#shhhh no one saw the first ugly version

[tassium]

#TAYLOR SWIFT APPRECIATION LIFE

PART 2 - Fearless 

(click here for part 1)

So. This was supposed to go up yesterday. But then work ate my soul. And THEN it was supposed to go up this morning.... and I slept half the day after how tired I was from work eating my soul.

So! My timeline is all sideways but I’m GOING TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN DANG IT.

Without further ado, let’s get into @taylorswift‘s sophomore album.

1. Fearless

This! Song! I love this this song so much, oh my gosh. It opens perfectly - that drum hit and then that iconic guitar riff, which bleeds into TWO lead guitar pieces and then her VOICE comes in and just. Aaaah, I am a heart-eyes emoji over this song, honestly. I love the way it builds, the way it goes from, like... yeah, all the instruments are involved in the first verse, but they kinda kick it up a notch for the turnaround into the second verse, and then... the chorus hits. The drum build into the first chorus is so fun, but it’s not my favorite one - that title goes to the drop at the end of the third verse. The drums behind “capture it, remember it” are the best thing e v e r.

This song for me is absolutely all about the instrumentation, if you couldn’t tell. I like the lyrical content, and I think Taylor delivers a great vocal performance, but the production overshadows all of that for me. This song is definitive dancing-around-my-bedroom countrypop for me, and I think it is the ideal way to kick off this album.

2. Fifteen

I have... kind of a love/hate relationship with this song. I always have, thought I have to stay I’m a LOT less bitter about it than I was when it first came out. I won’t go into the gory details of it, but suffice to say that 15 was the age when I kind of... self destructed a little (it was the Disorder finally rearing its ugly head) and I was super bitter about the idea that for some people being fifteen meant ‘feeling like there’s nothing to figure out’ and first dates and meeting new best friends when I was like. Literally falling apart at the seams.

BUT! Now that I’ve grown up and started to come into being A Person with a metric ton of perspective dumped on me along the way, I think this song is really cute and endearing and nostalgic for a life I didn’t have, but in a good way. ESPECIALLY is this true when I listen to “in your life you’ll do things greater than dating the football team” and remember that this album came out a year after Taylor won the horizon award (”definitely the highlight of her senior year” oh my god don’t get me started about that speech)

And you know what? Time really can heal most anything.

3. Love Story

This album is just packed with iconic guitar leads, and I love it to pieces. This track is another excellent example of Taylor’s habit of building a track from softness into something a little more intense. I love her vocals on the second verse especially (that little oh-oh! in the middle just fills me with an unexplained joy) and then... there’s the fiddle turnaround into the bridge, which. If you read part one of this series, you know I have an obsession with those. (And it comes back for the play down to the outro, which. yes, good, I’ll take it.)

I’m something of a Romeo and Juliet fanatic, so maybe that’s part of what draws me to this song, I like the idea of a happy ending to the concept - Marie Kondo says throw it out if it doesn’t bring you joy, so. You know.

4. Hey Stephen

*Dreamy sigh* god I love this song. It’s such a feel good jam, and there are parts of it that I just find delightful, even though objectively they would drive me crazy in another setting (that electronic church organ sound in the background is one of them). And then! Taylor is just! so cute! that GIGGLE at the end of the bridge. Gosh. Who legalized this?

I think my favorite vocal thing that Taylor does in this song is the last post-chorus that leads into the actual final chorus and the way she leans into it. And if I was pressed to a pick a favorite ‘ad-lib outro’ thing, it would be this one.

5. White Horse

This song is such an interesting track to have on the same album with Love Story - they’re just total opposites and I think it’s an excellent choice of alternate narratives. (And yes, I’m aware that Romeo and Juliet isn’t technically a fairytale, shhhh)

I don’t have particularly strong feelings about this song until the bridge, because I love the bridge so so much. Honestly this song feels like a more mature version of Should’ve Said No (and if you read the first part of this series you know how strongly I feel about that song so...) Because it has the same sort of “you say you’re sorry but it’s too late for that” feeling to it.

Overall this track is an excellent example of lyrical storytelling - especially that “small town there in my rearview mirror disappearing now” is such an evocative lyric. I don’t have hierarchies for any of Taylor’s albums, but if I tried, I think this track would settle comfortably in the upper middle.

