Listening Without Fear: On Fearless

By Kyle J. Hayes

First and foremost, let me be clear—I am not a Swiftie.

Not in the way some people are, anyway. Not in the way that fills stadiums, crashes Ticketmaster, and dissects every lyric like it holds the key to some hidden truth. Until recently, Taylor Swift existed as a name, a phenomenon, but never as a voice I had taken the time to truly listen to.

And yet, here she is, Fearless, sitting on the list of the greatest albums of all time. So, I listened. No expectations, no nostalgia, no personal history tied to these songs. Just me, the music, and whatever came of it.

What I found was…unexpected.

The radio-friendly hits were there—the shimmering, wide-eyed anthems of young love and fairytale endings. Songs meant for teenagers in bedrooms, soundtracking first loves and heartbreaks that felt like the end of the world. And on the surface, that should have been enough for me to check out, to say, “This isn’t for me,” and move on.

But below the surface? There was something else.

Emotion. Honesty. A kind of raw sincerity that I couldn’t identify with but could feel.

It’s in the way “Fifteen” aches with the quiet realization that youth does not know itself until it is already gone. It’s in the longing of “You Belong With Me,” the yearning that feels too big for the body that holds it. And it’s in “White Horse” where the fantasy shatters, and you are left holding the broken pieces of what you thought love would be.

I won’t sit here and pretend this album was made for me. It wasn’t. But that’s the thing about great music—it doesn’t have to be for you to reach you.

And Fearless reached me.

Not in the way that changed my life, but in the way that made me stop, make me listen, and make me respect the artistry behind it. Taylor Swift, even in the early years, knew how to craft a song, how to take simple emotions and make them feel grand and universal.

I was pleasantly surprised. And maybe, just maybe, I’m curious enough to see where this journey leads.

Because if this is where she started, then what does the future hold?