If you know me, you know how obsessed I am with Taylor Swift. It’s written all over my personality, personal belongings, and even my skin (courtesy of a few Swift-inspired tattoos). When she first announced her Eras Tour, I was ecstatic. I was lucky enough to get tickets to two shows in Tampa, Florida — my home state — and get four amazing surprise songs, including “The Great War” (with Aaron Dessner), “You’re On Your Own, Kid,” “mad woman” (with Aaron Dessner), and “Mean.” Swift started the surprise songs years ago and has continued them on her tours throughout her career; the “surprise songs” are songs that aren’t on the setlist and are performed acoustically towards the end of the show. I was so happy with my songs and wouldn’t have changed them or the shows for the world. Of course, I had preferences (“mad woman” and “The Great War”) were on my list, but overall I would’ve been happy with any songs from her discography, and I was just so grateful to be able to go to not just one, but two shows.
Last November, Swift decided to switch things up during her acoustic set and play a mashup of “Is It Over Now?” and “Out Of The Woods.” Like so many other Swifties, I was intensely watching a TikTok livestream of the show that was taking place in Argentina. I remember getting ready to go out with my friends when she started singing “Out Of The Woods” in the middle of “Is It Over Now?” I was completely shocked and audibly gasped. Before the tour started, when we had no idea what it would hold, I and so many others thought the show would be full of mashups because we didn’t understand how she could fit so many songs and eras into a show that most assumed would be way less than it’s final three and a half hour runtime. But Swift seamlessly incorporated her eras into the show, as well as adding a spot to make each show unique and special to its audience.
After about a three-month hiatus, Swift returned to the stage in Tokyo, where she played individual songs on guitar and piano. On Feb. 17, she played her second show in Melbourne, where she played a mashup of “Getaway Car,” “august,” and “The Other Side Of The Door.” (The only show where she played a mashup of three songs.) Fans started to wonder why she was doing this now when she didn’t do it at all on the first US leg of her tour. Ever since Melbourne Night Two, Swift has played a mashup every night, with some nights even getting a mashup on guitar and piano.
Some fans are angry that these recent shows got mashups but their shows didn’t. Personally, I don’t think this is as big of a deal as some people are making it, as long as the fans are just a little jealous that some people got four surprise songs, while also being grateful that they even had the chance to go. Others were angry that Swift started mashing up songs because they said they would be mad if they didn’t get a full song. Swift sings the entirety of the first song in each mashup, but only part of the second song. It seems like anything Swift tries to do, whether for her fans or herself, gets criticized. I know if I got a mashup at my show, I would be over the moon with excitement.
Overall, I find the addition of mashups as surprise songs fun. I love trying to guess what she’s going to sing, and now it’s even more fun guessing what songs she could mash up together because it’s always unexpected. My favorite mashups so far have been “Haunted” and “exile,” “False God” with “Slut!,” and “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” plus “Dress.” Swift creates stories with her music and deepens the story when she combines two songs, allowing fans into her life more personally with open arms.