote with the musician John Rich and the singer-songwriter Colbie Caillat.{{cite web|url=http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1591866/why-taylor-swifts-songwriting-sings.jhtml|title=Why Taylor Swift's Songwriting Sings|first=Alison|last=Bonaguro|date=July 30, 2008|website=CMT News|access-date=July 1, 2011|archive-date=March 25, 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130325212847/http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1591866/why-taylor-swifts-songwriting-sings.jhtml|url-status=dead}}

Swift first came up with the direction for her second studio album after writing "Fearless", a song about an imaginary "best first date", while touring with Brad Paisley in mid-2007. Swift's songwriting was influenced by Paisley and Sheryl Crow's approach to expressing emotions.{{NoteTag|Swift admired Crow for her "candidness,{{nbsp}}... how she tells it like it is, but still is vulnerable". Speaking on Paisley, Swift said: "He can write something so touching it can make you cry, and then he can make you laugh so hard that you can't breathe."{{cite magazine|url=http://www.unratedmagazine.com/Document.cfm?Page=Articles/index.cfm&Article_ID=495|title=Taylor Swift – A Place in This World|first=Jackie Lee|last=King|date=July 2007|magazine=Unrated Magazine|access-date=June 18, 2011|archive-date=September 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929103301/http://www.unratedmagazine.com/Document.cfm?Page=Articles%2Findex.cfm&Article_ID=495|url-status=dead}}}} Continuing on the romantic themes of her first album, Swift chose to write songs about her personal feelings and observations of the world around her from the perspectives of a teenage girl, instead of the luxurious lifestyle brought by her newfound fame,{{cite magazine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140724215447/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/10/10/you-belong-with-me|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/10/10/you-belong-with-me|title=You Belong with Me|first=Lizzie|last=Widdicombe|magazine=The New Yorker|date=October 10, 2011|url-status=live|access-date=July 24, 2014|archive-date=July 24, 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2010/03/26/entertainment/doc4baba3395e3ef490410773.txt?viewmode=default|title=Living Fearless Taylor Swift Talks About Her Whirlwind Rise to the Top|first=Gary|last=Graff|date=March 26, 2010|work=The Oakland Press|access-date=July 1, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716215636/http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2010/03/26/entertainment/doc4baba3395e3ef490410773.txt?viewmode=default|archive-date=July 16, 2012|url-status=dead}} to ensure her fans could relate to her songs: "I really try to write more about what I feel and guys and love because that's what fascinates me more than anything else – love and what it does to us and how we treat people and how they treat us. So pretty much every song on the album has a face that I associate with it."{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910102217/http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2010/03/26/entertainment/doc4baba3395e3ef490410773.txt?viewmode=2|url=http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2010/03/26/entertainment/doc4baba3395e3ef490410773.txt?viewmode=2|title=Living Fearless Taylor Swift Talks About Her Whirlwind Rise to the Top|first=Gary|last=Graff|date=March 26, 2010|work=The Oakland Press|access-date=July 1, 2011|archive-date=September 10, 2012|page=2|url-status=dead}}

Swift usually started writing by identifying a core emotion she wanted to convey through the melody on guitar. For other songs, she sometimes came up with the title first before writing the hook. While some songs were inspired by Swift's personal relationships, she said that most songs were dramatized observations rather than real-life experiences: "I've gone through breakups and the core emotions behind them, but it doesn't take much to get that sort of emotion out in a song, luckily for me."{{cite web|url=http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_9121730 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080504023531/http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_9121730 |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 4, 2008 |title=A Swift Kick in the Pants |first=David |last=Kronke |date=May 1, 2008 |work=Pasadena Star-News |access-date=July 1, 2011}} She explained that certain emotions on her songs such as frustration or heartbreak came easily without her actually going through emotional turmoil. By July 2007, Swift had written as many as 75 songs. She recorded the album within a few months after touring with George Strait.{{cite web|url=http://www.insidevandy.com/drupal/node/3322|title=Interview with Taylor Swift|date=February 23, 2007|work=The Vanderbilt Hustler|first=Matt|last=Reynolds|access-date=July 1, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724085733/http://www.insidevandy.com/drupal/node/3322|archive-date=July 24, 2011}} Chapman, who produced Swift's debut, returned as producer,{{Cite news|last=Bernstein|first=Jonathan|date=February 11, 2021|title=Taylor Swift's Fearless: How She Made Her Pop Breakthrough|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/taylor-swift-fearless-album-making-1126978/|access-date=February 12, 2021|magazine=Rolling Stone|url-access=limited|archive-date=April 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410112631/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/taylor-swift-fearless-album-making-1126978/|url-status=live}} and recording took place at studios in Tennessee, including six in Nashville and one in Franklin.{{cite AV media notes |title=Fearless (Platinum Edition) |others=Taylor Swift |year=2009 |type=CD |publisher=Big Machine Records |id=BMRATS0250}}

File:Colbie Caillat playing in Paradiso, Amsterdam 03.jpg" with Colbie Caillat (pictured in 2011).|alt=Colbie Caillat performing]]

During the recording sessions, Swift emphasized the authenticity of the songs' emotional sentiments over technical rigidity: "I think it's the writer in me that's a little more obsessed with the meaning of the song than the vocal technique."{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-oct-26-ca-swift26-story.html|title=She's Writing Her Future|first=Randy|last=Lewis|work=Los Angeles Times|url-access=limited|date=October 26, 2008|access-date=August 21, 2021|archive-date=August 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210822140403/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-oct-26-ca-swift26-story.html|url-status=live}} By March 2008, Swift had recorded six songs, including one co-written by and featuring Caillat, "Breathe";{{cite web|url=http://blog.mlive.com/kalamazoo_gazette_extra/2008/01/an_unassuming_ride_to_teen_que.html|title=An Unassuming Ride to Teen Queendom|first=John|last=Liberty|date=January 31, 2008|work=Kalamazoo Gazette|access-date=July 1, 2011|archive-date=July 16, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716020732/http://blog.mlive.com/kalamazoo_gazette_extra/2008/01/an_unassuming_ride_to_teen_que.html|url-status=dead}} Swift had used Caillat's 2007 song "Bubbly" as a reference point during the recording sessions, because of its simple arrangements and honest sentiments. Apart from newly penned songs, Swift recorded a few that she had written for her debut album, believing there were stories that deserved to be put out. Swift made her debut as a record producer, co-producing all tracks with Chapman.{{sfn|Spencer|2010|p=54}} The standard edition consists of 13 tracks, which Swift had planned because she considered 13 her lucky number.{{sfn|Spencer|2010|p=55}} Of the 13 tracks, Swift wrote seven by herself; the remaining were co-written with Caillat, Rose, Rich, and Hillary Lindsey. Recording took place within eight months{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/fall-music-preview-taylor-swifts-fearless-242318/|title=Fall Music Preview: Taylor Swift's Fearless|first=Caryn|last=Ganz|magazine=Rolling Stone|url-access=limited|date=October 2, 2008|access-date=February 9, 2022|archive-date=February 9, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209073750/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/fall-music-preview-taylor-swifts-fearless-242318/|url-status=live}} and finished in October 2008, when Swift completed the track "Forever & Always" just before Fearless was mastered and published.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/taylors-time-catching-up-with-taylor-swift-20100125|title=Taylor's Time: Catching Up With Taylor Swift|date=January 25, 2010|access-date=February 1, 2010|magazine=Rolling Stone|first=Austin|last=Scaggs|archive-date=August 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120815205826/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/taylors-time-catching-up-with-taylor-swift-20100125|url-status=live|url-access=limited}} The tracks "Change" and "Breathe" were recorded in December 2007.{{cite video |title=Fearless (Target Exclusive DVD) |date=2008 |medium=Recording "Change" and "Breathe" |publisher=Big Machine Records |people=Taylor Swift}}

Like Swift's debut album, Fearless{{'s}} prominent themes are love and life from a high school teenage girl's perspective.{{sfn|Perone|2017|p=20}} The songs in Fearless examine those themes with a more nuanced and mature observation.{{cite web|url=https://americansongwriter.com/taylor-swift-the-garden-in-the-machine/4/|title=Taylor Swift: The Garden in the Machine|page=4|work=American Songwriter|first=Jim|last=Malec|date=May 2, 2011|access-date=April 23, 2021|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726222700/https://americansongwriter.com/taylor-swift-the-garden-in-the-machine/4/|url-status=live}} Swift embraced country music's narrative songwriting to convey her coming of age.{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121118234627/http://articles.philly.com/2008-11-11/news/25256467_1_big-machine-records-joe-jonas-country-music-association-awards/3|url=http://articles.philly.com/2008-11-11/news/25256467_1_big-machine-records-joe-jonas-country-music-association-awards/3|title=Focused on 'Great Songs', Taylor Swift Isn't Thinking About 'the Next Level' or Joe Jonas Gossip|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|first=Dan|last=DeLuca|page=3|date=November 11, 2008|archive-date=November 18, 2012|access-date=November 18, 2012|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/music/fearless-taylors-version-rerecord-masters-939789|title=Long Before Fearless (Taylor's Version), Taylor Swift Was Charting Her Own Coming of Age|website=i|first=Sarah|last=Carson|date=April 2, 2021|access-date=November 10, 2021|archive-date=November 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211111010538/https://inews.co.uk/culture/music/fearless-taylors-version-rerecord-masters-939789|url-status=live}} She wrote the track "Fifteen" during her freshman high school year at Hendersonville High School.{{sfn|Spencer|2010|p=65}} In the narrative, Swift and another girl named Abigail—her real-life high school friend—go through teenage love and heartbreak together.{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Hazel |date=October 6, 2008 |title=Taylor Swift Talks About Songwriting, Friends and Good Manners |url=http://www.cmt.com/news/hot-dish/1596320/hot-dish-taylor-swift-talks-about-songwriting-friends-and-good-manners.jhtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023174001/http://www.cmt.com/news/hot-dish/1596320/hot-dish-taylor-swift-talks-about-songwriting-friends-and-good-manners.jhtml |archive-date=October 23, 2012 |access-date=March 17, 2011 |work=CMT News}} As the song concludes, Swift realizes she could accomplish more than dating high school senior boys. Music critics highlighted "Fifteen" as an example of Swift's songwriting about teenage themes, both with a starry-eyed innocence and a sense of nostalgia.

