The Eras Tour
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All bets are off as Taylor Swift’s feverishly anticipated The Eras Tour — her first roadshow unbeholden to a particular album release — prepares to embark March 17 in Glendale, Arizona.
It stands to reason that Swift would heavily showcase the heap of music she’s produced since her record-setting Reputation Stadium Tour wrapped in 2018 — those projects being Lover (2019), Folklore and Evermore (2020), Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version) (2021), and Midnights (2022).
But as the Eras Tour has been promoted by Swift as a “journey through all of my musical eras,” it’s understood that each of her 10 studio albums will be highlighted in some manner. Couple that with the fact that Swift has not publicly performed more than 70 new or previously unreleased songs since her last tour a whopping half-decade earlier, and Swifties’ imaginations have rightfully run wild. What on Earth will the setlist look like?
We’ve already put forth what her dream Eras setlist could resemble. But what about all that’s left on the cutting room floor? There are dozens upon dozens of songs that likely won’t be performed (at least with any regularity) on this tour, even if many would make for wondrously intimate moments or booming show-stoppers.
So that’s what we have here: all the songs Swift probably won’t play this spring and summer, but should sincerely consider — at least for a night or two. We’ve chosen two cuts per album; let’s break it down as we all count the minutes to opening night.
“Mary’s Song (My, My, My)”
From: Taylor Swift (2006)
Swift’s hierarchy for self-titled revisits likely goes something like this: “Tim McGraw,” “Our Song,” “Should’ve Said No,” “Teardrops on My Guitar” … then a big drop-off … then everything else. But oh, my, my, my, what a moment this would be. As she told Billboard about a million years ago, Swift wrote “Mary’s Song” when she first moved to Nashville, and her new neighbors were an older couple who’d been together since they were children. It’s a song of hope and innocence, and it’s adored by the ride-or-die fans, none of whom have heard Taylor play it live since 2008. To bring it back 15 years later, with so much more texture and maturity in her voice, would be unforgettable.
“A Place in This World”
Image Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
From: Taylor Swift (2006)
At the end of the day, aren’t we all just girls trying to find our place in this world? This vulnerable track, written when Swift was a young teen still living in Pennsylvania — driving with her mom back and forth to Nashville in search of a record deal — plays like a diary entry, glancing back to the very outset of her career. Swift has only played the track once since 2009 (in Pittsburgh in 2018), and we’d love to see another acoustic solo roll-out, from the now-33-year-old woman who’s very much cemented her spot.
“The Way I Loved You”
From: Fearless (2008)
Of course, “Love Story,” “You Belong With Me,” “Fifteen” and the title track will earn their keep before the deeper cuts off Fearless, but how about working “The Way I Loved You” into a medley, reintroducing that big, impassioned chorus into the mix? It’d make for a banner throwback, especially since Taylor hasn’t played the song since the Fearless Tour wrapped in 2010. And it would surely separate the newer fans from the elder diehards.
“The Best Day”
From: Fearless (2008)
On Sunday, May 14, Swift will be in Philadelphia — the closest thing to a true hometown show, as she grew up an hour west of the stadium. You know what else Sunday, May 14 is? Mother’s Day. If Taylor doesn’t roll out this nostalgic cut, written for her mom, there is no justice in the world of live entertainment. And fans would be seeing a real rarity, as she’s only played the highly emotional song — which she’s previously said is the most difficult to sing in her whole catalog — a half-dozen times live.
“Dear John”
From: Speak Now (2010)
For maximum emotional carnage, Swift would do well to slip “Dear John” between “Mine” and “Mean” and tear down the house with her towering ballad of reflection and regret. At the first sound of that slow guitar trill, fans would grip each other and sob through the soaring chorus, which Swift hasn’t performed live since 2012. Now’s the time!
“Ours”
Image Credit: Ed Rode/Nashville Rising/Getty Images for Nashville Rising
From: Speak Now (Deluxe Edition) (2010)
Then, if she wanted to build the crowd back up — and re-establish some belief in true love — she’d knock out “Ours,” the sweet and steadfast deluxe-version tune. There’s no way a solo acoustic version of “Ours” would make regular setlists, but as Taylor played the song once on the Reputation tour, let’s hope for at least one spot this time, too. If any shrewd boyfriend brought a ring to the stadium, waiting for the right moment to propose, this would be it.
