Taylor Swift debuted another Tortured Poets Department track live Saturday night (June 29). The singer-songwriter performed “The Albatross,” found on the Anthology edition of her latest album, for the first time at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium. “I’m gonna do a song I’ve never performed live before today,” she announced at the Eras Tour endstage, where she brings surprise songs (often song mashups, lately) to the acoustic section of her show each night.
On guitar, she dove right into “The Albatross”: “Wise men once said/ Wild winds are death to the candle/ A rose by any other name is a scandal/ Cautions issued, he stood/ Shooting the messengers/ They tried to warn him about her,” sang Swift. “Cross your thoughtless heart/ Only liquor anoints you/ She’s the albatross/ She is here to destroy you.” Swift suddenly shifted to “Dancing With Our Hands Tied,” a highlight from her Rep album about a love she fears will be endangered.
“You said there was nothin’ in the world that could stop it/ I had a bad feeling,” she sang. She expertly mashed up the two songs’ bridges, starting with “Dancing”: “I’d kiss you as the lights went out/ Swayin’ as the room burned down/ I’d hold you as the water rushes in/ If I could dance with you again.” From the tale told in “The Albatross,” Swift offered: “And when that sky rains fire on you/ And you’re persona non grata/ I’ll tell you how I’ve been there too/ And that none of it matters.
” On .