File:Romeo and juliet brown.jpg" inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (pictured is a painting depicting a scene from the play).|alt=A painting of Romeo and Juliet kissing on the balcony]]

Many of Fearless{{'s}} songs are about starry-eyed romance and use imagery associated with fairy tales, such as princes, princesses, white horses, and kissing in the rain.{{cite web|url=http://www.cmt.com/news/1599049/taylor-swifts-fascination-with-fairy-tales-comes-through-on-new-album/|title=Taylor Swift's Fascination with Fairy Tales Comes Through on New Album|website=CMT News|first=Lindsey|last=Rosnovsky|date=November 10, 2008|access-date=January 10, 2022|archive-date=January 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220111091711/http://www.cmt.com/news/1599049/taylor-swifts-fascination-with-fairy-tales-comes-through-on-new-album/|url-status=dead}} The title track "Fearless" is Swift's imagination of a perfect first date, on which she is caught in her "best dress" in the rain.{{sfn|Spencer|2010|pp=64–65}} Inspired by a love interest unpopular to Swift's family and friends, "Love Story" is based on Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.{{sfn|Spencer|2010|p=65}}{{cite magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1893502,00.html|title=10 Questions for Taylor Swift|date=April 23, 2009|magazine=Time|access-date=February 12, 2011|archive-date=September 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130918032328/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1893502,00.html|url-status=live}} In the lyrics, Swift replaced the original story's conclusion with a marriage proposal, an ending she believed the two characters deserved.{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090913011046/http://articles.latimes.com/2008/oct/26/entertainment/ca-swift26|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-oct-26-ca-swift26-story.html|title=Taylor Swift Writes Her Future|work=Los Angeles Times|first=Randy|last=Lewis|date=October 26, 2008|archive-date=September 13, 2009|access-date=September 13, 2009|url-status=live}} The optimistic "Love Story" is contradicted by "White Horse", which was inspired by the same love interest.{{cite news|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/the-very-pink-very-perfect-life-of-taylor-swift-107451/|title=The Very Pink, Very Perfect Life of Taylor Swift|magazine=Rolling Stone|last=Grigoriadis|first=Vanessa|url-access=limited|date=March 5, 2009|access-date=February 21, 2021|archive-date=January 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128093106/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/the-very-pink-very-perfect-life-of-taylor-swift-107451/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029203454/http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/12/05/us-music-singles-idUSTRE4B47BQ20081205|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/12/05/us-music-singles-idUSTRE4B47BQ20081205|title=Billboard Single Reviews of Taylor Swift, Jamie Foxx|work=Reuters|date=December 5, 2008|access-date=October 29, 2013|archive-date=October 29, 2013|url-status=dead}} In "White Horse", Swift is disillusioned that the love interest is not her ideal Prince Charming who could treat her like a princess after his unfaithfulness.{{cite web|url=https://www.mtv.com/news/1602658/taylor-swift-talks-about-emotional-new-video-for-white-horse/|title=Taylor Swift Talks About 'Emotional' New Video for 'White Horse'|website=MTV News|first=Jocelyn|last=Vena|date=January 13, 2009|access-date=January 13, 2009|archive-date=October 24, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024073646/http://www.mtv.com/news/1602658/taylor-swift-talks-about-emotional-new-video-for-white-horse/|url-status=dead}} "Hey Stephen" is about Swift's hidden feelings for Stephen Barker Liles of Love and Theft, a country band that had opened shows for her.{{sfn|Spencer|2010|p=66}} Heartbreak and emotional tumult are explored in songs such as "Tell Me Why", about an on-and-off relationship with an informal love interest; "You're Not Sorry", with lyrics describing an unfaithful man; and "Forever & Always", inspired by Swift's breakup with the singer Joe Jonas.{{cite news|url=http://www.katu.com/entertainment/34271244.html|title=Taylor Swift, At 18, Poised to Be Pop Superstar|first=Nekesa Mumbi|last=Moody|date=November 11, 2008|agency=Associated Press|access-date=July 1, 2011|archive-date=March 20, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320014240/http://www.katu.com/entertainment/34271244.html|url-status=dead}}{{sfn|Spencer|2010|p=69–71}}

Other songs were inspired by romantic relationships of Swift's friends. Swift wrote "You Belong with Me" after overhearing one of her band members speaking to his unsympathetic girlfriend over the phone.{{sfn|Spencer|2010|p=67}} Out of sympathy, she wrote a story in which the protagonist harbors feelings for an out-of-reach love interest. The lyrics feature high school iconography, describing the protagonist as an ordinary girl "on the bleachers", and the antagonistic girlfriend as a popular cheer captain. In "The Way I Loved You", Swift sings about her passionate feelings for a complicated ex-lover, despite her current relationship with a decent boyfriend.{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/2021/music/reviews/taylor-swift-fearless-taylors-version-album-review-vault-1234947622/|title=Taylor Swift Turns on a Facsimile Machine for Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Its Ingenious Recreations: Album Review|work=Variety|date=April 8, 2021|first=Chris|last=Willman|access-date=August 21, 2021|archive-date=July 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726170137/https://variety.com/2021/music/reviews/taylor-swift-fearless-taylors-version-album-review-vault-1234947622/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203140818/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/taylor-swift-lover-best-songs-1989-reputation-red-lyrics-music-videos-a9076476.html|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/taylor-swift-lover-best-songs-1989-reputation-red-lyrics-music-videos-a9076476.html|title=Taylor Swift: Her 100 Album Tracks – Ranked|work=The Independent|first=Roisin|last=O'Connor|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|date=August 23, 2019|archive-date=December 3, 2019|access-date=December 3, 2019}} Apart from romance, Fearless explores friendship, family love, and life lessons from Swift's underdog perspective. "Breathe" is about a fallout with a close friend.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/if-you-think-taylor-swift-sings-only-about-her-exes-then-you-dont-get-taylor-swift/2017/11/01/76c0227e-b9a8-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html|title=If You Think Taylor Swift Sings Only About Her Exes, Then You Don't Get Taylor Swift|first=Emily|last=Yahr|date=November 1, 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=January 4, 2021|archive-date=November 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201121113308/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/if-you-think-taylor-swift-sings-only-about-her-exes-then-you-dont-get-taylor-swift/2017/11/01/76c0227e-b9a8-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html|url-status=live}} She dedicated "The Best Day" to her mother after they went shopping together because Swift was turned down by her schoolmates.{{cite web|url=https://www.gq.com/story/taylor-swift-gq-cover-story|title=Taylor Swift on 'Bad Blood,' Kanye West, and How People Interpret Her Lyrics|first=Chuck|last=Klosterman|work=GQ|date=October 15, 2015|access-date=October 18, 2015|archive-date=October 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018020927/http://www.gq.com/story/taylor-swift-gq-cover-story|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://music.aol.ca/article/taylor-swift-sessions-interview/462880/|title=Taylor Swift Sessions Interview|first=Melinda|last=Newman|date=December 19, 2008|website=AOL|access-date=March 25, 2011|archive-date=December 25, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225202826/http://music.aol.ca/article/taylor-swift-sessions-interview/462880/|url-status=dead}} The lyrics of "Change"—the closing track of the standard edition—detail Swift's determination to succeed despite her underdog status as a singer from a small, independent record label in Nashville.{{sfn|Spencer|2010|p=81}} She finished writing "Change" the night she won the Horizon Award at the 2007 Country Music Association Awards.

A country pop album, Fearless follows the country styling of Swift's debut album. The tracks are characterized by instruments associated with country music such as fiddle, banjo, mandolin, and acoustic guitar, intertwined with dynamic electric guitar and strings in the build-up.{{NoteTag|As described by such sources as The Boston Globe, The Guardian, and musicOMH{{cite web|url=https://www.musicomh.com/reviews/albums/taylor-swift-fearless|title=Taylor Swift – Fearless|website=musicOMH|first=Michael|last=Cragg|date=March 9, 2009|access-date=November 12, 2021|url-access=subscription|archive-date=November 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211113080828/https://www.musicomh.com/reviews/albums/taylor-swift-fearless|url-status=live}}}} The production is consistent throughout: each song follows a recurring verse–chorus–bridge structure and has a dramatic bridge, a stripped-down final verse, and a dramatic final refrain.

Music critics debated the album's genre. Many considered Fearless more pop than country, citing the pop-friendly musical arrangements{{NoteTag|Attributed to such sources as AllMusic and the Chicago Tribune{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090311015440/http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2008/nov/10/entertainment/chi-taylor-swift-1109nov09|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2008/nov/10/entertainment/chi-taylor-swift-1109nov09|title=Taylor Swift shows her fearless side|first=Alison|last=Bonaguro|date=November 10, 2008|website=Chicago Tribune|archive-date=March 11, 2009|access-date=September 23, 2022|url-status=dead}}}} and the elements of styles of pop, rock, and folk, namely teen pop, pop rock, and soft rock.{{NoteTag|Attributed to such sources as The Guardian, NPR,{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2008/12/04/97800838/taylor-swifts-fearless-follow-up-album|title=Taylor Swift's Fearless Follow-Up Album|website=NPR|first=Ken|last=Tucker|author-link=Ken Tucker|date=December 4, 2008|access-date=December 4, 2008|archive-date=August 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823095243/https://www.npr.org/2008/12/04/97800838/taylor-swifts-fearless-follow-up-album|url-status=live}} and Rolling Stone}} According to Hazel Cills of Pitchfork, the country elements are minimal: Swift's "faux-country accent" and "a few bits" of banjo and fiddle scattered throughout. In the British newspaper Guardian, Alexis Petridis said the country identifiers are limited to the lyrical references to God and "one-horse towns", and the production is "orthodontically perfect pop-rock" with Swift's melodies evoking "the pitiless efficiency of a Scandinavian pop factory". Swift, in an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer, responded to the critical debate: "[Whether] you tell stories about how you live on a farm and cherish your family and God, or whether you tell stories about being in high school and being cheated on, they're stories about your life. That's what makes me a country artist." Some retrospective reviews deemed Fearless a record steeped in country music.{{cite web|url=https://www.stereogum.com/2143405/taylor-swift-fearless-taylors-version-review/columns/the-week-in-pop/|title=We All Get To Benefit From Taylor Swift's Sweet Revenge|website=Stereogum|first=Chris|last=DeVille|date=April 12, 2021|access-date=September 23, 2022|archive-date=May 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513001401/https://www.stereogum.com/2143405/taylor-swift-fearless-taylors-version-review/columns/the-week-in-pop/|url-status=live}}

{{Listen

| filename = Taylor Swift - The Way I Loved You (sample).ogg

| title="The Way I Loved You"

| description="The Way I Loved You" features grunge-inspired distorted electric guitars, exhibiting diverse musical influences in addition to the album's country pop production.

}}

Many of the songs contain a radio–friendly pop production, demonstrated through tracks such as "Fearless", "Fifteen", "Love Story", "You Belong with Me", "Tell Me Why", "The Way I Loved You", and "Change". The musicologist James E. Perone commented that the songs contain hints of country, pop, folk, and alternative rock with their instrumental mix.{{sfn|Perone|2017|p=20}} "You Belong with Me" has a banjo–led country pop production in the verses and new wave–inspired electric guitars in the buildup, with elements of 1980s new wave rock portrayed by the repeated eighth notes joined by fiddle, mandolin, and guitar.{{sfn|Perone|2017|p=22}} "Tell Me Why" opens with country fiddles and incorporates influences of 1990s alternative rock and hip hop in the syncopated drum beats and rock in the guitar instrumentation.{{sfn|Perone|2017|p=22}} The dynamic "The Way I Loved You" features distorted electric guitars with textual shifts that recall 1990s grunge.{{sfn|Perone|2017|p=22}} The ballads "White Horse" and "You're Not Sorry" also have pop hooks. The standard edition's penultimate track, "The Best Day", features a stripped-down country rock{{sfn|Perone|2017|p=23}} production with guitar strums.