6. You Belong With Me

I. Love. This. Song.

It wasn’t until this listening to the album, actually, that I realized how much of this album contains more mature versions of the messages from the first album. Like, tell me this song isn’t like a more assertive version of Invisible or Teardrops on my Guitar. This feels like Taylor looking back at those experiences and saying ‘hold up, i’m not letting this happen again, get BACK HERE and let me tell you how I feel!’

But. Listen. We need to talk about this music video. This music video is like the ultimate coming of age ten movie condensed into 4 minutes. Tell me I’m wrong.

Never in my life have I felt so connected to Taylor Swift than during that dancing-in-her-bedroom scene. that’s exactly the kind of shenanigans I STILL get up to to this day. (Also, I will fight anyone who says they don’t love the Junior Jewels shirt.) I vividly remember seeing this video for the first time and thinking that having the Other Girl played by a brunette version of Taylor was just. Brilliant. And of course we have the classic scene of the girl entering the school dance and stealing away the boy for the happy ever after - still not sure why he would have that piece of paper with him, so I’ll just chalk it up under suspension of disbelief.

...But, really, Taylor.... who holds books like that?

7. Breathe

This song fills me with such a melancholy feeling - not that I’m complaining, because I love this song to pieces. It’s permanently connected to one of my friends, because we recorded a cover video of this song at about 1am the night before I left the first time we met in person.

I love love love Colbie’s harmonies on this song - a whole lot better than how I felt about some of the male harmonies on the tracks from Taylor’s debut.

I don’t have a lot to say about this song, but that doesn’t mean I love it any less. I like the more stripped down quality to the song, even though it’s not really that stripped down - all the same pieces are there, it’s just all in how they’re applied.

8. Tell Me Why

Once again, what an arrangement! I love this song for the lyrical content, yes, but this is another song that I love for the instrumentation more than anything.

Speaking of the lyrical content, though, this song is a look at a surprisingly toxic sounding relationship for Taylor’s usual topics. A lot of the things about this track sound like classic abusive tactics - though I don’t think that’s exactly what she’s trying to portray. This song doesn’t even have to be about any kind romantic relationship in the first place. It could just as easily be about a toxic friendship (god knows I’ve had enough experience with that to know just how applicable this song’s lyrics are)

But to talk about the music as well, real quick, just. The fiddle opening!! and the drums!! and the tasteful small additions of steel guitar! and Just. so much about this track that I love. Is it just me or does it seem like this album has a much more driving backing track on most of the tracks than we saw on the self titled?

9. You’re Not Sorry

It’s fascinating to me that Taylor paired this song with the previous track for her album lineup - they’re very similar themes - but this song seems... angrier, almost. That’s not quite the word I’m going for, but I don’t know what word I AM going for, so it’ll have to do.

I just. need to talk about Taylor’s vocals on this song. This is another one I would love to hear Taylor perform with her current vocal abilities, because I feel like it would be absolutely outstanding. There are spots in this track (’tired of being last to know’ and ‘there’s nothing left to beg for’ in particularly) where she leans into them a little bit, but I feel like given just a little bit more, they could really knock it out of the park.

10. The Way I Loved You

I have... mixed feelings about this song. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike this song, and I think it builds really beautifully, but... It’s just not one of my favorites. I just don’t have particularly strong feelings about this one either way. I’ll still sing along to it in the car just as intensely as to any of them, and there are moments of it that I like - the almost military beat in the second verse and her strident delivery of “he calls exactly when he says he will” is a very nice piece, but... overall, it’s just not my favorite.

11. Forever and Always

THIS SONG HOWEVER. heck man. I love this song. I will go ham for this song anytime any day. There are so many good choices in this track - the drumming is brilliant and I think Taylor’s vocals on this song are better here than on the previous track, which makes it kind of refreshing.

Favorite parts include the bassline in the first verse, the way everything drops out from behind “coming down to nothing” except for the drums, and the “you didn’t mean it baby, I don’t think so” instrumentation, which builds up into the solo so well - and then we get the bridge. which is. just. stunning. I have no other words for it. 

I love this song!!!!