“Treacherous”
From: Red (2012)
As the Red catalog ballooned to 30 songs (including vault tracks) in 2021, there’s only so much Swift can play from the magnum opus: “All Too Well,” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and “I Knew You Were Trouble” all feel like locks, and maybe we get “Nothing New” on the nights Phoebe Bridgers opens. But remember on the Red Tour in 2013, when during the breathtaking “Treacherous” bridge, the stage’s center ramp began to lift and Taylor toed across it, rising higher and higher in melancholic triumph? Yeah, let’s find a way to get that feeling again.
“Holy Ground”
From: Red (2012)
Let’s pretend the hyper-catharsis of a stadium singing all 10 minutes of “All Too Well” has just died down. Everyone, Swift included, has emptied their emotional tanks. They need a song to pump them back up — and then the band begins the familiar guitar chug of “Holy Ground,” painting the room in a new, re-energized shade of crimson. It’s a light, fun and vibrant rocker, boosted by the breezy backing vocal, which of course would be sung by all in attendance: “blew away, blew away, oh, oh.”
“Out of the Woods”
From: 1989 (2014)
Of all the songs on this list, “Out of the Woods” might be the closest to actually appearing semi-regularly in the Eras set, as it was indeed a single (the sixth off 1989, but still). Either way, the propulsive thump of this electro-pop banger would be such a killer retread. And if she’s really marking eras on this tour, why not include the first track she ever made with superproducer pal Jack Antonoff, who’s become such a fixture in her catalog ever since?
“You Are in Love”
Image Credit: Michael Tran/FilmMagic
From: 1989 (Deluxe Edition) (2014)
There’s plenty from Swift’s planet-smashing pop crossover that she’s more or less obligated to play. At least snippets of “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” “Wildest Dreams” and “Bad Blood” are all likely to make appearances. But anyone who saw the 1989 tour in 2015 knows how spectacular this romantic bonus cut became when Taylor played call-and-response with the titanic crowd: “You can hear it the silence (silence) silence (silence).” Maybe I’m biased, as my wife walked down the aisle to this song, but I can’t imagine anymore being upset if “You Are in Love” was somehow worked back in.
“Dancing With Our Hands Tied”
From: Reputation (2017)
As the globe-trotting Reputation Stadium Tour was, of course, Swift’s last roadshow, the album likely stands to receive as little attention as any this time around. That’s too bad, because spectacular tracks like “Dancing With Our Hands Tied” probably won’t make it — a shame, considering the acoustic version from the last tour was so affecting. We’d love to see it return, for at least a few nights.
“King of My Heart”
From: Reputation (2017)
Swifties will remember the monster treatment “King of My Heart” received on the last tour, with oversized tribal drums, full-troupe choreography and a golden throne looming behind. While the song will likely be excluded in favor of “Delicate,” “… Ready For It” and/or “Look What You Made Me Do,” all we’re asking for is the awesome acoustic rendition Taylor whipped up for a lucky couple’s engagement party surprise in 2019.
“I Think He Knows”
From: Lover (2019)
As 2020’s pandemic-spoiled Lover Fest was never able to showcase all the sugar-pop wallops of Swift’s seventh LP, Lover should get plenty of love on this tour. But “I Think He Knows” will likely be left off, especially since Midnights’ “Lavender Haze” — which features a similar melody in its chorus — will surely be included. But here’s hoping for at least a mash-up, mainly so we can hear Swift pull off that killer bridge, which crests from the breathy flirt “where we gonna go” into the belting “I think he knows!” The image is good enough for goosebumps.
“Paper Rings”
Image Credit: Theo Wargo/GI for iHeartMedia
From: Lover (2019)
While “Paper Rings” doesn’t get a ton of love from Swifties when stacked against powerhouses like “Cruel Summer” or “Death by a Thousand Cuts,” it’s such a delightful, candy-coated bop. And with a little live rock n’ roll magic — bigger guitars could morph it into a pop-punk winner — “Paper Rings” would be a beast, and an easy blast of romantic levity between the more heartsick anthems.
