Taylor Swift’s New Album Continues A Sad 18-Year Trend That The Eras Tour Setlist Avoided

Summary

• The placement of the breakup ballad “So Long, London” as the fifth song on Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department, continues Swift’s trend of making soul-bearing songs track 5 on her albums.
• The Eras Tour setlist narrowly avoided this trend by placing the touching and romantic “Lover” as the fifth song Swift performs in the show overall.
• The very next song after “Lover” on the Eras Tour setlist is her deeply personal song, “The Archer,” which is track 5 on the
  Lover
  album.

After just barely avoiding it in the Eras Tour setlist, Taylor Swift continues one of the longest-running trends of her career in her new album, The Tortured Poets Department. On April 19, 2024, Taylor Swift released her highly anticipated 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, along with a surprise second installment containing 15 additional songs. Altogether, there are 31 songs in Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology double album.

It has yet to be officially confirmed whether Swift will add The Tortured Poet Department songs to the Eras Tour setlist, but some Easter eggs in a YouTube Short of Swift during rehearsal hint at the addition of a TTPD set when Swift resumes the Eras Tour on May 9 in Paris, France. As is, one song tradition that’s been preserved in every Taylor Swift album is noticeably absent from the Eras Tour setlist, but The Tortured Poets Department has kept it alive.

The Tortured Poet’s Department Continues The Trend Of Sad Track 5s

The Fifth Track On Every Taylor Swift Album Is Always Deeply Emotional

On The Tortured Poets Department,Swift continues the established trend of making an emotionally raw song track 5 on the album by placing “So Long, London” in the loaded slot. On the crushing “So Long, London,” Swift finally bids farewell to the titular UK city and her lover after spending too long trying to salvage their broken relationship. Many Swifties speculate that this heartbreaking ballad is about Swift’s breakup with her British ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn, whom she lived with in London for many years. It was announced back in April 2023 that Swift and Alwyn had parted ways.

While Swift has been bestowing sad songs with track 5 status ever since her self-titled debut album in 2006, it was a subconscious habit until her fans pointed it out. “Track 5 is a tradition that really started with you guys,” Swift explained in an Instagram Live session one month before dropping Lover in 2019. “I didn’t realize I was doing this, but as I was making albums…instinctively I was putting a very vulnerable, personal, honest, emotional song as track 5.”

On The Tortured Poets Department, Swift continues the established trend of making an emotionally raw song track 5 on the album by placing “So Long, London” in the loaded slot.

Some track 5s, like “All You Had To Do Was Stay” on 1989 or “Delicate” on Reputation, are not nearly as devastating as others, like “my tears ricochet” on Folklore or “tolerate it” on Evermore. However, these more upbeat, light-hearted songs still fit the bill since she bears her soul in the lyrics more than any other track on the album in question. Swift’s most famous track 5 is arguably “All Too Well” from Red, which many fans consider to be her best work to date.

In 2021, Swift released the original, 10-minute cut of “All Too Well” as a “vault” track on
Red (Taylor’s Version),
where it serves as track 30.

The Eras Tour Narrowly Avoided Taylor Swift’s 5th Song Trend

The Fifth Song On The Eras Tour Setlist Is “Lover”

There was no expectation that Swift would maintain the track 5 tradition on the Eras Tour since it’s a concert setlist as opposed to an album tracklist, but Swift nearly did anyway. The Lover era opens the show, and the fifth song of the Lover set and thus, the whole Eras Tour setlist, is the album’s title track. “Lover,” which is track 3 on the album, is one of the most romantic songs in Swift’s whole discography, so much so that it’s been solidified as a “first dance” wedding staple since the album dropped five years ago.

Had Swift arranged the
Lover
era just a little differently, “The Archer” easily could have ended up as the fifth song on the setlist, corresponding with its placement on the album and furthering her sad song streak.

After “Lover,” the following and final song of the opening set is “The Archer,” a harrowing, introspective examination of Swift’s personal flaws and insecurities in her relationships. “The Archer” is track 5 on the Lover album, but track 6 on the overall Eras Tour setlist. Had Swift arranged the Lover era just a little differently, “The Archer” easily could have ended up as the fifth song on the setlist, corresponding with its placement on the album and furthering her sad song streak.

Swift’s performance of “The Archer” on the Eras Tour was initially excluded from
The Eras Tour
movie in theaters, but was later included in the VOD and streaming versions.

Thanks to the precise order of the songs of the opening Lover era, Swift narrowly avoided the track 5 trend on the Eras Tour setlist, whether she meant to or not. If Swift does add songs from The Tortured Poets Department to the setlist, she will likely have to remove songs from other eras, which could affect the remaining songs’ numerical placements in the overall show. Depending on whether Taylor Swift makes cuts to the Lover era to make room for the TTPD set, the Eras Tour setlist may end up joining the sad track 5 club after all.

Source: YouTube Short, YouTube