Bonus commentary from the platinum edition:

The piano version of this song is so much more heart wrenching than the standard version. Her delivery is so much softer (those soft high notes are my favorite), there’s a lot more hurt in her voice, and I love her harmonies over her own vocals. Beautiful. Especially the bridge, those harmonies and her delivery of those lines... I get chills every time.

And. Listen. It’s called the piano version, but the strings added onto the second half is such a good choice. A++

12. The Best Day

Okay, so. Listen. This song is absolutely every bit as saccharine as people say it is, but I really think it’s entirely a choice. From my perspective on it, it’s supposed to read as if it’s got the point of view of someone much younger than Taylor’s, what, 18 years at the time of release? I love the line “I’ve got my big coat on” because that’s SUCH a great choice for a line about a five year old.

Now I just. Need to talk about my FEELINGS about this for a second.

u g h god this song kills me every time. From hearing other people talk about this song, it seems like it doesn’t hit you as hard if you aren’t a daughter or if you don’t have a good relationship with your mom. I am privileged enough to have a great mom, just like it seems Taylor does, and so I can barely listen to this song without crying through half of it.

Then again, that might just have more to do with the fact that I’m a total crybaby.

13. Change

WHAT AN OPENING. I will never not love the way it just blazes into life from the word go and then goes a little softer for the verse, as if giving you a moment to breathe before it throws that chorus at you. There are some incredible examples of instrumentation choices in this song (it all comes back around to the drums for me, I don’t know what it is)

And then there’s that one note - which, comparatively speaking, isn’t really impressive, but it certainly blew me away the first time I heard it. The build-up to it is so well done, with the quiet bridge-y bit leading into the explosive drop into the full chorus and then that instrumental outro-- be still my heart.

Time for the bonus tracks! All six five of them. >.>

14. Jump Then Fall

I love this song. This is tied to a friend of mine as well, primarily because of the line “I realize your laugh is the best sound I have ever heard”, which is also my favorite line in this song.

There’s a quality to the instrumentation at the very beginning of the song that makes me nostalgic for the days of recording tracks off youtube and ending up with these horribly compressed versions of them - even when i’m listening to it on spotify part of me questions if I have a corrupted mp3.

I can’t not smile while I listen to this song, especially to the second verse - “I like the way you’re everything I ever wanted” is the cutest thing ever and if you disagree, get out of my face.

There’s something so youthful and fluttery and cute about this song, it makes me feel as if I really am the one with this unbearably huge crush on someone in the best shivery way possible.

15. Untouchable

I didn’t know until I was listening to @stateofswiftpod (and yes i’m going to continue repping them because. amazing.) that this track is a COVER. I was blown away because... okay. Listen. I looked up the original version and... Taylor worked magic with this track. The original really is just... an average to mediocre pop punk song, okay? It’s exactly the kind of vibe I’d normally be into but then it just. doesn’t hold me.

But Taylor’s version is just Stunning. Her vocal delivery is spot on, and the final chorus makes me so happy, with the alteration of the melody. Honestly, her mind. To think that she listened to the original song and heard the potential for this piece of musical art just blows me away.

16. Come In With The Rain

This isn’t one of my favorites - honestly I have no strong feelings about any of the remaining bonus tracks - but there is something about the message of this song that hooks me. The idea that you’ve been wishing and hoping and thinking about something so much for so long that you’re just. tired. Too tired to keep worrying about it, so you just leave the path for it open and let yourself focus on something else.

17. SuperStar

This song also kind of fascinates me. The concept of Taylor as the fan instead of the star, set at possibly the very last point in her life where she could realistically sing the bridge - “I’m invisible and everyone knows who you are” - is just... there’s something about it, you feel? It’s like a time capsule from that exact time of Taylor’s life, and it’s wild to think how many people feel like this about her now.

18. The Other Side of the Door

I’ve elected to ignore the obvious read of this song where it’s just. Young failure to communicate and unhealthy relationship dynamics.

Here’s my take on the song: It’s about that feeling where you want things to go like a 90s teen movie, but that ideal teenage experience isn’t real, it’s all fictionalized for those exact movies. And you know that’s the case, you know that it’s all too good to be true, but you’re still kinda salty about it.