“Illicit Affairs”
From: Folklore (2020)
Considering 99.9% of Swifties have never seen anything from world-beating Folklore performed live in-person, there’s surely other songs Swift will get to first — “Cardigan,” “Mirrorball,” “August” and “Betty” all being obvious contenders. But here’s hoping she engages in the stark drama of walking with her guitar to center stage, strumming a few clandestine chords and crooning: “Make sure nobody sees you leave.” Oh, the shrieks of unadulterated, adultery-related joy and rapture that would follow.
“The Lakes”
From: Folklore (Deluxe Edition) (2020)
Same thing: “The Lakes,” a bonus track, is undoubtedly low on the priority list, but were Taylor to bust out that doleful, melodramatic poetry before such a massive crowd, it would be an unforgettable, intimate moment. As soon as the scratchy strings began, it’d be emotional bedlam in every section.
“‘Tis the Damn Season”
From: Evermore (2020)
Let’s be real, Swift is almost certainly not going to spend her spring and summer playing a song about weather so cold it fogs up the windshield glass. But hey, if Bruce Springsteen can play “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” in May, why should Taylor restrict herself? The truth is “‘Tis the Damn Season” is a subtle banger, and if Swift was out in the center of the stadium, unraveling this ballad of homecoming trysts solely on her guitar, it’d be epic.
“No Body, No Crime”
Image Credit: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
From: Evermore (2020)
Yes, this would only work for one of the nine shows HAIM is opening, but imagine Taylor welcoming her pop-rock pals back to the stage for this felonious feature, jamming on some rediscovered twang. If Swift wanted to play something from Evermore that wasn’t so sad or draped in frosty atmosphere, this would be a heap of fun — assuming everyone is cool with getting away with murder.
“Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve”
From: Midnights – 3am Edition (2022)
Since all of Midnights is surely on the table for this tour, the odds of getting anything off the 3am Edition appendix are likely very low. But if Taylor was to roll out anything, “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” has to be the obvious choice. Not only is this pseudo-sequel to “Dear John” the most popular track off the extension (based off internet buzz and streaming totals), but the hypnotic chug of the drum sample and her monster bridge — maybe the most affecting on all of Midnights — would soar in the stadium. You can already hear the diehards wailing with abandon: “Living for the thrill of hitting you where it hurts/ Give me back my girlhood, it was mine first!”
“Bigger Than the Whole Sky”
From: Midnights – 3am Edition (2022)
Oh, what’s that — “Bigger than the Whole Sky” is too soft, slow and ethereal to factor into a stadium set? Wrong! Picture this: It’s late in the show, the entire stadium is dark. But there’s one spotlight fixed on Taylor as steps onto the crane apparatus that lifts her 100 feet in the air and carries her around the stadium. The track begins to play, 60,000 LED wristbands twinkle in white to create the starry sky. And Taylor sings with sorrow, mourning the lost relationship: “Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye…” Maybe they fit a keyboard on the platform so she can play along. The power of that moment would rival any of the booming hits.
“I love your shirt, by the way,” Gracie Abrams tells me during a cozy Zoom call from Los Angeles, where she grew up and still lives. “It’s incredible.”
The T-shirt in question is printed with a photo of Taylor Swift and Lorde, two of Abrams’ favorite artists (and mutual admirers), hugging one another at a 2016 Grammys afterparty. It’s a replica of a shirt previously worn by the indie pop prodigy’s friend and 2022 tourmate Olivia Rodrigo, who credits Abrams’ artistry with being a major inspiration for her own music.
Rodrigo, Lorde, and Swift – the latter of whom invited Abrams to open a slew of stadium shows on her highly anticipated Eras Tour – are just a few of the many A-list artists the indie pop prodigy has made friends and fans out of since launching her music career in 2019, with debut Interscope single “Mean It.” Billie Eilish has also sung her praises, as has fellow Swift opener Phoebe Bridgers, whom Abrams has been following since she was a 13-year-old with a Soundcloud account.
