Forget the title, Taylor Swift has a bit more on her mind than speaking it. When faced with adversity, or in this case Kanye West at the 2009 Video Music Awards, she decided that it was time to grow up with her third record "Speak Now", released one year after the incident. And while a whole album dedicated to Mr. West would have been solidly entertaining, given Swift's history of sharp lyrical jabs, she decidedly doesn't have him on the brain. The song titles say it all, "Dear John" being the pinnacle example of how notorious heart breaker John Mayer dared to cross our scorned heroine. Elsewhere, she laments her tragic split with Taylor Lautner in the excellent "Back to December", and although it happened two years ago, Swift eagerly takes on Camilla Belle, the vixen who stole Joe Jonas out from under her in "Better than Revenge". All songs are your typical T-Swift fare: snide remarks ("She's an actress/but she's better known for the things that she does on the mattress"), country-tinged pop and Swift's increasingly improved vocals. Oddly enough, the one person she lets off the hook is Kanye, as she explains in the forgiveness song "Innocent" ("Your string of lights is still bright to me..you're still an innocent"). This seemingly contradictory attitude towards her traitors doesn't just run throughout Taylor's words --She single-handedly wrote all fourteen tracks-- it also transcends through her music, which is at an all-time identity crisis, constantly switching back between soft, acoustic driven works and full blown-out power pop (the transition from "Innocent" to "Haunted" is jarring at first, but upon repeated plays is a welcome change of pace). But perhaps all this constant shifting between maturity and moods is easily explained by the simple process of growing up. She clearly gives that away in "Never Grow Up", a heart-aching ballad about how adult responsibilities can shroud the carefree spirit that was once within us all, and besides that track, she declaims in the Bob Lefsetz-baiting "Mean" that "Someday I'll be living in a big old city, and all you're ever gonna be is mean", and she closes the album with "Long Live", an old-fashioned ode to high school graduation, much in the vein of "Change", her closing track to "Fearless". She gleefully admits that she has a lot yet to learn, but "Speak Now" captures the awkward transition with a surprising amount of grace. Much unlike the faster-paced "Fearless", "Speak Now" has no problem laying out every detail of Taylor's life, from days down by the water to interrupting her ex-boyfriend's wedding, this accompanied by the polished music, and it's easy to tell that she's ready to prove that she's no longer just a big-sister, she's a mentor. While this record can tire as much as it amazes, there's no denying that she's handled her strife with a certain elegance that not many artists have (in comparison, check out Kanye's latest "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy"), which, being only 21-years old, is certainly no small accomplishment.
Recommended Tracks in Bold:
1. Mine 2.
Sparks Fly 3. Back to December
4. Speak Now 5.
Dear John 6. Mean
7. The Story of Us 8. Never Grow Up 9. Enchanted
10. Better than Revenge11.
Innocent 12. Haunted
13. Last Kiss 14. Long Live
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