It’s no secret that Taylor works things out through her songs — whether that be clearing the air, giving someone an apology she didn’t get to give, and, in true Taylor fashion, admitting her true feelings towards someone. 'Superstar' is Swift baring her soul; a song where she feels like the tiny fan (“you smile that beautiful smile/and all the girls in the front row scream your name”) doting on someone she describes and deems a ‘superstar'.

It seems unnatural to think about Swift as anyone else but the global force that she is now, but 'Superstar' is a glimpse into a time in her life where she might’ve been at her most relatable: when you have a feverish crush on someone that feels so out of your league, they might as well be a superstar (or, in Swift’s case, actually be one). 

Another powerful collaboration between Taylor Swift and her powerhouse songwriting counterpart Liz Rose, 'Superstar',  like most of the tracks on Fearless, dances between the lines of naive adolescence and the urge to want to be (or at least attempt to seem like) an adult. In 'Superstar' Swift constantly brings up how small and inferior she is compared to the eye of her affection (“I’m no one special/Just another wide-eyed girl/Who’s desperately in love with you”) and how this person will forever be out of reach and out of grasp (“Give me a photograph to hang on my wall/Superstar[...]Good morning loneliness/Comes around when I'm not dreaming about you/When my world wakes up today you'll be in another town”).

The acoustic demo on the track and the slight changes to the lyrics on the original demonstrate this further; the original bridge lyrics on the demo give listeners a little easter egg as a nod to the person’s place of birth (“You’ve played in bars/You play guitar/I know that you were born/In Arkansas”) whereas the final version emphasises Swift feeling insignificant compared to this person (“You played in bars, you play guitar/And I'm invisible and everyone knows who you are”). 

When it was released it was the one song that caused everyone to desperately theorise who exactly inspired it. Swift, though, wasn’t budging, the secret read-between-the-lines message being “I'll never tell”. Although she has still kept tight-lipped about it, the re-recorded version showcases the breadth of her artistry since the song’s release up to Taylor’s Version.

Where the original has that perfect adolescent country twang Swift had in her early records, Taylor’s new re-recording of the song has a severe amount of strength; gone is the girl that feels insignificant in her affection. The song, much like how Taylor feels as she takes control and rerecords several records in her discography, sounds empowered and secure. 'Superstar' shows that with time even our innocent crushes might seem silly, but they are a marker of how far we’ve come and how much we’ve grown since then.

Fearless (Taylor's Version) is out now.