With so many famous fans, and fans in general (with 1.4 million Instagram followers and nearly 8 million monthly Spotify listeners), it’s a wonder that Abrams waited so many years to finally release her long-awaited debut album Good Riddance, out Friday (Feb. 24) – especially considering the streaming prowesses of her 2020 breakthrough EP Minor and 2021 12-track project This Is What It Feels Like. If she wasn’t a cult T-Shirt-level icon before, it probably won’t be long until the poetic mastery on Good Riddance makes her into one.
But timing was vital for the full-length to come together as it did, she insists. Mainly, there was the matter of finding a producer whom she clicked with, following her sticky breakup – which ended up inspiring some of the most painful songs on Good Riddance – from former go-to producer and longtime boyfriend Blake Slatkin, who recently snagged a record of the year Grammy for his work on Lizzo’s “About Damn Time.”
She eventually found what she was looking for in Aaron Dessner, whom you may know either from beloved indie rock outlet The National or, of course, his work with Abrams’ upcoming tourmate. The two spent months hammering out songs like racing lead single “Difficult” and followups “Where do we go now?,” in which she soberly weeds through the remains of an overgrown relationship, and “Amelie,” a tender love letter to the ways a stranger can permanently alter our lives without realizing, at Dessner’s Long Pond Studios in upstate New York.
“I wanted to do [the album] in a way that would be its own world,” Abrams tells Billboard. “I felt so drawn in my head [to exploring], ‘What would it be like to sit down with one person?’ We were in the middle of nowhere – having space from L.A. was so important.”
Abrams has come a long way since the days of singing alone in her bedroom, posting whisper-soft covers on Instagram and performing concerts via Zoom. In just a couple weeks, she’ll make stops at smaller music venues and theaters on her headline tour in support of the new album before joining Swift’s sold-out Eras trek. But through the crush of rising to mainstream status, connecting with an expanding audience and, as the daughter of Star Wars director J.J. Abrams, fielding increasingly tedious questions about her “nepo baby” origins – all while dating someone new, though she declines to give more details other than “he’s great” – Abrams is keeping her focus on what matters most.
“I’m sure there are misconceptions, as we all have about everyone,” she says of public perceptions amidst her growing profile. “I don’t choose to worry myself too much about what those are. I’m really just trying to, as much as I can, have the primary focus be about the music and let it speak for itself.”
In Good Riddance’s case, that music is visceral, brutally honest, unflinchingly self-examining storytelling of the highest caliber. In places where her past work would speak, her new songs whisper – and yet, the message behind each is so much louder than anything she’s written before. This effect is only heightened by Dessner’s delicate production, which demands no special attention of its own and dutifully serves as a supporting act for Abrams’ flickering voice and blisteringly nuanced lyrics. It’s the most mature set of songs she’s ever made, reflective of the oftentimes uncomfortable emotional growth spurts she’s experienced over the past year or so (“I know I changed overnight,” as she puts it on “Where do we go now?”).
“It’s an interesting thing to just grow up, period,” the 23-year-old reflects. “Month to month, s–t varies, deeply. There’s lots of fast-track development that happens.”
Below, Billboard catches up with Gracie Abrams about evolving through heartbreak and getting vulnerable with Aaron Dessner on Good Riddance, being “deeply obsessed” with Taylor Swift and more:
You’ve been open about the stage fright you felt going into your first touring experiences. Is that something you’ve since conquered?
I love performing now, and that’s due to how truly kind my audience is. They’re all sensitive people too, and that has changed my life even on a songwriting front. There’s less fear about being dead honest in my writing; I can rely on them to connect to what I’m talking about now.
They’ve been so generous with their experiences and telling me how different songs remind them of s–t they’ve gone through. Seeing them cry and dance and laugh in the audience makes me feel like I can do all those things too. That part kind of eliminates the fear.
With the Eras Tour specifically, it’s gotta help that there’s probably lots of overlap between your fanbase and Taylor Swift’s.
Obviously, she has everybody in the world obsessed with her. I know her fanbase so well because I’m a part of it. At the very least, whether or not any of her fans know that I exist, I feel very stoked to share a space with people who are deeply obsessed with Taylor too. I think I’ll feel safe up there knowing that everybody in the stadium is there to see her, because that’s also why I’m there.
