Taylor Swift is more than halfway through her United States leg of the Eras Tour, and her popularity continues to soar with every new show. Fans have loved singing and dancing along with Swift during her three-plus-hour show, but one of the most exciting moments for many is the surprise song section.
After the 1989 segment of the tour, Swift always moves to the end of the stage and sings two acoustic “surprise” songs. She performs one on guitar and one on piano, and tries not to repeat a song more than once. Swift does, however, have certain rules for the surprise songs: According to her, she is allowed to repeat a song if she messes it up the first time. The only song she has done this for so far was “Clean” from 1989, but she has messed up a few others, so fans are anxiously awaiting potential repeats. Swift has also stated that she can replay songs from Midnights, her latest album, as many times as she wants.
Although most Swifties can agree that Swift’s whole discography is one-of-a-kind, there are certain songs that shine above others. Most fans have at least one song that they are desperate to hear Taylor perform at their show.
One song that many fans wanted to hear was “Getaway Car” from reputation. For weeks, fans held their breath during TikTok livestreams, and let out a sigh of relief when the song wasn’t played in the hopes it would be saved for the show they’d be attending. However, on May 28, Swift played the song along with her co-writer, Jack Antonoff. Fans were even more upset to miss her pairing the song with “Maroon,” although since it is on Midnights, there is a chance she’ll repeat it soon.
Other songs left die-hard fans feeling “done with Taylor Swift” as well. For example, “cowboy like me” was a devastating loss for evermore fans, especially since Swift brought out Aaron Desner to perform it with her. “Sparks Fly” on the same night that Swift announced the upcoming release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) was an experience to remember for the fans in the audience, and a serious case of FOMO for everyone else.
I anonymously asked Swifties in my own life what surprise songs they most wanted to hear, and at the top of the list was “right where you left me” from evermore. Other contenders were “Long Live” from Speak Now and “The Way I Loved You” from Fearless (Taylor’s Version).
I also asked which songs these fans were most disappointed to lose (a song Swift has already played). With 41.2% of the vote, “Mean” from Speak Now was the No. 1 choice. Other songs Swifties were highly-disappointed to miss were “Speak Now,” “Wonderland” from 1989, “I Bet You Think About Me” from Red (Taylor’s Version), and “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” from Midnights.
Many fan-favorite songs have already been lost, but the good news is that Swift has nearly 400 songs in her discography, so there will be plenty of amazing songs left for your show.