Song of the Day #908: ‘Mean’ – Taylor Swift

Best Songs of 2010 – #9

Taylor Swift has been a pretty big deal in my household for a couple of years now, thanks to my 8- and 4-year old daughters who caught the bug from my 15-year old niece. The hits from her record-breaking album Fearless have run on repeat in their rooms and our car for some time.

So when Swift released Speak Now in 2010, I made a preemptive strike and bought the album myself. No surprise, it immediately went into constant rotation for my daughters, who can sing along word for word to every song.

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Taylor Swift – Speak Now

I wish I’d had a Taylor Swift when I was 15 years old. Somebody smart, talented, poised, level-headed and classy who nonetheless makes very human mistakes and isn’t afraid to explore them openly and eloquently.

When you have the likes of Ke$ha and Katy Perry soiling the airwaves, it’s comforting to see Swift outshine them all, selling more than a million copies of her latest album, Speak Now, in a week.

Speak Now is the first Taylor Swift album I’ve owned (though I do have a CD full of her songs hand-picked by my niece, a huge fan every bit as poised, smart and talented as her idol). And after just a few listens, it has impressed me as a fine addition to a year in music that has been full of great surprises.

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