Swift named the album Fearless inspired by the title track: "[Being] 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."{{cite news|url=https://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1599032/20081110/swift__taylor.jhtml|title=Taylor Swift Says She 'Owed It' to Her Fans to Be Open About Joe Jonas Breakup|first=Jocelyn|last=Vena|date=November 11, 2008|website=MTV News|access-date=May 25, 2010|archive-date=March 12, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100312093907/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1599032/20081110/swift__taylor.jhtml|url-status=dead}} All the songs on the album reflected her "fearless" attitude to embrace the hardships and challenges in love and life.{{sfn|Perone|2017|p=24}} Swift was the booklet's designer; Joseph Anthony Barker, Ash Newell, and Sheryl Nields were responsible for the photography; and Leen Ann Ramey designed the cover artwork. The 13-track standard edition was released on November 11, 2008, by Big Machine Records.{{sfn|Spencer|2010|p=51}} An international edition featuring three bonus tracks—"Our Song", "Teardrops on My Guitar", and "Should've Said No"—was released on March 9, 2009, by Big Machine in partnership with Universal Music Group.{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/fearless-international-version-mr0003749837|title=Fearless [International Version]|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=August 21, 2021|archive-date=August 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824133444/https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/fearless-international-version-mr0003749837|url-status=live}}

Swift announced a reissue of Fearless, subtitled Platinum Edition, on September 10, 2009. The reissue was released on October 26, 2009.{{cite news|url=https://www.mtv.com/news/1624732/taylor-swift-is-even-more-fearless-one-day-early/|title=Taylor Swift Is Even More Fearless, One Day Early|first=Jocelyn|last=Vena|date=October 26, 2009|website=MTV News|access-date=June 1, 2011|archive-date=November 11, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111051040/http://www.mtv.com/news/1624732/taylor-swift-is-even-more-fearless-one-day-early/|url-status=dead}} The Platinum Edition package includes a CD and a DVD; the CD features six additional songs—"Jump Then Fall", "Untouchable", "Forever & Always" (Piano Version), "Come in with the Rain", "SuperStar", and "The Other Side of the Door"—placed prior to the original tracks. The DVD comprises the music videos for "Change", "The Best Day", "Love Story", "White Horse", and "You Belong with Me"; behind-the-scenes footage for the latter three; behind-the-scene footage from the first concert of the Fearless Tour; and "Thug Story"—a video Swift filmed with the rapper T-Pain exclusively for the 2009 CMT Music Awards.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/267429/taylor-swift-to-re-release-fearless-with-new-songs|title=Taylor Swift To Re-Release Fearless With New Songs|first=Monica|last=Herrera|date=September 10, 2009|magazine=Billboard|access-date=June 1, 2011|archive-date=June 28, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140628222258/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/267429/taylor-swift-to-re-release-fearless-with-new-songs|url-status=dead}} "Untouchable" is a cover of a 2007 song by the rock band Luna Halo; its lyrics and arrangement were rewritten by Swift, leading to her earning a writing credit on her version.{{cite web|url=http://blogs.tennessean.com/tunein/2009/11/24/nathan-barlowe-of-luna-halo-talks-about-taylor-swift-and-untouchable/|title=Nathan Barlowe of Luna Halo Talks About Taylor Swift and 'Untouchable'|first=Dave|last=Paulson|date=November 21, 2009|work=The Tennessean|access-date=July 23, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150428055711/http://blogs.tennessean.com/tunein/2009/11/24/nathan-barlowe-of-luna-halo-talks-about-taylor-swift-and-untouchable/|archive-date=April 28, 2015}}

File:Taylor Swift at 2009 MTV VMA's 2.jpg; her acceptance speech for Best Female Video was interrupted by the rapper Kanye West, which prompted widespread media coverage.|alt=Taylor Swift rehearsing for the 2009 VMAs]]

On June 8, 2008, Swift performed songs from Fearless on Clear Channel's Stripped; the performance was recorded and included in the Platinum Edition reissue. Prior to the album's commercial release, "Change" was made available via the iTunes Store on August 8 as a promotional single.{{cite web|url=http://www.cmt.com/news/news-in-brief/1592296/taylor-swifts-olympics-song-on-itunes-friday.jhtml|title=Taylor Swift's Olympics Song on iTunes Friday|date=August 6, 2008|work=CMT News|access-date=August 5, 2012|archive-date=October 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029204612/http://www.cmt.com/news/news-in-brief/1592296/taylor-swifts-olympics-song-on-itunes-friday.jhtml|url-status=dead}} It was included on the AT&T Team USA Soundtrack, a compilation of songs played during the United States' participation in the 2008 Summer Olympics.{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CxQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10|title=Going for the Gold|magazine=Billboard|first=Mitchell|last=Peters|date=August 30, 2008|page=10|volume=120|issue=35|access-date=April 25, 2021|archive-date=August 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827095354/https://books.google.com/books?id=CxQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10&lpg=PA10|url-status=live}} A digital campaign launched through the iTunes Store, called "Countdown to Fearless", featured one song released each week during the five weeks leading to the album's release.{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pBQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA45|title=Over the Counter: Swift Swoops in with Dizzying Digital Number|first=Keith|last=Caulfield|magazine=Billboard|date=November 29, 2008|volume=120|issue=48|access-date=August 21, 2021|page=45|archive-date=August 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827095354/https://books.google.com/books?id=pBQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA45|url-status=live}} "Breathe" was released as a promotional single exclusively via Rhapsody on October 21, 2008.{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100428001333/http://www.rhapsody.com/taylor-swift/breathe|url=http://www.rhapsody.com/taylor-swift/breathe|title=Breathe by Taylor Swift|website=Rhapsody|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 28, 2010}}

Swift made many television appearances to promote Fearless throughout late 2008, performing on shows including The Ellen DeGeneres Show,{{cite news|url=https://www.mtv.com/news/1598752/taylor-swift-talks-about-joe-jonas-breakup-online-on-the-radio-on-tv-and-in-her-new-album/|title=Taylor Swift Talks about Joe Jonas Breakup Online, on the Radio, on TV and in Her New Album|website=MTV News|first=Jocelyn|last=Vena|date=November 6, 2008|access-date=November 11, 2009|archive-date=September 4, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904221949/http://www.mtv.com/news/1598752/taylor-swift-talks-about-joe-jonas-breakup-online-on-the-radio-on-tv-and-in-her-new-album/|url-status=dead}} Good Morning America,{{sfn|Spencer|2010|p=51}} and Late Night with David Letterman. A special CMT Crossroads episode featuring Swift and rock band Def Leppard singing each other's songs was recorded on October 6 at the Roy Acuff Theater in Nashville,{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/taylor-swift-def-leppard-collab-for-cmt-crossroads-episode-237951/|title=Taylor Swift, Def Leppard Collab for CMT Crossroads Episode|date=November 13, 2008|magazine=Rolling Stone|url-access=limited|access-date=November 13, 2011|archive-date=August 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809004903/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/taylor-swift-def-leppard-collab-for-cmt-crossroads-episode-237951/|url-status=live}} and aired on CMT on November 7, 2008.{{cite web|url=http://www.cmt.com/news/1596452/taylor-swift-def-leppard-tape-cmt-crossroads/|title=Taylor Swift, Def Leppard Tape CMT Crossroads|work=CMT News|date=October 7, 2008|access-date=November 11, 2008|archive-date=July 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721083953/http://www.cmt.com/news/1596452/taylor-swift-def-leppard-tape-cmt-crossroads/|url-status=dead}} Her performances at awards shows that year included the Country Music Association Awards and the American Music Awards.{{cite web|url=https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-2008-11-09-4237273-story.html|title=She's the New 'Got Milk' Girl|work=The Morning Call|first=Kelly-Anne|last=Suarez|date=November 6, 2008|access-date=November 11, 2008|archive-date=August 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827095355/https://www.mcall.com/|url-status=live}}

Besides live appearances, Swift used her MySpace account to promote to a young audience, sharing snippets of songs for streaming before they were released to radio, as she had done with her debut album.{{cite magazine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021165825/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/11/10/prodigy-pop-music-sasha-frere-jones|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/11/10/prodigy-pop-music-sasha-frere-jones|title=Prodigy|first=Sasha|last=Frere-Jones|author-link=Sasha Frere-Jones|magazine=The New Yorker|date=November 10, 2008|archive-date=October 21, 2016|access-date=October 21, 2016|url-status=live|url-access=limited}} She continued to appear on televised events through 2009, hosting Saturday Night Live,{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop-shop/6429325/taylor-swift-saturday-night-live-host-flashback|title=Remember When Taylor Swift Shined as 'Saturday Night Live' Host?|last=Strecker|first=Erin|date=January 2, 2015|magazine=Billboard|access-date=January 15, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150124024213/http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop-shop/6429325/taylor-swift-saturday-night-live-host-flashback|archive-date=January 24, 2015}} and performing at awards shows including the 51st Annual Grammy Awards,{{cite web|url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/live-blogging-the-grammy-awards/|title=Live Blogging the Grammy Wards|first1=Dave|last1=Itzkoff|first2=Jon|last2=Caramanica|date=February 8, 2009|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 21, 2011|archive-date=July 24, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724013123/http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/live-blogging-the-grammy-awards/|url-status=live|url-access=limited}} the CMT Music Awards,{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/268356/taylor-swift-has-big-night-at-cmt-awards|title=Taylor Swift Has Big Night at CMT Awards|date=June 17, 2009|magazine=Billboard|access-date=May 19, 2021|archive-date=May 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519175039/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/268356/taylor-swift-has-big-night-at-cmt-awards|url-status=live}} and the Country Music Association Awards.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/arts/music/12country.html|title=New Levels of Inclusion at Country Music Awards|date=November 11, 2009|access-date=October 30, 2017|last=Caramanica|first=Jon|work=The New York Times|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107041655/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/arts/music/12country.html|archive-date=November 7, 2017|url-access=limited}} At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, the rapper-producer Kanye West interrupted Swift's acceptance speech for winning Best Female Video with "You Belong with Me"—an incident known as "Kanyegate", which received widespread media coverage.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/awards/8529824/2009-video-music-awards-kanye-taylor-culture-reporting|title=How Kanye, Taylor and the 2009 VMAs Changed Music and Culture Reporting|first=Patrick|last=Lyons|magazine=Billboard|date=September 13, 2019|access-date=November 10, 2021|archive-date=November 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191111145111/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/awards/8529824/2009-video-music-awards-kanye-taylor-culture-reporting|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/mtvs-2009-vmas-pull-nine-million-viewers-best-ratings-since-04-70305/|title=MTV's 2009 VMAs Pull Nine Million Viewers, Best Ratings Since '04|first=Daniel|last=Krepps|magazine=Rolling Stone|url-access=limited|date=September 15, 2009|access-date=August 15, 2020|archive-date=August 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827095355/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/mtvs-2009-vmas-pull-nine-million-viewers-best-ratings-since-04-70305/|url-status=live}}

