In the wake of her celebrated self-titled debut, Taylor Swift was an 18-year-old country prodigy ready to take on the world. With Fearless, she accomplished just that, proving that she was more than just a Nashville wunderkind. Across the album, Swift channels the ups and downs of young romance through the starry-eyed lens of a girl who still believes fairy tales are possible. Plucky title track “Fearless” imagines a dreamy first date. Meanwhile, lead single “Love Story” completely rewrites Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, envisioning a happier ending for two star-crossed lovers. And the irresistibly catchy “You Belong with Me” features a determined Swift, one who knows her crush is settling for the cheer captain in a short skirt. But the Swift of her Fearless era is also starting to see the cracks and realities in burgeoning adulthood. On “Fifteen”, she’s already reminiscing about life three years earlier. She’s older, wiser and finally certain that life doesn’t end when the first person you fall in love with ends up not being The One. And when her heart gets broken mid-album (by a Jonas Brother, no less), Swift takes her sadness and spins gold with power ballads like “Forever & Always”. On “White Horse”, she deduces that her fairy-tale ending may be farther away than she imagined, a coming-of-age moment in real time. Swift was still a couple albums away from her full pop pivot, but the hints of those Top 40 sensibilities are loud and clear. Alongside Nashville heavyweights like Liz Rose, John Rich, Hillary Lindsey and Nathan Chapman, Swift takes her sound to the arenas she’ll soon play.