My relationship with Taylor Swift began when I was 12 years old. I attended her “Red” album tour, soaking up every breakup song, heart wrenching melody and powerful anthem despite just starting middle school. My most romantic idea of a party, at the time, was a spa night with my unicorn Pillow Pet. 

The love I have for Miss Swift has never faded, even when people at school told me, “She’s so mainstream,” or, “Her music is way too girly.” In high school I would blast her songs alone in my room with a bag of peanut M&M’s and my cat. And despite what that description might indicate, I never once felt bored or lonely. Her storytelling always made me feel like she was my best friend. As I grew, Swift’s music grew with me. She’s been there through the good and bad of my first crush, dealing with criticism, falling in love and elevating my self-worth as a young woman. 

So you could imagine my excitement Feb. 11, when she announced the re-release of her 2008 Grammy award-winning album “Fearless,” which released April 9. Swift is in the process of re-releasing her first six albums under Big Machine Records — “Fearless” being the first step in the process as a power move to seize ownership of her own music and heighten awareness of the sleazy undertones of the current music industry. Swift said in her Instagram album announcement that “artists should own their own work for so many reasons, but the most screamingly obvious one is that the artist is the one who really *knows* that body of work.”

For me, ‘Fearless’ was an album that reminded me of the innocence of growing up. “You Belong With Me” gave me chills and made my heart flutter when thinking about teen romance, “Hey Stephen” made me giddy over my crush and, of course, “Love Story” made me daydream about the ultimate fairytale. Would I have that same feeling hearing it now, or will it create an entirely new one?  

Olivia Mather, a music history professor at Chapman University who specializes in rock, country and folk, pondered the same question. She said that the most common feeling among Swift’s fans after listening to the re-release may likely be related to the affirmation of becoming a “Swiftie” years ago.   

“I think they will definitely feel nostalgic and will also feel validated in their musical taste and things that they liked before,” Mather said. “There’s this phenomenon that happens when you know something as a very young person or a child or a teenager, and then it comes back up later in a way that makes you feel what you liked really was a great thing and it meant something to you and your generation.”

Emily Chisick, a senior strategic and corporate communication major, told The Panther that her love for the 31-year-old songwriter stems from the ability for each of her songs to relate to different capstones in her life — with the “Fearless” era evoking memories of middle school and dreaming of a whirlwind fantasy.

“It was the album where I was like, ‘My life is about to get really cool,’” Chisick said. “My life is about to be about the boys on the football team who are saying hi to you (and) dancing in your dress in the rain. It kind of lit a spark where it was like, ‘Oh my gosh, there is so much life I am going to get to live.’”

Junior theater major Zoe Tanton still vividly recalls the moment she received a “Fearless” CD for her 9th birthday, right as Swift was becoming a household name for her bedazzled guitar, curly hair and the number 13 written on the back of her hand — which symbolizes her lucky number. Fast forward to today, and Tanton postponed her upcoming birthday celebration so her friends could throw a “Taylor Swift era” party on re-release day, which has been recreated dozens of times on TikTok. Tanton has been eagerly awaiting to hear her favorites from the album like “Forever & Always” and “The Best Day” in a new light.   

“I just fell in love with her songwriting, how personal her songs are to her and how strong of a force she is in the music industry — I really admire her for that,” Tanton said. “I am excited to have more Taylor Swift songs to cry to.”

To preview the upcoming release, Swift dropped what she dubbed “Taylor’s Version” of the hit “Love Story,” along with two vaulted songs titled “You All Over Me” and “Mr. Perfectly Fine.”. The tracklist of the re-release includes the album’s original content along with six of the songs she never originally released. Mather said Swift choosing to put out those tracks demonstrates a certain acceptance and confidence as compared to her teenage self. 

“A lot of people go back and look at songs that were never released and say, ‘There’s a reason we didn’t release this,’” Mather said. “But she was like, ‘Oh no, this is good enough and I’m going to go to the effort to record it really well’ … It’s kind of nostalgia within nostalgia.”

With fans ready to blast the album on repeat, Chisick said it has the potential to create a whole new generation of Swift fans who earlier might have discredited her, but now realize the power she has reclaimed. 

Putting aside the reactions to the re-release, I know all “Swifties,” including myself, already have our calendars blocked out this weekend to be with the one and only Miss Swift or “the artist of the millennium,” as Chisick put it. 

“People always say they don’t like her new stuff or only like her new stuff, and that’s totally fine, but now you have a new twist on an old favorite,” Chisick said. “I’m interested to see how people react to ‘new Taylor’ singing ‘old Taylor.’”

When the clock struck midnight on the East Coast April 9, I quickly opened Spotify, seeing the “Fearless” re-release album in front of me. Initially, I felt scared to press “play.” Would this ruin my perception of some of my favorite songs growing up? 

It did exactly the opposite. Just as Chisick predicted. When I first heard the song “Fifteen,” my heart suddenly expanded with joy. The maturity in Swift’s voice might sound contradictory to the youth imbued in the lyrics, but it represents a perfect paradox in my mind.

Swift grew up right alongside me. But sometimes, with us now both adults, we still want to dream about being a kid again. And because of that, this album made me love her — fearlessly — that much more.