Five songs were released as singles from Fearless. The lead single, "Love Story", was released on September 15, 2008.{{cite news |date=September 8, 2008 |title=Country Aircheck Chart Info |url=http://www.countryaircheck.com/pdf_publication/Issue_106%20-%20Sept.%208,%202008.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828062329/http://www.countryaircheck.com/pdf_publication/Issue_106%20-%20Sept.%208,%202008.pdf |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |access-date=August 27, 2021 |newspaper=Country Aircheck |page=12 |issue=106}} It peaked atop Hot Country Songs and was the first country song to reach number one on Pop Songs, a Billboard chart monitoring pop radio in the United States.{{cite magazine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303023328/http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/266384/best-of-2009-part-1|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/266384/best-of-2009-part-1|title=Best Of 2009: Part 1|first=Gary|last=Trust|magazine=Billboard|date=December 15, 2009|archive-date=March 3, 2013|access-date=March 3, 2013|url-status=dead}} The single peaked at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100,{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/taylor-swift/chart-history/hsi|title=Taylor Swift Chart History (Hot 100)|magazine=Billboard|access-date=March 5, 2011|archive-date=November 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119211209/https://www.billboard.com/artist/taylor-swift/chart-history/hsi/|url-status=live}} number two on the UK Singles Chart,{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/5387/Taylor%20Swift|title=Taylor Swift: Chart History|publisher=Official Charts Company|access-date=August 24, 2018|archive-date=July 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711152743/http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/5387/taylor%20swift/|url-status=live}} and number one in Australia.{{cite web|url=https://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Taylor+Swift&titel=Love+Story&cat=s|title=Taylor Swift – Love Story|publisher=Hung Medien|access-date=March 13, 2013|archive-date=October 24, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024210025/http://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Taylor+Swift&titel=Love+Story&cat=s|url-status=live}} The four remaining singles were "White Horse" (December 8, 2008),{{cite news |date=November 24, 2008 |title=Country Aircheck Chart Info |url=http://www.countryaircheck.com/pdf_publication/Issue_117%20-%20November%2024,%202008.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828062701/http://www.countryaircheck.com/pdf_publication/Issue_117%20-%20November%2024,%202008.pdf |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |access-date=August 27, 2021 |work=Country Aircheck |page=11 |issue=117}} "You Belong with Me" (April 20, 2009),{{cite web |date=April 13, 2009 |title=Country Aircheck Chart Info |url=https://www.countryaircheck.com/pdf_publication/Issue_136%20-%20April%2013,%202009.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210915052432/https://www.countryaircheck.com/pdf_publication/Issue_136%20-%20April%2013,%202009.pdf |archive-date=September 15, 2021 |access-date=September 15, 2021 |page=14 |newspaper=Country Aircheck |issue=136}} "Fifteen" (August 31, 2009),{{cite news |date=August 24, 2009 |title=Country Aircheck Chart Info |url=http://www.countryaircheck.com/pdf_publication/Issue_155%20-%20August%2024,%202009.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828062851/http://www.countryaircheck.com/pdf_publication/Issue_155%20-%20August%2024,%202009.pdf |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |access-date=August 27, 2021 |work=Country Aircheck |page=15 |issue=155}} and "Fearless" (January 4, 2010).{{cite news |date=December 29, 2009 |title=Country Aircheck Chart Info |url=https://www.countryaircheck.com/pdf_publication/Issue_172%20-%20December%2029,%202009.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210915052437/https://www.countryaircheck.com/pdf_publication/Issue_172%20-%20December%2029,%202009.pdf |archive-date=September 15, 2021 |access-date=September 15, 2021 |work=Country Aircheck |page=9 |issue=172}} All four peaked within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, with "You Belong with Me" peaking at number two, and within the top ten of Hot Country Songs, with "You Belong with Me" reaching number one.{{NoteTag|"White Horse", "Fifteen", and "Fearless" peaked at numbers two, seven, and ten, respectively.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/taylor-swift/chart-history/csi|title=Taylor Swift Chart History (Hot Country Songs)|magazine=Billboard|access-date=March 5, 2011|archive-date=November 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117170111/https://www.billboard.com/artist/taylor-swift/chart-history/csi/|url-status=live}}}} Similar to "Love Story", "You Belong with Me" was a crossover success,{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6545730/taylor-swift-you-belong-with-me-anniversary-throwback|title=Happy Anniversary, Taylor Swift's 'You Belong With Me': 5 Great Moments|first=Erin|last=Strecker|magazine=Billboard|date=April 23, 2015|access-date=November 10, 2021|archive-date=November 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211111073459/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6545730/taylor-swift-you-belong-with-me-anniversary-throwback|url-status=live}} becoming the first country song to top the all-genre Radio Songs chart, driven mostly by non-country airplay.{{cite magazine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130201055907/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/267297/taylor-swift-climbs-hot-100-black-eyed-peas-still-no-1|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/267297/taylor-swift-climbs-hot-100-black-eyed-peas-still-no-1|title=Taylor Swift Climbs Hot 100, Black Eyed Peas Still No. 1|first=Gary|last=Trust|date=September 24, 2009|archive-date=February 1, 2013|access-date=February 1, 2013|magazine=Billboard|url-status=dead}} According to Nielsen SoundScan, "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" were the two most-played songs on US radio throughout 2009.{{Cite news |date=December 20, 2009 |title=The Top 10s of 2009 |work=Chicago Tribune |page=5 |id={{ProQuest|420844880}}}}

File:Taylor Swift Fearless Tour 03.jpg (pictured in 2010)|alt=Taylor Swift on the Fearless Tour]]

Swift announced the Fearless Tour, her first headlining tour, in January 2009. The tour started in Evansville, Indiana on April 23, and visited the United States and Canada over six months. Prior to the Fearless Tour, Swift headlined three music festivals: the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo in February 2009, and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and the Florida Strawberry Festival in March.{{cite web|url=http://www.cmt.com/news/1603909/taylor-swift-announces-first-national-tour-as-headliner/|title=Taylor Swift Announces First National Tour as Headliner|work=CMT News|date=January 30, 2009|access-date=January 30, 2009|archive-date=October 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020035801/http://www.cmt.com/news/1603909/taylor-swift-announces-first-national-tour-as-headliner/|url-status=dead}} In October, when the first North American leg finished, Swift announced a second North American leg beginning on March 4, 2010, in Tampa, Florida.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/267140/taylor-swift-announces-second-leg-of-fearless-tour|title=Taylor Swift Announces Second Leg Of Fearless Tour|first=Monica|last=Herrera|magazine=Billboard|date=October 8, 2009|access-date=October 9, 2009|archive-date=May 8, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508160537/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/267140/taylor-swift-announces-second-leg-of-fearless-tour|url-status=live}} Outside North America, the Fearless Tour visited Australia and Japan in February 2010.{{sfn|Spencer|2010|p=124}} The tour was met with high demand, selling out tickets within minutes.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/266942/taylor-swift-dates-sell-out-in-minutes|title=Taylor Swift Dates Sell Out In Minutes|date=October 26, 2009|access-date=October 26, 2009|magazine=Billboard|archive-date=September 7, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907081801/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/266942/taylor-swift-dates-sell-out-in-minutes|url-status=live}} Swift wrapped up the North American leg at the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts on June 5, 2010.{{cite web|url=https://www.patriotledger.com/article/20100607/news/306079616|title=Taylor Swift Wraps Up Fearless Tour in Style at Foxboro|work=The Patriot Ledger|first=Jay|last=Miller|date=June 7, 2010|access-date=June 7, 2010|archive-date=August 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210826082248/https://www.patriotledger.com/article/20100607/news/306079616|url-status=live}} The tour grossed over $63 million and played to over 1.1 million fans.{{cite web|url=https://tasteofcountry.com/taylor-swift-first-headlining-tour-fearless-tour/|title=Remember When Taylor Swift Launched Her First Headlining Tour?|work=Taste of Country|first=Sterling|last=Whitaker|date=April 23, 2021|access-date=April 23, 2021|archive-date=April 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423134731/https://tasteofcountry.com/taylor-swift-first-headlining-tour-fearless-tour/|url-status=live}}

A commercial success in the United States, Fearless set many chart records and catapulted Swift to mainstream prominence.{{sfn|Shuker|2016|p=82}} On the Billboard 200, it debuted at number one with first-week sales of 592,000 copies{{Cite magazine |date=November 19, 2008 |title=Taylor Swift's Fearless Flies At No. 1 With 592,000 |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/taylor-swifts-fearless-flies-at-no-1-with-592000-1301317/ |access-date=2024-04-22 |magazine=Billboard |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422030436/https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/taylor-swifts-fearless-flies-at-no-1-with-592000-1301317/ |url-status=live }} and spent 11 non-consecutive weeks at number one—the longest run for a female country album{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/pro/morgan-wallen-dangerous-billboard-200-ninth-week-number-one/|title=Morgan Wallen's Dangerous Spends Ninth Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200, Most Since 2016|magazine=Billboard|first=Keith|last=Caulfield|date=March 14, 2021|access-date=November 22, 2021|url-access=subscription|archive-date=November 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122054827/https://www.billboard.com/pro/morgan-wallen-dangerous-billboard-200-ninth-week-number-one/|url-status=live}} and for any album in the 2000s decade.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/news/e3i3f22f3dffa481188a963dae5af22b99a|title=Taylor Swift Reclaims Billboard 200 Throne|last=Hasty|first=Katie|date=December 17, 2008|magazine=Billboard|access-date=June 6, 2011|archive-date=October 7, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007103229/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/news/e3i3f22f3dffa481188a963dae5af22b99a|url-status=dead}} It is the album with the most top-40 entries on the Billboard Hot 100 (13, including tracks from the Platinum Edition).{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/266734/rihannas-roulette-lands-in-hot-100s-top-10 |title=Rihanna's 'Roulette' Lands In Hot 100's Top 10|magazine=Billboard|date=November 12, 2009|access-date=January 3, 2010|last=Pietroluongo|first=Silvio|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826114349/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/266734/rihannas-roulette-lands-in-hot-100s-top-10|archive-date=August 26, 2013}}{{NoteTag|"Fearless", "Fifteen", "Love Story", "White Horse", "You Belong with Me", "Forever & Always", "You're Not Sorry", "Change", "Jump Then Fall", "Untouchable", "Come In with the Rain", "SuperStar", and "The Other Side of the Door"}} Five tracks peaked within the top 10: "Fearless", "Love Story", "You Belong with Me", "Change", and "Jump Then Fall".{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/photos/6738611/albums-five-top-10-hot-100-hits|title=Juice WRLD's 'Legends Never Die' & The 27 Other Albums With Five or More Top 10 Hot 100 Hits|first=Trevor|last=Anderson|magazine=Billboard|date=August 18, 2020|access-date=August 27, 2020|archive-date=August 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200829234847/https://www.billboard.com/photos/6738611/albums-five-top-10-hot-100-hits|url-status=dead}} On the Top Country Albums chart, Fearless spent 35 weeks at number one,{{cite web|url=http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/68916/week-ending-oct-31-2010-acool-million-for-swift/|title=Week Ending Oct. 31, 2010: A Cool Million for Swift|first=Paul|last=Green|date=October 31, 2010|publisher=Yahoo! Music|access-date=June 10, 2011|archive-date=November 13, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101113012825/http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/68916/week-ending-oct-31-2010-acool-million-for-swift/|url-status=dead}} becoming the female album with the second-longest weeks at number one, behind Shania Twain's Come On Over (1997, 50 weeks).{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/pro/taylor-swift-fearless-rewinding-the-charts-2008/|title=Rewinding the Charts: In 2008, Taylor Swift Scored Her First Billboard 200 No. 1 with Fearless|last=Asker|first=Jim|date=November 29, 2018|magazine=Billboard|access-date=March 27, 2023|archive-date=March 27, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327153839/https://www.billboard.com/pro/taylor-swift-fearless-rewinding-the-charts-2008/|url-status=live}}

With 3.217 million copies sold in the United States, throughout 2009, Fearless was the year's best-selling album in the country. The achievement made Swift, then 20 years old, the youngest artist and the only female country musician to have a best-selling album of a calendar year.{{cite web|url=http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart-watch/chart-watch-extra-20-years-of-top-albums.html|title=Chart Watch Extra: 20 Years of Top Albums|first=Paul|last=Grein|date=May 12, 2011|publisher=Yahoo! Music|access-date=June 10, 2011|archive-date=July 12, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120712003520/http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart-watch/chart-watch-extra-20-years-of-top-albums.html|url-status=dead}} It was the only album from the 2000s decade to spend its first full year in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 and spent a total of 58 weeks in the top 10—a record for a country musician.{{cite web|url=http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart-watch/chart-watch-extra-a-full-year-in-the-top-10.html|title=Chart Watch Extra: A Full Year In The Top 10|first=Paul|last=Grein|date=January 15, 2010|publisher=Yahoo! Music|access-date=June 10, 2011|archive-date=October 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029205249/http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart-watch/chart-watch-extra-a-full-year-in-the-top-10.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart-watch/week-ending-feb-28-2010-beyond-the-grave.html|title=Week Ending Feb. 28, 2010: Beyond the Grave|first=Paul|last=Grein|date=March 3, 2011|publisher=Yahoo! Music|access-date=June 10, 2011|archive-date=October 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029210418/http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart-watch/week-ending-feb-28-2010-beyond-the-grave.html|url-status=dead}} In December 2017, the Recording Industry Association of America certified the album Diamond for surpassing 10 million album-equivalent units based on sales and streams. By January 2024, Fearless had sold 7.285 million copies in the United States.

