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Much anticipation was in the air before the album Speak Now was released. How would Taylor Swift follow-up or even measure up to the unbelievable success of her Fearless album? In short, pretty darn good, actually.

There have been many critics who say she can’t really sing. In a way, that has some truth to it. I’ve seen some of her stage performances and she didn’t sound very good. However, she can still carry a tune and besides, when you listen to Taylor Swift, you’d really want to listen to the words of her music. Time and time again, she has proven that she can write really good music – mature, thought-provoking, and most importantly, fun! She has somehow discovered the correct formula for songs that can connect with the people and subsequently become a hit.

Take a look at some of the lyrics that this talented singer/songwriter can some up with in Speak Now (lyrics extracted from Lyricsmode.com:

I remember how we felt sittin’ by the water/And every time I look at you it’s like the first time (Mine)

You, with your voice like nails on a chalkboard/Calling me out when I’m wounded/You picking on the weaker man (Mean)

You are an expert at “sorry”/And keeping lines blurry/Never impressed by me acing your tests/All the girls that you’ve run dry have tired, lifeless eyes/Cause you burned them out/But I took your matches before fire could catch me/So don’t look now/I’m shining like fireworks over your sad empty town…(Dear John)

You’re in the car on the way to the movies/And you’re mortified your mom’s dropping you off/At 14 there’s just so much you can’t do/And you can’t wait to move out someday and call your own shots/But don’t make her drop you off around the block/Remember that she’s getting older too/And don’t lose the way that you dance around in your pj’s getting ready for school (Never Grow Up)

Wasn’t it easy in your firefly catching days/Everything out of reach, someone bigger brought down to you/Wasn’t it beautiful running wild till you fell asleep/Before the monsters caught up to you (Innocent)

So, is Speak Now better than Fearless? Personally, I felt Fearless was a better album. It had more hit-potential songs and was sweetly pleasing overall. But Speak Now has Swift all grown up (ok, maybe a bit..) and has its strengths too. The tone and theme of her songs has somewhat matured from Fearless and that is a good thing! The songs in Speak Now has an independent, confident ring to it which should carry it well to the top of the album charts.

She also has this knack of writing songs about people who have crossed her life, and it is very, very evident in Speak Now. Almost all of the songs were written about guys who have impacted her life, in good and bad ways too. Like Dear John which is like a blunt reference to her sad fling with John Mayer; or Back To December is an apology to Taylor Lautner; and who could forget Kanye West’s infamous interruption? Well, Innocent was written specially for him…

I felt like the only songs that suited her age were the title track, Speak Now, Mean and Mine. Look out for the brief giggle in the middle of Speak Now. Shows that she’s still young and having fun! But, surprisingly, the stronger numbers on this album IMHO would be her more matured songs like Dear John and Never Grow Up. Her versatility is really evident in the mix of songs she can write and deliver and to me, that is one plus point over most artistes in the market today.

My only complaint would be that her songs may seem overly personal at times. And since the songs were written for specific persons in Swift’s life, how would anyone else relate to those songs is another story. Perhaps if she could write more generic songs in the future?

Definitely highly recommended.

Standout Tracks: Back To December, Dear John, Never Grow Up

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