Summary

• Some of Taylor Swift’s songs are even better in The Eras Tour movie than they are on their respective albums, such as “Look What You Made Me Do” and “Long Live.”
• The deliberate opening with “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince” gives the song a greater significance in The Eras Tour movie than on the Lover album.
• Swift’s live performance of “Karma” as the finale of the Midnights era and the tour closer serves as a celebration of her journey and The Eras Tour as a whole.

Some of the songs in Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour are even better in the concert movie than on their respective albums. Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour celebrates almost every era of her lengthy music career, during which she’s (so far) released 10 albums and four re-recordings, each dubbed “Taylor’s Version.” Although there are 44 songs on The Eras Tour set list, some songs were cut in Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour movie‘s theatrical release to shorten the runtime. This meant that some major highlights from the live shows, like “Long Live” and “cardigan,” were missing from the concert movie.

Thankfully, most of these omissions were undone when the movie hit streaming as Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) on Disney+. Along with the three songs from the VOD release, The Eras Tour movie re-added “cardigan” on Disney+ and included four bonus acoustic songs. With these eight additions, there are a total of 48 songs in Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) movie. Whether it’s the energy of the crowd, certain details about the performance, or simply the significance of Swift performing it live, some songs are even better in The Eras Tour movie than on Swift’s albums.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version)
is available to stream now on Disney+.

9 “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince” – Lover

There is deeper meaning behind the opening number of The Eras Tour

After a 13-second countdown, The Eras Tour movie opens with a mash-up of different lines from Swift’s songs that each include the title of one of her 10 albums. The line “it’s been a long time coming,” from the end of the pre-chorus of “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince” is also repeated throughout this mash-up. Swift suddenly appears onstage from behind the giant tapestries and jumps straight into the chorus of “Miss Americana” as the Lover era begins. Although she only sings the chorus, the significance of “Miss Americana”‘s placement in the show makes up for its brevity.

The Eras Tour really had “been a long time coming,” especially for Lover, hence the decision to open with this lyric from “Miss Americana.”

Opening the show with the Lover era, and “Miss Americana” specifically, was very intentional. When she embarked on The Eras Tour in March 2023, Swift had released four albums since The Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018, the first of which was Lover in 2019. The Eras Tour really had “beena long time coming,” especially for Lover, hence the decision to open with this lyric from “Miss Americana.” The symbolism of “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince” as the tour opener gives it so much more weight in The Eras Tour movie than on the Lover album itself.

8 “Marjorie” – Evermore

Swift and the audience pay tribute to the singer’s eponymous grandmother on The Eras Tour

The third era in The Eras Tour movie is evermore, Swift’s ninth studio album and her second surprise release of 2020 after its “sister” album folklore. During this era, Swift performs the song “marjorie” from evermore, which she wrote about her late grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, who was an opera singer and a major inspiration for Swift’s love of music. Sadly, she passed away in 2001 when Swift was only 13 years old. Marjorie never got to witness her granddaughter become the superstar she is today, making it extra special that Swift performs “marjorie” on the biggest tour of her career.

Everything about the touching live performance, from the lights in the crowd to her grandmother singing with her, makes “marjorie” even more moving in The Eras Tour movie.

As Swift sings about how her grandmother is still “alive in [her] head,” fans light up their cellphone flashlights to show their respects and honor Marjorie’s memory. On the outro, when Swift sings, “and if I didn’t know better/I’d think you were singing to me now,” Marjorie’s real vocals can be heard in the background. “Marjorie” is already one of the most heart-wrenching, personal songs Swift has ever written, and everything about the touching live performance, from the lights in the crowd to her grandmother singing with her, makes “marjorie” even more moving in The Eras Tour movie.