Side note, I really like the delivery on the ending lines, with the way it kind of contrasts against the music behind it.

Roll credits, we’ve made it to the end of another album! I don’t know about you guys, but I need a break. So I’m gonna do that, and we’ll be back with another review after a word from our sponsors.

Next up: Speak Now

#taylor swift #fearless #album review #taylor swift appreciation life #Our Lady and Savior Taylor Swift

[rfa-scenarios]

RFA +minor trio reacting to MC getting hurt (crack version, so much crack)

So we were trying to finish our request, it’s really late, we’re both sleep deprived, and in our break, this happened. We don’t know what this is and we sincerely apologize. 

Hopefully when we wake up tomorrow and look at this we won’t hate ourselves *passes out on bed*

Zen

Your leg is broken

You cling to his rat tail upon falling and RIP IT STRAIGHT OFF

“AAAAAAAAARGH MY RAT TAIL”

My leg tho Zen, my leg

He takes one look at your broken leg, “shhh it’s ok, it’ll heal in one day, if I can do it then you can, don’t be so dramatic, omg”

You show that your leg can bend the wrong way around

“Ok okkk omg, one and half day tops, because you’re not a beast, like me”

Proceeds to show you his muscles

Then he saw his ripped-off rat tail and broke down crying, “it took me 26 years to grow this tail, never had it cut since I was born”, he sobbed miserably

“ZEN I’VE BEEN GROWING MY LEG SINCE I WAS BORN”

“Shhh you’ll grow a new one”

Yoosung

You broke your leg

Yoosung tries to help you

He was a good vet, but inexperienced doctor

“MC, do you think you need more or less tranquilizer than the cow Betsy”

Yoosung WTF

Tranquilizer

More than a cow

Jaehee

You got burned by coffee while working at the café

“Sorry MC we can’t close this café, I’m too broke for that, just drink some coffee, I heard ‘like heals like’”

Brings you more coffee and tries to homeopathy her way out of this

Coffee helped her through her pain, surely it must help u

Jumin

You broke your ankle in the cherry farm

Jumin tries to heal you with “the essence of Elizabeth III”

Rubs her on your ankle

She bites you and claws you

“Umm Jumin, I don’t think it’s working”

“Shhhh,” he says, now rubbing Elizabeth in your face, “just let her work her magic”

Seven

First thing he does is to change into a sexy nurse costume

“Let me heal you~ with love~”

SEVEN MY ARM IS BROKEN

“Ooohohh where does it hurt? Is it here?”, He places his hand on your chest

NO FUCK SEVEN NOOO

“What about here?” He moves it downwards

NO FUCK OFF OWW

“Ooh you’re being so loud, does this mean you like it ~”

OMG DOCTOR WTF JUST CALL THE DOCTOR PLZ, you don’t have a medical license

“Oohh MC I can hack out any license I want”

———Minor trio————————

V

This man walks around with a broken, untreated arm

When people question, he responds that “it’s a symbol of the last memory of his girlfriend, who clung to the cliff with one arm, and asked for his help, the very last time he went photographing”

He sighed, and looked up at the sky. “Some even say I pushed her, but they have no proof.”

He shook his head, tears shining in his eyes, “Others say, I could’ve helped her, instead of capturing the moment with a photograph, but little do they know about art”

Saeran

Saeran straight up shot you

He was feeling so bad because he was aiming for V

But V managed to push you in front of him (Afterwards, V tattooed a bullet hole in the center of his chest, as a metaphor of your bravery)

So Saeran accidentally shot you instead, and now he felt sad

He lives the rest of his life trying his best to shoot V

But he managed to get a shit ton of other people killed in the process

V is a sneaky bastard

Vanderwood

You were pulling a prank

Vanderwood disapproves

He has had enough now, so he slapped you

This was you: (◕︵◕)

“Wipe that ugly smirk off your face”, he commanded

(◕︵◕)

He slaps you again

(◕︵◕)

He bursts out of the door, crying, screaming that he deserves better

#mystic messenger headcanon #mystic messenger hc #mystic messenger imagines #mystic messenger headcanons #mystic messenger #jumin #zen #jaehee #v #yoosung #saeran #saeyoung #seven #707 #luciel #vanderwood #rfa