10 Changes Taylor Swift Makes To Her Songs In The Eras Tour Movie

Taylor Swift makes some changes to how she performs several songs live in Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour compared to the studio recordings on the album. After a theatrical and VOD release, The Eras Tour movie is finally streaming on Disney+ as Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version). With the addition of four previously cut songs from the theatrical release and four bonus acoustic songs, there is a total of 48 songs in The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) movie, many of which Swift performs slightly differently than the studio recordings on her albums.

Of course, if they’re not ordinarily played acoustically, the surprise songs and bonus acoustic songs in The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) don’t sound the same as the studio recordings. Swift also shortens or condenses a number of songs on The Eras Tour’s 40+ song set list, which is already over three hours long at the live shows. However, there are some more unique and noticeable changes Swift makes to several songs while performing them live in The Eras Tour movie, whether she’s adding, moving, blending, or repeating a line, or simply altering the way she sings a lyric.

10
Blends “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince” With The Intro Medley & Repeats Lines

The Lover Era

As the opening number of not just the Lover era, but the entire Eras Tour as a whole, Swift made several changes to “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince.” The last lyric of the pre-chorus, “it’s been a long time coming,” repeats throughout the intro medley, which consists of lyrics from different songs containing the title of one of her albums, i.e. “big reputation” from “Endgame” or “into folklore” from “gold rush.” Swift then suddenly appears onstage from behind the large tapestries as she sings “it’s been a long time coming, but…” before singing the full chorus.

Swift only sings the chorus of “Miss Americana” before greeting the crowd with “Oh hi!” and immediately transitioning into “Cruel Summer.” However, before “Miss Americana” ends, Swift sings the first part of the final line of the chorus, “voted most likely to run away” twice, waving at the audience in between each partial line. She elongates “away” both times and changes the note the second time before finally singing the last two words, “with you.”

9
Does A Spoken Intro For The Bridge & An Extended Outro On “Cruel Summer”

The Lover Era

Swift heads right into “Cruel Summer” following the “Miss Americana” opening and audience greeitng in The Eras Tour movie. After the second chorus, Swift takes a beat before speaking directly to the audience, informing them that they “have arrived at the very first bridge of the evening.” She proceeds to ask, “does anyone here know the lyrics to this bridge?” then tells them to “prove it!” before strutting down the stage while singing the bridge.

This spoken intro for the iconic “Cruel Summer” bridge isn’t the only change Swift makes to the Lover track in The Eras Tour movie. At the end of the song, Swift extends the outro by repeating: “Cruel summer with you, with you, with you. It’s a cruel summer with you, with you, with you. It’s a cruel summer.” With these additions and the fact that she performs the song in full, “Cruel Summer” is one of the only songs on set list that Swift actually makes longer instead of shorter in The Eras Tour movie.

8
Shouts “Let Me See Your HANDS!” On “You Need To Calm Down”

The Lover Era

Yet another song from the Lover era that Swift made some changes to is “You Need To Calm Down.” Like a number of songs on The Eras Tour set list, Swift shortened “You Need To Calm Down” quite a bit in The Eras Tour movie. Instead of starting from the beginning, she skipped straight to the second verse and finished the rest of the song from there.

While she may cut out the first half of the song, Swift does add one line to the last chorus of “You Need To Calm Down” in the form of a request from the audience. As the chorus of “oh-oh”s transitions into the hook on “You Need To Calm Down,” Swift shouts “let me see your HANDS!” The audience happily complies and starts waving their arms from side to side with Swift and The Eras Tour backup dancers as she sings the rest of the final chorus.

7
Does An Extended Intro & Post-Bridge Instrumental Breakdown On “Willow”

The Evermore Era

On The Eras Tour, the evermore era opens with “’tis the damn season,” which was replaced during the filming of The Eras Tour movie with “no body, no crime,” featuring opening act HAIM. However, since “no body, no crime” was still excluded from The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version), the evermore era opens with “willow” in The Eras Tour movie instead, which features an extended intro. The number begins with a chorus of humming before Swift and her backup dancers appear amidst a misty, dark forest, dressed in dark green cloaks similar to those worn in the “willow” music video.

Swift proceeds to slowly and hauntingly recite the first lyric from the third verse, “wait for the signal and I’ll meet you after dark,“ which produces an echo as she dramatically flips her cloak around. The coven of dancers stand in a row behind her, holding mysterious orbs in another nod to the music video. The orbs then light up as if on fire, just like in the video, and Swift begins singing “willow” from the top.

Later, instead of transitioning straight into the third verse after the bridge, there is an intense instrumental breakdown on “willow” that does not occur on the album. Swift’s dancers gather round in a circle and dance with their glowing orbs. Swift stands in the center, gesturing to the beat of the instrumental as if controlling the dancers’ orbs with a spell before finally launching into the third verse.