7 “Tolerate It” – Evermore

The song’s heartbreaking narrative is brought to life on stage in The Eras Tour movie

Swift closes out the evermore era with “tolerate it,” which describes an unbalanced relationship dynamic in which the narrator’s partner doesn’t notice or value them enough. Instead of “celebrat[ing]” the narrator’s love, their partner simply “tolerate[s] it.” The number opens with Swift setting a dining table with care and precision, acting out the lyric “lay the table with the fancy sh*t.” Raphael Thomas, one of Swift’s backup dancers on The Eras Tour, proceeds to sit across from her at the other end of the table. Throughout the performance, Thomas either looks irritated or ignores Swift entirely as she grows increasingly frustrated.

Like “Miss Americana,” Swift also shortens “tolerate it” in The Eras Tour movie. After the first chorus, she skips straight to the bridge where all the narrator’s grievances culminate and climbs onto the table, knocking all the “fancy sh*t” off in a desperate rage. Even though she doesn’t perform the whole song, “tolerate it” is even more powerful in The Eras Tour movie than it is on the evermore album. Through this theatrical performance, Swift brings the meaning behind the lyrics of “tolerate it” to life onstage, elevating the heartbreaking song to a new level in The Eras Tour movie.

6 “…Ready For It?” – Reputation

This high-energy album opener sets the tone just right for the Reputation era

To open the reputation era, Swift used the same opening track from reputation, “…Ready For It?”, which also served as the opening number on the Reputation Stadium Tour. Of all the songs in Swift’s vast catalog of music, “…Ready For It?” is probably the most perfect opening song in any context, whether it be an album, tour, or in-concert era. The titular question quite literally asks the listener/attendee if they are “ready” for what’s to come before the refrain invites the excitement by stating “baby, let the games begin.”

It’s a perfect era opener for the same reason that it’s a genius album opener, but because of the collective energy of the live crowd, “…Ready For It?” is even better in The Eras Tour movie.

In The Eras Tour movie, “…Ready For It?” perfectly sets the tone for the fierce, cutthroat reputation era. The hype song does what it does best by getting everybody in the crowd psyched and on their feet. It’s a perfect era opener for the same reason that it’s a genius album opener, but because of the collective energy of the live crowd, “…Ready For It?” is even better in The Eras Tour movie.

5 “Look What You Made Me Do” – Reputation

All the old Taylors are a callback to the music video for (and meaning behind) this comeback single

“Look What You Made Me Do” was Swift’s major comeback single in 2017 after disappearing from the public eye. On the bridge, Swift declares that “the old Taylor” is “dead,” which she depicts in the music video by recreating iconic and memorable looks from all her past eras (before she was even referring to them as such) to represent all the “old Taylors” she’s obliterating in order to start fresh. All of these same “old Taylor” looks are shown in glass cases behind Swift as she performs “LWYMMD” in The Eras Tour movie.

Swift wrote this song about all the people she felt had turned the world against her, so to see her perform it in front of tens of thousands of adoring fans puts “LWYMMD” in a whole new heartwarming light in The Eras Tour movie.

Of course, The Eras Tour contradicts the notion that any version of the “old Taylor” is dead, since she is stepping back into all her past musical selves’ shoes and celebrating her past eras. However, this sentiment rang true at the time, as she was making her grand return after enduring a lot of public scrutiny. Swift wrote this song about all the people she felt had turned the world against her, so to see her perform it in front of tens of thousands of adoring fans puts “LWYMMD” in a whole new heartwarming light in The Eras Tour movie.

“LWYMMD” is also a lot more exciting and energetic in The Eras Tour movie. The studio version of “LWYMMD” can get a bit monotonal, and while the music video remedies that lack of energy a bit, the live performance puts it on a whole other level. “Look What You Made Me Do” is an intense, large-scale production in The Eras Tour movie that blows the album version completely out of the water.

4 “Long Live (Taylor’s Version)” – Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)

This ode to the Swifties was cut from The Eras Tour movie in theaters

The omission of “Long Live” from the theatrical version of The Eras Tour movie was probably the most disappointing decision. The Speak Now era is already the shortest in the show, consisting only of “Enchanted” and “Long Live,” and the latter wasn’t even added to the set list until after the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) on July 7, 2023. “Long Live” is also a very meaningful song for Swifties, as Swift wrote it about her special bond with both her fans and band and the journey they’ve all been on together.