Fearless marked Swift's international breakthrough.{{Sfn|Edmonson|2013|p=310}} It peaked atop the charts of Canada and New Zealand and within the top five of Australia (number two), Scotland (number four), and the United Kingdom (number five). It received multi-platinum certifications in Ireland and the United Kingdom (double platinum), Canada (four-times platinum), New Zealand (six-times platinum), and Australia (eight-times platinum). The album reached the top 10 in Japan, and top 20 in Austria, Brazil, Germany, Greece, and Sweden. It was certified gold in Japan, Germany, Austria, and Norway; platinum in Denmark; double-platinum in Singapore, and nine-times platinum in the Philippines.{{cite web|url=https://www.pep.ph/guide/music/7716/taylor-swift-receives-9x-platinum-award-for-her-fearless-album|title=Taylor Swift Receives 9× Platinum Award for Her Fearless Album|date=February 25, 2011|work=Philippine Entertainment Portal|publisher=GMA New Media. Summit Media|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725073820/https://www.pep.ph/guide/music/7716/taylor-swift-receives-9x-platinum-award-for-her-fearless-album|archive-date=July 25, 2021|url-status=live}} As of April 2021, the album had sold 12 million copies worldwide.{{cite web |last=Egan |first=Barry |date=April 25, 2021 |title=In Re-Recording Her Back Catalogue, Taylor Swift Is Feeling the Fear – And Doing It Anyway |url=https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/in-re-recording-her-back-catalogue-taylor-swift-is-feeling-the-fear-and-doing-it-anyway-40348656.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514125309/https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/in-re-recording-her-back-catalogue-taylor-swift-is-feeling-the-fear-and-doing-it-anyway-40348656.html |archive-date=May 14, 2021 |access-date=September 20, 2021 |work=Irish Independent}}

{{Music ratings

| title = Contemporaneous professional ratings

| MC = 73/100

| rev1 = AllMusic{{NoteTag|Upon release, AllMusic gave Fearless a four stars rating. The site reassessed the album with a four and a half stars rating since at least 2012,{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120610222906/http://www.allmusic.com/album/fearless-mw0000813082|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/fearless-mw0000813082|title=Fearless – Taylor Swift|publisher=AllMusic|first=Stephen|last=Thomas Erlewine|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|archive-date=June 10, 2012|access-date=October 8, 2018|url-status=live}} and awarded the album a five stars rating in 2018.{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008062741/https://www.allmusic.com/album/fearless-mw0000813082|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/fearless-mw0000813082|title=Fearless – Taylor Swift|publisher=AllMusic|first=Stephen|last=Thomas Erlewine|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|archive-date=October 8, 2018|access-date=October 8, 2018|url-status=live}}}}

| rev1Score = {{Rating|5|5}}

| rev2 = Blender

| rev2Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite journal|url=http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=5374|title=Taylor Swift: Fearless|journal=Blender|last=Sheffield|first=Rob|author-link=Rob Sheffield|access-date=October 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216051131/http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=5374|archive-date=December 16, 2008|url-status=dead}}

| rev3 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev3Score = B

| rev4 = The Guardian

| rev4Score = {{Rating|3|5}}

| rev5 = MSN Music (Consumer Guide)

| rev5Score = A−

| rev6 = The Observer

| rev6Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/feb/12/taylor-swift-fearless|title=Pop Review: Taylor Swift, Fearless|newspaper=The Observer|last=Davis|first=Johnny|date=February 14, 2009|access-date=April 17, 2016|archive-date=April 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425052336/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/feb/12/taylor-swift-fearless|url-status=live}}

| rev7 = Q

| rev7Score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite magazine|title=Taylor Swift: Fearless|magazine=Q|issue=273|page=110|date=April 2009}}

| rev8 = Rolling Stone

| rev8Score = {{Rating|4|5}}

| rev9 = Slant Magazine

| rev9Score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}

| rev10 = USA Today

| rev10Score = {{rating|3|4}}{{cite news|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20081111/d_listen11_spotlight.art.htm|title=Taylor Swift Hits All the Right Words|newspaper=USA Today|page=5D|last=Gardner|first=Elysa|date=November 11, 2008|access-date=April 17, 2016|archive-date=April 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428094543/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20081111/d_listen11_spotlight.art.htm|url-status=live}}

}}

Fearless received generally positive reviews from music critics in the press.{{sfn|Perone|2017|p=24}} On Metacritic, which assigns an aggregated score out of 100 to reviews in mainstream publications, the album earned a score of 73, based on 14 reviews.{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/fearless/taylor-swift|title=Reviews for Fearless by Taylor Swift|publisher=Metacritic|access-date=June 14, 2010|archive-date=July 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724234938/http://www.metacritic.com/music/fearless/taylor-swift|url-status=live}}

Many critics lauded Swift's songwriting craftsmanship. Reviews published in The Boston Globe,{{cite web|last=Reed|first=James|date=November 10, 2008|title=Young Country Star's Fearless Proves She's Just That, and More|url=https://www.boston.com/ae/music/cd_reviews/articles/2008/11/10/rise_and_shine/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113083942/http://www.boston.com/ae/music/cd_reviews/articles/2008/11/10/rise_and_shine/|archive-date=January 13, 2010|access-date=March 8, 2011|work=The Boston Globe}} Blender, Entertainment Weekly,{{cite magazine |last=Greenblatt |first=Leah |date=November 5, 2008 |title=Fearless (2008) |url=https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20237814,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101205035408/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20237814,00.html |archive-date=December 5, 2010 |access-date=March 12, 2010 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly}} The Village Voice,{{cite web|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-11-19/music/taylor-swift-s-teenage-country-star-tales-spiked-with-actual-wisdom/|title=Taylor Swift's Teenage Country-Star Tales, Spiked With Actual Wisdom|date=November 19, 2008|first=Josh|last=Love|work=The Village Voice|access-date=March 12, 2011|archive-date=January 17, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117173246/http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-11-19/music/taylor-swift-s-teenage-country-star-tales-spiked-with-actual-wisdom/|url-status=dead}} and USA Today remarked that Fearless was an honest and vulnerable record contrasting with albums by other teenage singers, thanks to Swift's self-penned songs. Other reviews from AllMusic,{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/fearless-mw0000813082|title=Fearless – Taylor Swift|first=Stephen Thomas|last=Erlewine|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=August 28, 2010|archive-date=June 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120610222906/http://www.allmusic.com/album/fearless-mw0000813082|url-status=live}} Billboard,{{cite magazine|last=Tucker|first=Ken|author-link=Ken Tucker|date=November 15, 2008|title=Albums: Fearless|magazine=Billboard|volume=120|issue=45|page=60|issn=0006-2510|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OBMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA41|access-date=March 8, 2011}} and The Observer deemed the lyrics mature for her age. In MSN Music, Robert Christgau found the album's romantic idealism distasteful, but he lauded Swift's songwriting skills as remarkable for a teenage artist.{{cite web|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cg2009-01.php|title=Consumer Guide|work=MSN Music|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=January 2009|access-date=April 17, 2016|archive-date=March 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235908/http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cg2009-01.php|url-status=live}} Jonathan Keefe from Slant Magazine agreed the songs were well-written but felt they fell short of refinement.{{cite web|url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/taylor-swift-fearless/1574|first=Jonathan|last=Keefe|date=November 16, 2008|title=Taylor Swift: Fearless|work=Slant Magazine|access-date=March 8, 2011|archive-date=March 15, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110315060524/http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/taylor-swift-fearless/1574|url-status=dead}}

Some critics praised Fearless{{'}}s crossover appeal. AllMusic{{'s}} Stephen Thomas Erlewine and The Boston Globe{{'s}} James Reed remarked that the album straddled the perceived boundary between country and pop; the former called it "one of the best mainstream pop albums of 2008". In Rolling Stone, Jody Rosen hailed Swift as a "songwriting savant with an intuitive gift for the verse-chorus-bridge architecture".{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/fearless-20081113|title=Fearless|magazine=Rolling Stone|url-access=limited|access-date=March 21, 2011|date=November 13, 2008|first=Jody|last=Rosen|author-link=Jody Rosen|archive-date=August 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120815082027/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/fearless-20081113|url-status=live}} Christgau commented that the songs were effective partly because of "the musical restraint of a strain of Nashville bigpop that avoids muscle-flexing rockism".

Other reviewers were divided over the production. Chris Richards of The Washington Post commended the radio-friendly tunes, but he commented that the album was repetitive overall.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/11/10/ST2008111002776.html|title=Taylor Swift, Fearless and Full of Charm|first=Chris|last=Richards|date=November 11, 2008|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=July 14, 2011|archive-date=November 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112185553/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/11/10/ST2008111002776.html|url-status=live}} Although Richards praised Swift's vocals for what he deemed a "chirpy cadence" that made her assign "fresh notes to almost every syllable", Keefe deemed her voice weak and strained, which blemished the album with occasional breath controls and nasal tones. Petridis found the praise in the American press surprising: though he agreed Swift's songwriting was remarkable, he found the music "bland and uninventive", which occasionally left the audience "wondering if the world really needs any more music like this".{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/mar/06/taylor-swift-fearless-album-review|title=Taylor Swift: Fearless|last=Petridis|first=Alexis|author-link=Alexis Petridis|date=March 6, 2009|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=March 21, 2011|archive-date=October 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016160252/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/mar/06/taylor-swift-fearless-album-review|url-status=live}} The British magazine Q wrote: "Her giggly peers will find she speaks their language, while grown-ups will prefer her to keep quiet."