6
Performs A Note Change On The Extra Refrain Of “…Ready For It?”

The Reputation Era

To open the reputation era, Swift used the same opening track from the album and opening number from the 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour, “…Ready For It?” This hype song contains two refrains, one after the second chorus and one after the third and final chorus, in which Swift repeats “baby, let the games begin.” On the album version, she repeats this line three times before throwing in the hook, “are you ready for it?” on the second refrain, then recites this quatrain once more. In The Eras Tour movie, she repeats the entire second refrain of “…Ready For It?”

On this extra refrain at the end of “…Ready For It?”, Swift raises her voice to a higher pitch on the word “begin” in the first quatrain. It’s a minor note change, but it’s something diehard Swifties and reputation fans notice immediately. Swift also did this specific note change on “…Ready For It?” on the Reputation Stadium Tour, so it’s also a nostalgic callback to that era for fans.

5
Blends The Hooks Of “Don’t Blame Me” & “Look What You Made Me Do”

The Reputation Era

During the reputation era in The Eras Tour movie, Swift performs a condensed version of “Don’t Blame Me.” After the first chorus, she skips straight to the bridge, which she then partially repeats. Swift and her backup singers finish the song with the gospel-like breakdown and final chorus as usual.

However, rather than sing the regular outro, she starts repeating the hook instead. Every third line, Swift blends “don’t blame me” with the title of the next song, “Look What You Made Me Do.” “Don’t blame me, don’t blame, don’t blame me for what you made me do,” Swift sings with fierce intensity, before transitioning into “Look What You Made Me Do.”

4
Performs A Note Change On The Lyric “Take Her Home” On “The 1”

The Folklore Era

After the “Seven (Interlude)” on The Eras Tour, which is sadly still one of the two songs still missing from The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) movie on Disney+, Swift performs the opening track from folklore, “the 1.” Swift lays on the roof of the famous folklore cabin as she musically reminisces about a past lover who could’ve been “The One” had things gone differently. In a line on the second verse, “you meet some woman on the Internet and take her home,” Swift changes the note on “take her home,” elongating the words and putting more emphasis on the “take.”

3
Yells “Loudest Woman This Town Has Ever Seen” On “The Last Great American Dynasty”

The Folklore Era

A few songs later in the folklore era, Swift performs “the last great american dynasty,” which she wrote about a real woman named Rebekah Harkness whose Rhode Island Holiday House Swift bought in 2013. Swift spends most of the song explaining Harkness’ notoriety as a wealthy, widowed socialite, according to legend, by speaking from the perspective of outsiders and gossipers.

At the very end of the bridge, Swift switches to speaking about herself from the perspective of the general public, drawing parallels between Harkness’ reputation and legacy and her own. “There goes,” Swift begins on the last chorus, before increasing the volume in her voice and yelling, “the LOUDEST WOMAN THIS TOWN HAS EVER SEEN!” On the first two choruses, Swift used “maddest” and “most shameless” to quote how others described Harkness, but changed it to “loudest” for herself.

2
Performs A Note Change On The Repeated Bridge Of “Illicit Affairs”

The Folklore Era

Yet another song in the folklore era that Swift switched up a bit in The Eras Tour movie is “illicit affairs.” After singing “august” in full, her face drops as the music starts to become more intense. Swift then jumps straight into the emotionally charged bridge of “illicit affairs,” crying out, “don’t call me kid, don’t call me baby!“

Swift’s mash-up of “august” and “illicit affairs” in The Eras Tour movie isn’t the way she changes the latter song, though. After singing the “illicit affairs” bridge as usual, Swift drops to her knees and repeats the bridge in full, during which she performs several note changes. She stresses “can’t see” on the line, “you showed my colors you know I can’t see with anyone else,” and emphasizes “kid” and “baby” on the second delivery of “don’t call me kid, don’t call me baby!“

The way Swift performs both rounds of the “illicit affairs” bridge is noticeably different from the studio recording on the folklore album. She sings the heart-wrenching lyrics with even more exasperation and devastation, making the song even better in The Eras Tour movie than on Swift’s album. After the double-bridge, Swift performs the short outro before adding the hook, “and that’s the thing about illicit affairs,” from the chorus.

1
Uses A Different Tone On “The 1950s Sh*t They Want From Me” On “Lavender Haze”

The Midnights Era

Midnights is the final era in The Eras Tour movie, and just like on the album, Swift opens with “Lavender Haze.” On the final chorus, she echoes the line “no deal” after her backup singers as usual. However, Swift doesn’t sing “no deal” in the breathy, high-pitched tone like she does on the Midnights album.

Instead, Swift talk-sings this lyric in a deeper tone that more closely resembles her speaking voice. Then, without taking a beat like she does in the studio recording, Swift maintains this manner of delivery on the next line, “the 1950s sh*t they want me from me.” As she delivers this line in Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, Swift rolls her eyes at society’s ridiculous, archaic expectations of her as a modern woman that she references in “Lavender Haze.”