Swift even plays the song on the same acoustic koi fish guitar she used on the Speak Now World Tour, making the performance extra nostalgic for longtime Swifties. Thankfully, “Long Live” now appears after “Enchanted” in the Speak Now era in The Eras Tour movie on Disney+. Because the song is dedicated to her fans, “Long Live” hits so much harder when Swift performs it live in The Eras Tour movie on Disney+.

3 “The Last Great American Dynasty” – Folklore

The true story behind this folklore track is reenacted onstage in The Eras Tour movie

Similar to “tolerate it” in the evermore era, “the last great american dynasty” brings the song’s story to life onstage during the folklore era. “The last great american era” is about a real woman named Rebekah Harkness, an eccentric socialite who was married to an obscenely wealthy oil heir, Bill Harkness. In the song, Swift details the lavish parties the couple would throw at their Holiday House mansion in Rhode Island.

On the chorus, Swift quotes the high society folks who blamed Rebekah for Bill’s death. “There goes the last great American dynasty,” Swift sings, “who knows, if she never showed up, what could’ve been.” They go on to call her the “maddest” and “most shameless” woman in town, who “had a marvelous time ruining everything.” Swift then describes the outlandish activities Harkness would get up to at Holiday House according to legend. This whole story plays out onstage as Swift performs “the last great american dynasty” in The Eras Tour movie, with her backup dancer Natalie Reid playing Harkness.

At the end of the bridge, Swift reveals that she bought the Harknesses’ Holiday House in real life, decades after Rebekah’s death in 1982. Swift then takes Reid’s place onstage as she draws parallels between Harkness’ public image and her own, yelling “the loudest woman this town had ever seen!” about herself with pride. This reenactment of the true story behind “the last great american dynasty” and the visual parallel between Swift and Harkness enriches the meaning of the song in a way that can’t be accomplished by just listening to the evermore album.

2 “Illicit Affairs” – Folklore

Swift elevates the emotionally devastating bridge in her live performance

During the folklore era, Swift jumps from the airy, summery yearning of “august” right into the exasperated, emotionally devastating bridge of “illicit affairs.” This sharp contrast created by the mash-up of “august” and “illicit affairs” makes the sudden transition into the latter even more intense, as Swift belts out “don’t call me kid, don’t call me baby.” Swift goes on to repeat the bridge as she drops to her knees, depicting how overtaken the narrator is by this all-consuming, life-ruining romantic whirlwind.

While the verses and verses are great, the bridge of “illicit affairs” is far and away the highlight. The passion and intensity behind the narrator’s pleas to their lover to stop patronizing them and acknowledge the damage they’ve done to them are overwhelming, and the implications of Swift repeating the bridge emphasize the narrator’s frustration. By only performing the bridge of “illicit affairs” in The Eras Tour movie (and repeating it), Swift isolated its greater meaning and significance and laid it bare on the stage, heightening the emotional turmoil present in the song on the folklore album.

1 “Karma” – Midnights

This celebratory, joyful anthem closes out both the Midnights era and the whole show

Because it’s her most recent, completely brand-new album, Midnights is the final era in Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.To close out the Midnights era and the entire Eras Tour show, Swift performs “Karma” with all of her back-up dancers. This song is indicative of what lay on the other side of “Look What You Made Me Do,” on which she admitted that all she thought about was “karma.” Now, the song’s subject who “burned” Swift has their karma coming to them, while her karma couldn’t be better.

As the final song on the set list, “Karma” perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the Eras Tour and takes on a whole new life in Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.

On the bridge, Swift sings, “ask me what I learned from all those years/ask me what I earned from all those tears/ask me why so many fade, but I’m still here.” “Karma” is a positive, celebratory acknowledgement of all that she’s endured and how well it all turned out in the end, as evidenced by the larger-than-life spectacle that is The Eras Tour. As the final song on the set list, “Karma” perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the Eras Tour and takes on a whole new life in Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.