Fearless featured on 2008 year-end lists by the Associated Press (7th),{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217094247/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081212/ap_en_ot/ye_top10_albums_4|url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081212/ap_en_ot/ye_top10_albums_4|title=Erykah, Estelle and Sia lead AP's top 10 albums|first=Nekesa Mumbi|last=Moody|website=Associated Press|date=December 12, 2008|access-date=December 12, 2008|archive-date=December 17, 2008|url-status=dead}} Blender (32nd),{{cite news|title=Blender{{'s}} Top 33 Albums and 144 Songs of 2008|newspaper=Blender|issue=December 2008/January 2009|date=November 22, 2008|volume=76|page=34}} Rolling Stone (39th),{{cite magazine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415221125/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/24958695/the_50_best_albums_of_2008/25|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/24958695/the_50_best_albums_of_2008/25|title=The 50 Best Albums of 2008|page=25|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=December 25, 2008|archive-date=April 15, 2009|access-date=April 15, 2009|url-status=dead}} and The Village Voice{{'s}} Pazz & Jop (58th);{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201125128/http://www.villagevoice.com/pazznjop/albums/2008/|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/pazznjop/albums/2008/|title=Pazz & Jop 2008|website=The Village Voice|archive-date=February 1, 2009|access-date=February 1, 2009|url-status=dead}} and 2009 year-end list by The Guardian (40th).{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/dec/11/critics-poll-11-50|title=Critics' Poll 2009: Albums 11—50|website=The Guardian|date=December 11, 2009|access-date=December 12, 2009|archive-date=September 8, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908191738/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/dec/11/critics-poll-11-50|url-status=live}} Jon Caramanica in The New York Times placed the album at number four on his list of 2008's best albums and called Swift "one of pop's finest songwriters, country's foremost pragmatist and more in touch with her inner life than most adults".{{Cite news |last=Caramanica |first=Jon |author-link=Jon Caramanica |date=2008-12-20 |title=Sounds of Swagger and Sob Stories |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/arts/music/21cara.html |url-access=limited |access-date=2022-12-07 |archive-date=December 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207112211/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/arts/music/21cara.html |url-status=live }}

The most awarded country album in history,{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rOA5W_BoYGIC&pg=RA2-PA58|title=Backbeat|first=Christa|last=Titus|newspaper=Billboard|page=58|date=April 17, 2010|volume=122|issue=13|access-date=November 13, 2021|archive-date=November 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115144147/https://books.google.com/books?id=rOA5W_BoYGIC&pg=RA2-PA58&lpg=RA2-PA58|url-status=live}} Fearless won Album of the Year at both the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards and the Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards in 2009.{{cite web|title=Taylor Swift Makes History at Country Music Awards|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cma/taylor-swift-makes-history-at-country-music-awards-idUSTRE5AB0QC20091112|work=Reuters|date=November 12, 2009|first=Vernell|last=Hackett|access-date=November 12, 2009|archive-date=October 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181017043028/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cma/taylor-swift-makes-history-at-country-music-awards-idUSTRE5AB0QC20091112|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.acmcountry.com/winners?awardTitle=Fearless&awardCategory=Album+of+the+Year&awardYear=&actionButton=Submit|title=Past Winners|publisher=Academy of Country Music|access-date=April 29, 2021|archive-date=August 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827095356/https://www.acmcountry.com/winners?awardTitle=Fearless&awardCategory=Album+of+the+Year&awardYear=&actionButton=Submit|url-status=live}} It was honored as the Top Selling Album by the Canadian Country Music Association in 2009 and 2010.{{cite web|title=Past Award Winners|url=https://members.ccma.org/cgi/page.cgi/past_award_winners.html?meta_nominee=Taylor+Swift&meta_category=Top+Selling+Album+of+the+Year&meta_year=&meta_year=&type=award§ion_id=1&log=do_search_form|publisher=Canadian Country Music Association|access-date=June 17, 2015|archive-date=August 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828040542/https://members.ccma.org/cgi/page.cgi/past_award_winners.html?meta_nominee=Taylor+Swift&meta_category=Top+Selling+Album+of+the+Year&meta_year=&meta_year=&type=award§ion_id=1&log=do_search_form|url-status=live}} At the American Music Awards of 2009, Fearless won Favorite Country Album and was nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock Album.{{cite web|title=A Complete List of 2009 AMA Winners |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-complete-list-of-2009-ama-winners/ |website=CBS News |access-date=June 14, 2015 |date=November 23, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150619202554/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-complete-list-of-2009-ama-winners/ |archive-date=June 19, 2015 }}{{cite news|title=Taylor Swift, Michael Jackson Dominate American Music Awards Nominations |url=https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2009/10/taylor-swift-michael-jackson-dominate-american-music-awards-nominations.html |url-access=limited |access-date=June 14, 2015 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=October 13, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015215823/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2009/10/taylor-swift-michael-jackson-dominate-american-music-awards-nominations.html |archive-date=October 15, 2009 }} Its other accolades included a Teen Choice Award for Choice Female Album,{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2009/film/news/teen-choice-awards-honor-tween-favs-1118007084/|title=Teen Choice Awards Honor Tween Favs|first=Erin|last=Maxwell|work=Variety|date=August 10, 2009|access-date=August 27, 2021|archive-date=August 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200829002840/https://variety.com/2009/film/news/teen-choice-awards-honor-tween-favs-1118007084/|url-status=live}} a Sirus XM Indie Award for International Album of the Year,{{Cite web|title=2009 Nominees/Winners|url=http://indies.ca/nominees_winners/2009-nomineeswinners/|access-date=July 1, 2020|archive-date=February 22, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222175719/http://indies.ca/nominees_winners/2009-nomineeswinners/|website=indies.ca|url-status=live}} and a Juno Award nomination for International Album of the Year.{{cite news|last1=Helibron |first1=Alexandra |title=2010 Juno Award Nominees Announced! |url=http://www.tribute.ca/news/index.php/2010-juno-award-nominees-announced/2010/03/03/ |access-date=June 18, 2015 |work=Tribute |date=March 3, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629110350/http://www.tribute.ca/news/index.php/2010-juno-award-nominees-announced/2010/03/03/ |archive-date=June 29, 2015 }}

At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards in February 2010, Fearless won Album of the Year and Best Country Album.{{cite web |url=https://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1630904/20100201/swift__taylor.jhtml |title=Taylor Swift Wins Album of The Year Grammy for Fearless |website=MTV News|access-date=March 13, 2010 |archive-date=August 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100825000123/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1630904/20100201/swift__taylor.jhtml |url-status=dead }} The Album of the Year made 20-year-old Swift the youngest artist to win the award—a record she held until 18-year-old Billie Eilish won Album of the Year at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2020.{{cite web |title=Billie Eilish Makes History, Sweeping All Four Major Categories at 2020 Grammys |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-01-26/billie-eilish-sweeps-major-categories-2020-grammys |website=Los Angeles Times|url-access=limited |access-date=January 27, 2020 |date=January 27, 2020 |archive-date=February 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216175539/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-01-26/billie-eilish-sweeps-major-categories-2020-grammys |url-status=live }} Swift is the second country artist to win the three highest awards for a country album by the ACM, the CMA, and the Grammys—after the Chicks with Fly (1999)—and the first to further win the Grammy for Album of the Year for the same album.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/awards/acms/8503608/kacey-musgraves-country-music-triple-crown-acm-awards-preview|title=Will Kacey Musgraves Clinch Country Music's Triple Crown at 2019 ACM Awards?|first=Paul|last=Grein|magazine=Billboard|date=March 27, 2019|access-date=March 27, 2019|archive-date=November 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115144213/https://www.billboard.com/articles/awards/acms/8503608/kacey-musgraves-country-music-triple-crown-acm-awards-preview|url-status=live}} "White Horse" won two Grammy Awards that year: Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song.{{cite web|last1=Duke |first1=Alan |title=Taylor Swift Takes Album of the Year, 3 Other Grammys |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Music/01/31/ent.grammys/ |publisher=CNN |access-date=June 14, 2015 |date=February 1, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622155646/http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Music/01/31/ent.grammys/ |archive-date=June 22, 2015 }}

Fearless{{'s}} critical and commercial successes earned Swift mainstream popularity beyond country music.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/taylor-swift-fearless-review-taylors-version/2021/04/11/c1bdef72-996a-11eb-a6d0-13d207aadb78_story.html|title=Taylor Swift's New Take on Fearless Piles on the Nostalgia, Along with Some Revenge|newspaper=The Washington Post|first=Allison|last=Stewart|date=April 12, 2021|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827095411/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/taylor-swift-fearless-review-taylors-version/2021/04/11/c1bdef72-996a-11eb-a6d0-13d207aadb78_story.html|url-status=live}} The widespread success of "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" particularly attracted criticism against her identity as a country artist, with several commentaries labelling her a pop artist.{{cite magazine|url=https://time.com/5953619/fearless-taylors-version-reactions-taylor-swift/|title=The Significance of Taylor Swift's Fearless in 2008—and How Taylor's Version Stacks Up|magazine=Time|url-access=limited|date=April 9, 2021|access-date=August 9, 2021|archive-date=August 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210826042950/https://time.com/5953619/fearless-taylors-version-reactions-taylor-swift/|url-status=live}}{{sfnm|1a1=McNutt|1y=2020|1p=78|2a1=Perone|2y=2017|2p=24}} Perone wrote that Fearless moved Swift's status from a "singer-songwriter prodigy to singer-songwriter superstar", highlighting the critical praise that she received.{{sfn|Perone|2017|p=21}} He also attributed the album's high sales to Swift's savvy marketing: with enhanced bonus material for the CD instead of download, Fearless became "indicative of a 21st century marketing trend in CD recordings".{{sfn|Perone|2017|p=24}} Swift's rising fame prompted media scrutiny on her public image; despite her popularity with teenage girls, some feminist writers took issue with Fearless{{'s}} themes, such as pining for boys and competing against girls, as antifeminist and harmful to her audience.{{Cite web |last=Jackson |first=Lauren M. |author-link=Lauren Michele Jackson |date=November 12, 2018 |title=10 Years Later, Taylor Swift's Fearless Still Slaps |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/taylor-swift-fearless-10-year-anniversary-755020/ |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410112633/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/taylor-swift-fearless-10-year-anniversary-755020/ |archive-date=April 10, 2021 |access-date=March 27, 2023 |magazine=Rolling Stone}}{{Cite web |last=James |first=Emily St. |author-link=Emily St. James |date=April 21, 2021 |title=Taylor Swift's Songs Haven't Changed. But She Has. |url=https://www.vox.com/culture/22386488/taylor-swift-fearless-taylors-version-review |access-date=September 5, 2024 |website=Vox |archive-date=February 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202201310/https://www.vox.com/culture/22386488/taylor-swift-fearless-taylors-version-review |url-status=live }}{{Quote box |bgcolor= |salign=center |width=220px |align=right | quote = Fearless{{nbsp}}... has endured – not so much for the banjos and mandolins Swift geared to country radio, but for its teen-pop tension between happy-ending romances and bitter reflections on youthful naïveté, neatly chiseled into Swift's terse lyrics. | source =–Jon Pareles, The New York Times (2021){{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/arts/music/taylor-swift-fearless-taylors-version.html|title=Taylor Swift Remade Fearless as Taylor's Version. Let's Discuss.|newspaper=The New York Times|url-access=limited|date=April 9, 2021|access-date=August 27, 2021|archive-date=April 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210409224903/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/arts/music/taylor-swift-fearless-taylors-version.html|url-status=live}}}}

