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Taylor Swift's Calculated Changes To Eras Tour Set Prove Travis Kelce Hasn't Erased Her Exes

Taylor Swift with side-swept bangs Tinseltown/Shutterstock
By Treva Bowdoin

Fans who were lucky enough to catch Taylor Swift's first concert since she dropped her latest album were in for a treat when she transformed her show into "The Eras Tour: Taylor's Tortured Poet Version." Or, in the singer's own words, "Female Rage: The Musical," per the Daily Mail. This description of her new "Eras" segment made it fairly obvious that it was not going to be a celebration of her love for Travis Kelce, who may be feeling slightly wounded by some "Tortured Poets Department" lyrics.

The potential digs at Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy in "TTDP" made it obvious that Swift hasn't blanked the space in her brain that her exes once occupied — and after unveiling her "Eras" show changes, she's never beating the allegations that her art is largely fueled by her former flames. ("Old habits die screaming," right?) The "TTPD" songs that Swift added to her "Eras Tour" setlist for her May 9 concert at La Défense Arena in Paris, France, included "But Daddy I Love Him," which is believed to be about Swift's brief fling with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy. Interestingly, the singer mashed it up with "So High School," which seems to be a little love song about a certain tight end. But "Fortnight," "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart," and "Down Bad" were more additions about the ghosts of relationships past. Swift's performance also possibly included a visual Easter egg inspired by an ex.

Did Taylor Swift mock Matty Healy's marching?

Taylor Swift wearing red bodysuit @marleyharper/X

Taylor Swift's "TTPD" era setlist included "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived." It's a blistering objurgation of an ex's behavior — she accuses him of trying to buy drugs, ruining her summer, and treating her like a delicate addition to a lepidopterist's collection. There are some clues that it's about Matty Healy, including the lyric, "In your Jehovah's Witness suit," which might reference the suits he performs in. And after seeing Swift's Parisian performance of the song, some fans speculated that she dropped another hint that's about him.

On X, formerly known as Twitter, a fan shared side-by-side videos of Swift marching while performing "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived" and Healy doing the same while singing "Love It If We Made It." The entertainers had identical high-stepping techniques, and they both raised their free arms with a flourish.

Maybe Swift's marching was meant to mock one Healy performance in particular. Healy gives one of Swift's nemeses a shoutout in "Love It If We Made It" when he sings, "Thank you, Kanye, very cool." While delivering this lyric during a January 2023 concert, he caused outrage by raising his arm in what many believed to be a Nazi salute, per The U.S. Sun. This was after Ye had caused controversy by making anti-Semitic remarks. In her song, Swift sings, "Could someone give a message to the smallest man who ever lived?" But if you want the job done right, do it yourself.

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