It means so much. She’s as spectacular a person and friend as she is an artist, writer, director. She’s really that great. To be able to lean on her in any capacity really means a lot. The opportunity is so outrageous – it’s a funny thing to talk about, having not done it yet, because I feel like I don’t even really believe it’s real. I’m so stoked to watch her crush it every single night. To see her up close in that way and be able to study that is the greatest gift.
Has she heard any of Good Riddance?
I know Aaron’s played her a bunch of it. I’ll let you know if I find out [what she thinks of it].
Why did you wait until now to release your official debut record? There were certainly enough songs on This Is What It Feels Like to constitute a full album.
It didn’t feel like the time was right before. I had to work on myself a lot internally. This Is What It Feels Like came together in lots of fragments and pieces over different periods of time. It was scattered in a way I think I really needed at the time.
When I met Aaron, it was a pivotal point for me. Having a partner who I trusted so wholeheartedly felt like the right time. I was so curious to explore what we could do together. I also think I had a lot to write about.
What drew you to Aaron as a producer and co-writer?
I’ve been a fan of The National since I was 12 years old. There’s a strength in the fragility of his work. I’ve always loved space in music, when songs are allowed to breathe and aren’t muddied or weighed down by unnecessary production elements. We both bring something different to the table, so to combine our individual skill sets was the best experiment ever.
I’m not someone that’s had very much success in the speed dating of producers, trying a day and seeing how it goes. It’s likely because of how much I write alone. I need to trust whoever it is I’m working with, and I don’t think I can accomplish that in one day, necessarily. But the second I met Aaron, I was like, “I don’t feel remotely filtered in any capacity.” I felt supported and challenged by him in really healthy, positive, beneficial ways. Even when we were writing about all the heavy shit, it was the best time.
The breakup that inspired a lot of the album happens to involve someone who did a lot of your production in the past. Do you feel like you’ve had to reinvent yourself as an artist as much as a person without having that collaborator by your side anymore?
All I can or want to say on that front is just that it’s a lucky thing to be able to evolve with someone and without someone. It’s been a really lovely and challenging thing to figure that out.
There’s something about making this album that felt so right and natural the entire time, and so devastating, too. With Aaron, I felt safe to figure out my sound alone. I don’t necessarily think reinvent is the word I’d use, more so just get closer to myself. Coming out of the relationship that I did, to have met someone who was so willing to have those conversations with me and sit with those feelings was definitely life-changing.
Why choose Good Riddance as the title?
There’s a side of it that sounds kind of harsh, but I also think there’s a satirical bit that I like: to be comfortable casually throwing certain things away and walking into the next chapter no matter what that looks like.
The album’s not just about one thing. There’s lots of self-reflection and accountability in the words this time. I felt like there were a lot of personal shifts over the course of the year that the album came together, and walking away from versions of myself that I didn’t recognize anymore and very much saying “good riddance” to those.
Lyrically, “Amelie” is so different from the rest of the album, which mainly focuses on your breakup or self growth. Why make it a single?
I had this journal entry for a long time that a lot of the lyrics came from, about the deep curiosity, pain and admiration of being struck so immediately by someone. Aaron recorded the guitar at the same time as I sang, we did one take and that was the song. It’s very unexpected as a single, because it’s not this driving pop song – not that this is a pop album – which is something else I love about it.
Our whole vibe making this album, the spontaneity and mutual trust that I felt when we recorded, was reflected in the song. Before anyone heard it, he and I privately were like, ‘This song is important to us. F–k it.”
“The Blue” also stands out because it’s the only traditional love song on the album. Is it about your current relationship?
I love songwriting so much because as an overthinker, it’s a space where I can imagine all of these possibilities with a person. I actually wrote that song about someone I never even dated, but was so intrigued by. It was fleeting, and ended up being very not right. I don’t think they would ever know it was about them.
Which song on the album was most difficult to write?
“I Know It Won’t Work” hurt to write. “Best” hurt to write. And “Fault Line.”
The thing with all these songs is that they all were written so quickly. The ease at which a lot of the words came out was the painful part, because a lot of what was said in the songs wasn’t said directly to the person [they’re about].
I have no idea how anyone will receive the songs, I also do worry about some people thinking a song is about them when it isn’t. I don’t know how to navigate my personal life and – lucky-enough – job being intertwined so seriously yet. How do you do that?