Swift's songwriting on Fearless embodied the "Swiftian" confessional narratives that became emblematic in her artistry.{{NoteTag|Attributed to such sources as Vulture,{{cite web|url=https://www.vulture.com/2017/11/revisiting-taylor-swifts-album-fearless.html|title=Taylor Swift's Fearless Mined Teenage Angst in Real Time|first=Amos|last=Barshad|date=November 10, 2017|work=Vulture|url-access=limited|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210821132524/https://www.vulture.com/2017/11/revisiting-taylor-swifts-album-fearless.html|url-status=live}} The New Yorker,{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/taylor-swift-wins-with-fearless-taylors-version|title=Taylor Swift Wins with Fearless (Taylor's Version)|magazine=The New Yorker|first=Carrie|last=Battan|date=April 12, 2021|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=April 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412200235/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/taylor-swift-wins-with-fearless-taylors-version|url-status=live|url-access=limited}} and The Independent{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/taylor-swift-fearless-version-scooter-braun-b1829066.html|title=Taylor Swift's Fearless Album Proves Her Songs Were Written to Last|website=The Independent|first=Roisin|last=O'Connor|date=April 9, 2021|access-date=April 9, 2021|url-access=subscription|archive-date=August 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823153155/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/taylor-swift-fearless-version-scooter-braun-b1829066.html|url-status=live}}}}{{cite web|url=https://slate.com/culture/2021/04/taylor-swift-fearless-rerelease-version-review-bonus-tracks.html|title=Taylor Swift's Fearless Redux Is Both Business Stunt and Conceptual Art|first=Carl|last=Wilson|author-link=Carl Wilson (critic)|work=Slate|date=April 9, 2021|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819094720/https://slate.com/culture/2021/04/taylor-swift-fearless-rerelease-version-review-bonus-tracks.html|url-status=live}} In a 2019 review for Pitchfork, Cills commented that the simplicity and earnestness of Fearless were a testament to Swift's abilities of writing timeless songs. According to Cills, whereas other teen idols were often sexualized, it was refreshing that Swift wrote about teenage experiences "in her own terms, [...] "redefining what 'teen pop' could sound like in the process".{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/taylor-swift-fearless/|title=Taylor Swift: Fearless|work=Pitchfork|last=Cills|first=Hazel|date=August 19, 2019|access-date=August 19, 2019|archive-date=August 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819073504/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/taylor-swift-fearless/|url-status=live}} Other retrospective reviews attributed the album's enduring popularity to the universal feelings that it evokes—heartbreak, frustration, first love, and aspirations.{{NoteTag|Attributed to such sources as the i,{{Cite news|date=April 9, 2021|title=Fearless (Taylor's Version) Is a Faithful and Symbolic Triumph|url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/music/taylor-swift-fearless-taylors-version-review-a-faithful-and-symbolic-triumph-947744|access-date=June 1, 2021|newspaper=i|first=Sarah|last=Carson|archive-date=April 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210409053430/https://inews.co.uk/culture/music/taylor-swift-fearless-taylors-version-review-a-faithful-and-symbolic-triumph-947744|url-status=live}} The Line of Best Fit,{{Cite web|last=Horton|first=Ross|date=April 9, 2021|title=Taylor Swift Reclaims Her Pivotal Moment by Breathing New Life into Fearless|url=https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/reviews/albums/taylor-swift-fearless-taylors-version-album-review|access-date=June 1, 2021|website=The Line of Best Fit|archive-date=April 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210409093114/https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/reviews/albums/taylor-swift-fearless-taylors-version-album-review|url-status=live}} and Billboard{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/8029968/taylor-swift-fearless-best-album|title=Why Taylor Swift's Fearless Is Her Best Album|first=Jennifer Keishin|last=Armstrong|magazine=Billboard|date=November 7, 2017|access-date=November 7, 2017|archive-date=November 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108025842/http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/8029968/taylor-swift-fearless-best-album|url-status=live}}}}

In 2024, Spin deemed Fearless the best album by Swift, upholding it as "a masterpiece of high school anxiety and adolescent heartbreak".{{Cite news |last=Shipley |first=Al |date=May 5, 2024 |title=Every Taylor Swift Album, Ranked |url=https://www.spin.com/2024/05/best-taylor-swift-albums/ |access-date=August 28, 2024 |work=Spin}} Caramanica ranked Fearless the second-best in Swift's 11-album discography: he said that the album solidified Swift's success in country music while its songwriting retained her teenage earnestness that had been frequently overlooked in the industry, which was a "powerful" feat both artistically and commercially.{{Cite podcast |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/17/arts/music/taylor-swift-album-rankings-popcast.html |title=Ranking Every Taylor Swift Album, Worst to Best |date=July 17, 2024 |last=Caramanica |first=Jon |author-link=Jon Caramanica |last2=Joe |first2=Coscarelli |series=Popcast |website=The New York Times |url-access=limited |time=1:26:50 |access-date=September 2, 2024 |archive-date=September 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240901110201/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/17/arts/music/taylor-swift-album-rankings-popcast.html |url-status=live }} The album placed at number 99 on NPR's "150 Greatest Albums Made by Women" (2017){{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2017/07/24/538370881/turning-the-tables-150-greatest-albums-made-by-women-page-6|title=The 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women|publisher=NPR|date=July 24, 2017|access-date=August 27, 2021|archive-date=February 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219025135/https://www.npr.org/2017/07/24/538370881/turning-the-tables-150-greatest-albums-made-by-women-page-6|url-status=live}} and number 10 on Rolling Stone{{'s}} "100 Greatest Country Albums of All Time" (2022).{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-country-albums-1234581876/taylor-swift-56-1234582703/|title=The 100 Greatest Country Albums of All Time|date=August 30, 2022|magazine=Rolling Stone|url-access=limited|accessdate=August 30, 2022|archive-date=August 31, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831083923/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-country-albums-1234581876/the-chicks-1234582736/|url-status=live}} According to Billboard{{'s}} Andrew Unterberger, the album popularized country music to teenage girls and its Grammy win for Album of the Year proved Swift as "one of the most important singer-songwriters of her generation".{{Cite magazine |last=Unterberger |first=Andrew |date=April 5, 2022 |title=Every Grammy Winner for Album of the Year, Ranked |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/grammy-winners-album-of-the-year-ranked-8496624/ |access-date=April 6, 2022 |magazine=Billboard |archive-date=April 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405235931/https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/grammy-winners-album-of-the-year-ranked-8496624/ |url-status=live }}

Swift began re-recording her first six studio albums, including Fearless, in November 2020.{{cite web|last=Melas|first=Chloe|date=November 16, 2020|title=Taylor Swift Speaks Out about Sale of Her Masters|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/taylor-swift-speaks-out-about-sale-of-her-masters-1.5191925|access-date=November 19, 2020|publisher=CTV News|archive-date=November 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118064935/https://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/taylor-swift-speaks-out-about-sale-of-her-masters-1.5191925|url-status=live}} The decision came after a public dispute between her and the music executive Scooter Braun, who acquired the masters of Swift's first six studio albums—which Swift had been trying to buy for years—following her departure from Big Machine Records in November 2018.{{Cite news |date=August 22, 2019 |title=Taylor Swift Wants to Re-record Her Old Hits |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-49432817 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190822202321/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-49432817 |archive-date=August 22, 2019 |access-date=August 22, 2019 |publisher=BBC}}{{cite news|url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/music/taylor-swift-masters-scooter-braun-selling-rights-music-rerecording-row-explained-762411|title=Taylor Swift Masters: The Controversy around Scooter Braun Selling the Rights to Her Old Music Explained|first=Alex|last=Finnis|newspaper=i|date=November 17, 2020|access-date=February 13, 2021|archive-date=February 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212170953/https://inews.co.uk/culture/music/taylor-swift-masters-scooter-braun-selling-rights-music-rerecording-row-explained-762411|url-status=live}} The re-recording of Fearless, subtitled Taylor's Version, was released on April 9, 2021, through Republic Records. Fearless (Taylor's Version) contains re-recordings of all tracks from the Platinum Edition and the Valentine's Day soundtrack single "Today Was a Fairytale" (2010), and new recordings of six previously unreleased "From the Vault" tracks.{{Cite magazine|last=Lipshutz|first=Jason|date=April 6, 2021|title=Everything We Know About Fearless (Taylor's Version) So Far|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/9552361/taylor-swift-fearless-taylors-version-everything-we-know/|access-date=April 6, 2021|magazine=Billboard|archive-date=November 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115144203/https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/9552361/taylor-swift-fearless-taylors-version-everything-we-know/|url-status=live}} Following the release of Fearless (Taylor's Version), the original album reached a new peak on charts in Austria (number two), Germany (number two), and Switzerland (number three).

{{Track listing

| headline = Fearless standard track listing

| total_length = 53:26

| title1 = Fearless

| writer1 = {{hlist|Taylor Swift|Liz Rose|Hillary Lindsey}}

| length1 = 4:01

| title2 = Fifteen

| writer2 = Swift

| length2 = 4:54

| title3 = Love Story

| writer3 = Swift

| length3 = 3:55

| title4 = Hey Stephen

| writer4 = Swift

| length4 = 4:14

| title5 = White Horse

| writer5 = {{hlist|Swift|Rose}}

| length5 = 3:54

| title6 = You Belong with Me

| writer6 = {{hlist|Swift|Rose}}

| length6 = 3:51

| title7 = Breathe

| note7 = featuring Colbie Caillat

| writer7 = {{hlist|Swift|Caillat}}

| length7 = 4:23

| title8 = Tell Me Why

| writer8 = {{hlist|Swift|Rose}}

| length8 = 3:20

| title9 = You're Not Sorry

| writer9 = Swift

| length9 = 4:21

| title10 = The Way I Loved You

| writer10 = {{hlist|Swift|John Rich}}

| length10 = 4:03

| title11 = Forever & Always

| writer11 = Swift

| length11 = 3:45

| title12 = The Best Day

| writer12 = Swift

| length12 = 4:05

| title13 = Change

| writer13 = Swift

| length13 = 4:40

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = International edition bonus tracks

| total_length = 64:25

| title3 = Love Story

| note3 = international mix

| writer3 = Swift

| length3 = 3:55

| title14 = Our Song

| note14 = international mix

| writer14 = Swift

| length14 = 3:21

| title15 = Teardrops on My Guitar

| note15 = international mix

| writer15 = {{hlist|Swift|Rose}}

| length15 = 3:15

| title16 = Should've Said No

| note16 = international mix

| writer16 = Swift

| length16 = 4:08

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Platinum Edition track listing

| total_length = 79:19

| title1 = Jump Then Fall

| writer1 = Swift

| length1 = 3:56

| title2 = Untouchable

| writer2 = {{hlist|Cary Barlowe|Nathan Barlowe|Tommy Lee James|Swift}}

| length2 = 5:11

| title3 = Forever & Always

| note3 = Piano Version

| writer3 = Swift

| length3 = 4:27

| title4 = Come In with the Rain

| writer4 = {{hlist|Swift|Rose}}

| length4 = 3:58

| title5 = Superstar

| writer5 = {{hlist|Swift|Rose}}

| length5 = 4:21

| title6 = The Other Side of the Door

| writer6 = Swift

| length6 = 3:57

| title7 = Fearless

| writer7 = {{hlist|Swift|Rose|Lindsey}}

| length7 = 4:01

| title8 = Fifteen

| writer8 = Swift

| length8 = 4:54

| title9 = Love Story

| writer9 = Swift

| length9 = 3:55

| title10 = Hey Stephen

| writer10 = Swift

| length10 = 4:14

| title11 = White Horse

| writer11 = {{hlist|Swift|Rose}}

| length11 = 3:54

| title12 = You Belong with Me

| writer12 = {{hlist|Swift|Rose}}

| length12 = 3:51

| title13 = Breathe

| note13 = featuring Colbie Caillat

| writer13 = {{hlist|Swift|Caillat}}

| length13 = 4:23

| title14 = Tell Me Why

| writer14 = {{hlist|Swift|Rose}}

| length14 = 3:20

| title15 = You're Not Sorry

| writer15 = Swift

| length15 = 4:21

| title16 = The Way I Loved You

| writer16 = {{hlist|Swift|Rich}}

| length16 = 4:04

| title17 = Forever & Always

| writer17 = Swift

| length17 = 3:45

| title18 = The Best Day

| writer18 = Swift

| length18 = 4:05

| title19 = Change

| writer19 = Swift

| length19 = 4:40

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Platinum Edition bonus DVD

| total_length = 97:47

| extra_column = Director(s)

