Taylor Swift Delivers Powerful Performance On Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show

This was emotional.

Fresh off her gig on Saturday Night Live, Taylor Swift performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday, Nov. 13, 2017. The show marked the first night back for host Jimmy Fallon, who'd taken time off after his mother, Gloria, passed away.

According to Mike DiCenzo‏, a writer and producer on the late night program, the show wanted to do "something special" to mark their first night back on TV. While Swift wasn't scheduled to appear as the musical guest, they'd asked her to perform "on a complete whim," as she was already in New York City from doing SNL.

"She said yes with zero hesitation," DiCenzo told his followers on Twitter.

Swift performed a new song off her recently released album, Reputation: "New Year's Day."

But before Swift sang, Fallon, of course, opened the show. Following his monologue, Fallon spoke about his late mother and recounted a story about how they'd developed a routine of squeezing each other's hands as a way to say, "I love you."

He said, "When we were little, my mom would walk us to this store, me and my sister, and we would hold hands. And she would squeeze my hand three times and say, 'I love you,' and I would squeeze back, 'I love you, too.'"

And while the story itself was emotional—Fallon choked back tears while telling it—the night would become even more heart-rending after Swift's performance due to some coincidental lyrics in "New Year's Day."

"You squeeze my hand three times in the back of the taxi / I can tell that it's gonna be a long road," Swift sang. "I'll be there if you're the toast of the town, babe / Or if you strike out and you're crawling home."

As The Roots' drummer Questlove noted, you just can't plan these kinds of things.

While we wait for Fallon's next show, read up on why it's time people stop hating Taylor Swift.