“The Tortured Poets Department” (the song) got its live debut at Taylor Swift‘s concert Saturday night (May 25) in Lisbon, Portugal. The Tortured Poets Department album has already spent a month at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart since its release, but even with the recent addition of several of Swift’s new songs to the main Eras Tour set, it will take some time for her to get the chance to play all 31 tracks live.
“I try to be very creative,” Swift on Saturday told the Estádio da Luz crowd at the stadium’s endstage, where she performs the surprise songs section of the show, during which she’s been sprinkling in acoustic versions of Tortured Poets songs as she sees fit.
“This is actually the first time I’m ever playing this one live,” she said as she launched into “The Tortured Poets Department” on guitar.
Her creativity came in to play when she unexpectedly took pieces of “Now That We Don’t Talk,” a vault track off of 1989 (Taylor’s Version), and mashed up the song with The Tortured Poets Department title track.
Swift tied the writing from two different eras together, asking her muse: “Who’s gonna hold you like me… now that we don’t talk? Who’s gonna know you like me… now that we don’t talk?”
On piano, she played Midnights‘ “You’re on Your Own, Kid” with Fearless‘ “Long Live,” ending the medley with “One day, we’ll be remembered.”
Saturday night was Swift’s second show in Lisbon. On Friday (May 24), she sang “Fresh Out the Slammer” from Tortured Poets for the first time, plus a surprise three-song mashup: “Come Back… Be Here” (Red) “The Way I Loved You” and “The Other Side of the Door” (both from the Fearless era).
See video clips of Swift’s surprise songs from Saturday in Lisbon below.