| title1 = Change

| note1 = music video

| extra1 = Shawn Robbins

| length1 = 3:47

| title2 = The Best Day

| note2 = music video

| extra2 = Swift

| length2 = 4:34

| title3 = Love Story

| note3 = music video

| extra3 = Trey Fanjoy

| length3 = 3:54

| title4 = White Horse

| note4 = music video

| extra4 = Fanjoy

| length4 = 4:03

| title5 = You Belong with Me

| note5 = music video

| extra5 = Roman White

| length5 = 4:37

| title6 = Love Story

| note6 = behind the scenes

| length6 = 22:00

| title7 = White Horse

| note7 = behind the scenes

| length7 = 22:00

| title8 = You Belong with Me

| note8 = behind the scenes

| length8 = 20:45

| title9 = Fearless Tour 2009 Photo Gallery

| title10 = Fearless Tour 2009 First Show Behind the Scenes

| length10 = 10:41

| title11 = CMT Awards Thug Story

| note11 = featuring T-Pain

| extra11 = Peter Zavadil

| length11 = 1:26

}}

Notes

• "Untouchable" is a reworked version of Luna Halo's "Untouchable" (2007), written by Cary Barlowe, Nathan Barlowe, and Tommy Lee James.
• All tracks are produced by Swift and Nathan Chapman, except the three bonus tracks on the international version, which are produced by Chapman only.

Track-listing variants

• Target-exclusive DVDs include behind-the-scene recordings of "Breathe" and "Change".{{cite AV media notes|others=Taylor Swift|title=Fearless (Target Exclusive)|id=BMRBTS0200|publisher=Big Machine Records|year=2008|type=CD liner notes}}
• Target-exclusive Platinum Edition copies include live performances of "Untouchable" and "Fearless" from Clear Channel's Stripped.
• Walmart-exclusive copies include live performances of "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" at the V Festival.{{cite AV media notes|others=Taylor Swift|title=Fearless Platinum Edition (Walmart Exclusive)|id=BMRCTS0250|publisher=Big Machine Records|year=2009|type=CD liner notes}}
• Japanese CD copies include four bonus tracks: "Beautiful Eyes", "Picture to Burn" (2008 radio edit), "I'm Only Me When I'm with You", and "I Heart ?"{{cite AV media notes|others=Taylor Swift|title=Fearless|location=Japan|publisher=Big Machine Records|year=2009|type=CD liner notes|id=UICO-1165}}

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

• Taylor Swift – lead vocals, producer, songwriter, vocal harmony, acoustic guitar, booklet design
• Nathan Chapman – producer, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, electric guitar, keyboard, Hammond organ, mandolin, mixing, percussion, piano, programming, steel guitar, vocal harmony
• Scott Borchetta – executive producer
• Sammie Allan – backing vocals
• Joseph Anthony Baker – photography
• Steve Blackmon – mixing assistant
• Drew Bollman – mixing assistant
• Andrew Bowers – finger snapping
• Nicholas Brown – finger snapping
• Nick Buda – drums
• Kenzie Butler – assistant engineer, engineer
• Colbie Caillat – finger snapping, guest appearance
• Jason Campbell – production coordinator
• Chad Carlson – engineer, mixing, sound recording
• Joseph Cassell – wardrobe stylist
• Todd Cassetty – enhanced recording
• Carolyn Cooper – finger snapping
• Burrus Cox – finger snapping
• Eric Darken – percussion, vibraphone
• Shawn Daughtry – mixing assistant
• Dan Dugmore – steel guitar
• Lauren Elcanv – finger snapping
• Caitlin Evanson – vocal harmony
• Kyle Ford – assistant engineer, engineer
• Kyle Ginther – assistant engineer, engineer
• Kenny Greenberg – electric guitar
• Jed Hackett – engineer
• Rob Hajacos – fiddle
• Tony Harrell – Hammond organ, keyboard, piano
• Amos Heller – bass guitar
• Claire Indie – cello
• John Keefe – drums
• Tim Lauer – Hammond organ, keyboard, piano
• Matt Legge – assistant engineer, engineer
• Tim Marks – bass guitar
• Delaney McBride – finger snapping
• Emma McBride – finger snapping
• Justin McIntosh – graphic design
• Grant Mickelson – electric guitar
• Ash Newell – photography
• Justin Niebank – mixing
• Sheryl Nields – photography
• Mark Petaccia – assistant engineer, engineer
• LeeAnn Ramey – cover art, graphic design
• Sandi Spika – hair stylist, make-up artist, wardrobe stylist
• Bryan Sutton – acoustic guitar, mandolin
• Whitney Sutton – copy coordinator
• Todd Tidwell – assistant engineer, engineer, mixing assistant
• Ilya Toshinsky – banjo
• Lorrie Turk – make-up artist
• Brady Wardlaw – hair stylist
• Hank Williams – mastering
• Brian David Willis – engineer
• Al Wilson – percussion
• Jonathan Yudkin – cello, string arrangements, strings

{{div col end}}

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-end}}

{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for Fearless, with pure sales where available}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|title=|artist=|type=album|award=Platinum|number=8|relyear=2008|certyear=2023|access-date=November 17, 2023|refname=aria}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Austria|type=album|award=Gold|artist=Taylor Swift|title=Fearless|relyear=2008|certyear=2015|access-date=July 26, 2016|refname="ifpiaut"}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=album|award=Platinum|number=4|artist=Taylor Swift|title=Fearless|relyear=2008|relmonth=5|certyear=2009|access-date=July 26, 2016|refname="music canada"}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Denmark|type=album|title=Fearless|artist=Taylor Swift|award=Platinum|relyear=2008|certyear=2021|id=10552|access-date=September 7, 2021|refname="ifpi danmark"}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=GCC|title=Fearless|artist=Taylor Swift|type=album|award=Gold|relyear=2008|certyear=2010|access-date=December 3, 2018}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|type=album|award=Gold|artist=Taylor Swift|title=Fearless|relyear=2008|certyear=2018|access-date=December 3, 2018|refname="bvmi"}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Ireland|type=album|award=Platinum|number=2|artist=Taylor Swift|title=Fearless|relyear=2008|relmonth=5|certyear=2009|access-date=July 26, 2016|refname="ireland cert"}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Japan|type=album|award=Gold|artist=Taylor Swift|title=Fearless|relyear=2008|relmonth=5|certyear=2010|certmonth=2|access-date=February 18, 2010|refname="riaj"|salesamount=115,000|salesref={{NoteTag|As of September 2010{{Cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WWxbO-SGG7AC&pg=RA9-PA14|title=Nippon Express|volume=122|issue=26|magazine=Billboard|access-date=January 25, 2023|date=September 4, 2010|page=14|first=Rob|last=Schwartz|via=Google Books|archive-date=September 21, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240921102148/https://books.google.com/books?id=WWxbO-SGG7AC&pg=RA9-PA14#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}}}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Philippines|title=|certref=|award=Platinum|number=9|artist=|type=album|relyear=2009|certyear=2011}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|relyear=2008|title=Fearless|artist=Taylor Swift|type=album|award=Platinum|number=6|source=radioscope|certyear=2023|access-date=2024-12-17|refname="rmnz"}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Norway|type=album|award=Gold|artist=Taylor Swift|title=Fearless|relyear=2008|relmonth=5|certyear=2009|access-date=July 26, 2016|refname="ifpi norway"}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Poland|artist=Taylor Swift|title=Fearless|award=Gold|type=album|relyear=2008|certyear=2024|access-date=June 19, 2024}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Singapore|title=|artist=|type=album|award=Platinum|number=2|certyear=2021|access-date=January 23, 2023|refname="singapore"}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Switzerland|artist=Taylor Swift |title=Fearless |type=album |award=Gold |relyear=2008 |certyear=2024 |access-date=April 15, 2024}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=album|award=Platinum|number=2|artist=Taylor Swift|title=Fearless|relyear=2008|access-date=July 26, 2016|id=2244-1598-2|certyear=2019|refname="bpi"}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|award=Diamond|artist=Taylor Swift|title=Fearless|relyear=2008|access-date=December 11, 2017|refname="riaa"|salesamount=7,285,000|salesref={{NoteTag|As of January 2024{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/taylor-swift-1989-taylors-version-2-million-sales-1235584599/ |title=Taylor Swift's 1989 (Taylor's Version) Surpasses 2 Million in U.S. Sales |last=Caulfield |first=Keith |magazine=Billboard |date=January 18, 2024 |access-date=January 19, 2024 |archive-date=January 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240118235246/https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/taylor-swift-1989-taylors-version-2-million-sales-1235584599/ |url-status=live }}}}}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true}}

• Grammy Award records – Youngest artists to win Album of the Year
• List of Billboard 200 number-one albums of 2008
• List of Billboard 200 number-one albums of 2009
• List of Top Country Albums number ones of 2008
• List of Top Country Albums number ones of 2009
• List of Top Country Albums number ones of 2010
• List of number-one albums of 2008 (Canada)
• List of number-one albums from the 2000s (New Zealand)
• List of number-one country albums of 2010 (Australia)
• List of best-selling albums by women
• List of best-selling albums of the 21st century
• List of best-selling albums in the Philippines
• List of best-selling albums in the United States

{{NoteFoot}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin}}

• {{cite book |last=Edmonson |first=Jacqueline |title=Music in American Life: An Encyclopedia of the Songs, Styles, Stars, and Stories that Shaped Our Culture |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-313-39348-8}}
• {{cite journal |first=Myles |last=McNutt |title=From 'Mine' to 'Ours': Gendered Hierarchies of Authorship and the Limits of Taylor Swift's Paratextual Feminism |year=2020 |journal=Communication, Culture & Critique |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=72–91 |doi=10.1093/ccc/tcz042}}
• {{cite book |first=James E. |last=Perone |title=The Words and Music of Taylor Swift |publisher=ABC-Clio |series=The Praeger Singer-Songwriter Collection |pages=5–25 |chapter=Becoming Fearless |isbn=978-1-4408-5294-7 |year=2017}}
• {{cite book |last=Shuker |first=Roy |title=Understanding Popular Music Culture |year=2016 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-317-44088-8}}
• {{cite book |first=Liv |last=Spencer |title=Taylor Swift: Every Day Is a Fairytale – The Unofficial Story |publisher=ECW Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-55022-931-8}}

{{Refend}}

• {{Discogs master|master=222553|type=album}}

{{Taylor Swift}}

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|title = Awards for Fearless

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{{CMA Album of the Year}}

{{Grammy Award for Album of the Year}}

{{Grammy Award for Best Country Album}}

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{{Billboard Year-End number one albums 1990–2009}}

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Category:Taylor Swift albums

Category:Country pop albums

Category:2008 albums

Category:Albums produced by Nathan Chapman (record producer)

Category:Albums produced by Taylor Swift

Category:Big Machine Records albums

Category:Grammy Award for Album of the Year

Category:Grammy Award for Best Country Album

Category:Canadian Country Music Association Top Selling Album albums