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Over the long-running course of Taylor Swift’s famous “The Eras Tour,” she introduced a multitude of new additions to the setlist, ranging from a new era added to her setlist to special releases — but a pivotal part of Swift’s tour was when she unleashed a new kind of exhilaration for Swifties everywhere: surprise songs. Each surprise song differed from the last, and each packed a different punch to all fans.
Although Swift played her first mashup on Nov. 12, 2023 (“Is It Over Now?” and “Out Of The Woods”), she consistently began performing mashups during the “acoustic” section of “The Eras Tour” after her second show in Sydney, Australia, on Feb. 17 with a piano medley of “Getaway Car,” “august,” and “The Other Side Of The Door.”
All of her mashups seem to have double meanings, and they intertwine with her other songs. Her March 2 mashup of “Long Story Short” and “The Story Of Us” follows narratives of her own life; “This Love” and “Ours” share similar lyrics, and one of the most prominent lyrics of the latter song is “and this love is ours.” The following five mashups listed below all hold different meanings to fans and deserve special recognition for what they brought to “The Eras Tour” stage.
- “Is It Over Now?” / “Out Of The Woods”
Being her first mashup ever performed in concert, this will always be an iconic performance. Both songs are featured in her “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” re-recorded album and have been surmised to be about Swift’s renowned ex-boyfriend, Harry Styles. Fans drew this comparison in the early days after the re-record’s release, and the theory has run rampant ever since. During the instrumental period of “Is It Over Now?” Swift strummed her acoustic guitar with a smile on her face, knowing she was about to make all Swifties go crazy in both the crowd and livestreams with what she was going to do next: she started singing the “Out Of The Woods” bridge. These songs fit together perfectly, and the way she executed this masterful mashup will go down in the history books.
- “Mary’s Song (Oh My My My) / “So High School” / “Everything Has Changed”
Even after singing “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs, coming straight home to me,” people weren’t convinced she was genuinely in love with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce—this mashup, songs all about love and infatuation, changed that. “Mary’s Song (Oh My My My)” chronicles the long-term part of relationships with lyrics like “I’ll be 87, you’ll be 89,” which is an unintentional nod to her relationship with Kelce, whose jersey number is nothing other than 87. “So High School” from her most recent release, “The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD),” is speculated to be about Kelce, and “Everything Has Changed” is about love at first sight, similar to what has been theorized regarding the official meeting of Swift and Kelce.
- “I Hate It Here” / “the lakes”
Two of Swift’s lesser-known songs, “I Hate It Here” and “the lakes,” made for one of the most heart-wrenching mashups played on “The Eras Tour.” Swift seamlessly made the transitions from “I Hate It Here” to “the lakes,” giving fans a brief pause to appreciate the moment before blending the two songs together.. Both songs toy with the ideas of realities created in your mind — escapism — and the longing desire to be somewhere else, making for the perfect mashup to encapsulate what it feels like to be at “The Eras Tour.”
- “Long Live” / “New Year’s Day” / “The Manuscript”
To end “The Eras Tour,” Swift performed her most sentimental songs as a goodbye to her fans from far and wide. From July 2023 to May 2024, Swift closed out her “Speak Now” era with “Long Live,” a song that details her appreciation for her fans’ support, and she sang it for the final time on “The Eras Tour” stage on Dec. 8 in a mashup with “New Year’s Day,” the sentimental closing track on her sixth studio album, “reputation.” “The Manuscript” is the final song on her newest release, “TTPD,” and it details the end of the narrator’s, presumably Swift, relationship. The closing notes of “The Manuscript” and the end of this heart-wrenching mashup was the perfect end for a very long and very successful tour that has seen Swift through many eras of her life: “The only thing that’s left is the manuscript / One last souvenir from my trip to your shores / Now and then, I reread the manuscript / But the story isn’t mine anymore.”
- “Cassandra” / “mad woman” / “I Did Something Bad”
All over TikTok, a popular fan-made mashup was created. Many fans took the time to guess “Cassandra” and “mad woman” for their “Mastermind,” a fan-created game on an overall app called “Swift Alert” made by the same person: Kyle Mumma. The reason behind this specific pairing is because, at their core, they are about strong-willed females, ready for revenge. As Swift played the keys of her piano with a big grin on her face, knowing that she had played one of the most anticipated mashups, she decided to add her own twist by adding “I Did Something Bad” in the middle of the performance. The lyrics shifted from “What a shame she went mad / You made her like that / What a shame she went mad” to “They say I did something bad,” causing a flurry of excitement from the audience of Nov. 22. Affectionately termed as the “female rage” melody, this was a mashup for the ages.
“The Eras Tour” was a groundbreaking and successful tour, paving the way for future artists to be able to expand concerts to more than just hearing live music, but making a lifetime of memories. Swift’s incredible talent blends her many genres of music while also demonstrating a deep connection with the songs she remixes, and the world would be lucky to see another mashup take place on a Swift stage.
