Speak Now-era fans, I have some bad news: The Eras Tour movie is going to be a meager meal for you. While it was always a pipe dream that the entire setlist of the Eras concert was going to make it into the movie, the songs that were cut frankly hurt—some more than others. The good news? The Eras Tour feels like it was the most thoroughly documented tour in all of human history, so thousands of clips exist online of each cut song, but the quality varies. Alas, we almost had it all, didn’t we?
Spoilers below, obviously, in order of appearance in the Eras Tour setlist:
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Honestly, I’m not too mad about “The Archer.” It’s a good song, but not one of her great songs (although I’m open to being proven wrong on this one.) Cruel Summer and The Man stayed in, so if something had to be cut here, The Archer can go. Sorry. Again my preference was that The Eras movie would be a full setlist and clock in at almost three and a half hours long, because if the MCU can do it, why can’t Taylor Swift, but this is why we can’t have nice things, isn’t it?
OK, “’tis the damn season” hurt, but obviously the in the know Swifties know why this one got cut. As much as I would have liked an official video of the song, our gal cut this from her setlist in late July when HAIM joined the tour in favor of another song. (Don’t get too excited there, because I have bad news in a second.) This means that when the Eras movie filmed in early August in Los Angeles, “’tis the damn season” wasn’t performed at all. Somehow, that stings a little less.
Why does she hurt us like this?! I was genuinely looking forward to “No Body, No Crime,” and it’s just not going to happen. Unlike some of the other cuts, which have been performed on tour for years, the Eras Tour was evermore’s first time being performed in a concert. Haim was right there, but I guess we have to hold out for a super deluxe version of the movie because if there’s one thing Taylor Swift loves, it’s cats. If there are two things, it’s an endless supply of variations to all of her media outputs.
Other than Debut, which got no permanent songs on the Eras tour, Speak Now is the least represented era on the tour. When Ms. Swift took her own, arguably iconic, koi fish guitar out of its display at the Country Music Hall of Fame in July in order to play it again on the tour, it was huge. She used the guitar for the Speak Now World Tour. It’s a great era, and the koi guitar was a full circle moment! Unfortunately, if you were hoping to hear one of its best bangers, “Long Live,” you’re out of luck. The only song on the movie setlist is Enchanted, which is great, but she doesn’t play the koi guitar during it, so we’re just out of luck there.
Out of all the painful cuts, this one goes deepest. I’m sorry, but what were they thinking?! “cardigan”!? folklore is one of my favorite albums, and the Eras Tour could have just been that album done all the way through and I would have walked away thinking it was the best thing ever. I will die on this hill: Cutting “cardigan” was the wrong choice. Taylor Swift, you wound me.
After the pain of losing “cardigan,” nothing can hurt me anymore. However, I don’t really understand why she cut “Wildest Dreams,” which is a great song, and kept “Bad Blood,” which is a meh song. (For Taylor Swift. As we all know, the bar is very high, here.) Sorry, “Bad Blood” fans, but search your heart and you will know it’s true. “Wildest Dreams” is just better.
There were eras that had no cuts in the setlist: Midnights, Red, reputation, and Fearless. Like Speak Now, Fearless is a relatively shortened set with only three songs, one of which is Love Story, and I would have been a one-woman riot if that had been cut. The same goes for reputation, a four-song set. They kept Delicate, which might be my favorite Swift song of all time, so good news there. However, Midnights and Red are relatively long setlists, with seven and four songs respectively. While Red’s four might not seem like a lot (same as reputation), that count also includes the 10-minute version of “All Too Well,” so it goes for double. Hashtag girl math.
I’m sure there were good reasons to cut some of the songs from The Eras Tour movie, but the loss of “cardigan” is one that I will never understand. Will it stop me from seeing this movie multiple times on opening weekend? Absolutely not. It will, however, power the multiple Taylor Swift group chats I have going for at least weeks to come.
(featured image: Emma McIntyre/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)
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