Long live Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, a healing source of vicarious joy on TikTok | Opinion
Is there a word for the joy you feel watching thousands of hands wave in the air to 'Shake It Off'? Or seeing a security guard forget himself for a minute to dance along to 'I Knew You Were Trouble'?
On Sunday, the five-continent, 152-concert glittery economic force known as the Eras Tour comes to an end. I have never been to a Taylor Swift concert, never bought her records and only know a handful of her songs.
I will miss it terribly.
For more than a year, my social media was a dedicated source of joy. Two-minute bursts of sequined, sparkly giddiness from all races, ages and genders. Horses in New Orleans and the Eiffel Tower sported friendship bracelets. A town in Germany became “Swiftkirchen.” Even those who couldn’t get tickets formed mirror audiences outside the stadium; strangers bonded for 3 1/2 hours by lyrics, TikTok dances and wishful thinking.
Certain concert milestones stood out, or maybe I just started looking for them and the social media algorithms acquiesced. My favorites starred backup dancer Kameron N. Saunders, whose flair, humor and style shone in every performance, particularly in “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together." He took over the iconic “like, ever” response using local phrases or languages in each country, forcing me to look up “im leben nicht" in Hamburg (German for “not in this lifetime!” and “póg mo thóin” in Dublin (Irish for kiss my a--).
Every day there was a happy distraction. And I needed one. I live with an autoimmune disease that makes movement painful. Sometimes it feels like everything is on fire and there is nothing I can do but lie on the floor and hope the wave passes.
Swiftie fandom has been a healing distraction
As someone who started dancing at the age of 4 and was taking “boy band choreography” classes in her 40s, the sudden inability to walk on sand or stand for more than a few minutes without pain was – is – isolating and frustrating.
Then two years ago, I severely tore the tendons in my back, and it’s all been downhill from there.
Sitting on my couch, I’m not really sure how the reels started popping up in my doom-scrolling sessions. At first, it was just videos of costumed girls singing, dancing and sharing bracelets. Then it was clips from the concerts, particularly the clock ticking down as the butterfly-esque costumes unfurled for the opening number. Everyone was just so damn happy. And then I was happy for them.
There’s a Yiddish word, “naches,” that’s usually meant to mean prideful joy over someone you know, usually children. As a professor at the University of Delaware, I get it from my students – when one of them gets a job or writes a really great story or overcomes a struggle.
Is there a word for the vicarious joy you feel from watching thousands of hands wave in the air to “Shake It Off”? Or seeing a security guard forget himself for a minute to dance along to “I Knew You Were Trouble”?
Then there were the proposals, night after night after night during “Love Story.” I waited for those lyrics – “I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress” and then, inevitably, someone, somewhere would kneel, and there would be tears and everyone was crying and now I’m crying even writing this ...
What is wrong with me? Can someone put together a video of all the proposals across the world? Just so I can watch in the future when I’m feeling sad?
I'll miss the vicarious joy of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour era
In parallel with the tour, a lot of attention was paid to Swift’s own love story with football player Travis Kelce during the tour run. As a Philadelphian, my heart will always belong to his (clearly) more handsome and better brother, Jason Kelce (who showed off his bedecked and bedazzled friendship bracelets to his equally fabulous wife, Kylie, at the London concert).
It was amazing to see Travis openly support his famous, feminist partner and vice versa. She showed up at his games and showered him with lyrics while Travis unabashedly sang along, concert after concert, singing her praises inside and out.
Of course, it wasn’t all love. The Vienna concerts were canceled because of security concerns – fans sang in the streets anyway.
And then, for those of us following online, there was the comments section. Tasteless. Talentless. Shameful. Wasteful. I couldn’t figure it out (or shake it off) – if you didn’t like her, there are 9 million other singers. They even bashed her for giving her employees bonuses and filling food banks.
I’m here for bitter, but this was beyond explanation.
At some point, like nearly every other person in the world, I tried to get a ticket. I wanted to be part of the wonder, the community, the experience. The truth is, there was no way I could physically stand for that long and, well, the money.
So I continued watching from afar, a childless foster cat lady in Philadelphia, waiting for the previous night’s “22” hat recipient to pop up, wondering how Mama Swift picked them out, reveling in their moment of connection. I checked to see the “surprise songs” even if I didn’t know any of them – but loved the screaming and OMG I CAN’T BELIEVE SHE PLAYED THAT!
But on Sunday, in Vancouver, the light from the Eras Tour will go out. I will take my joy from dog and cat rescue videos and little walks around the block. But I will miss that daily dopamine hit of vicarious joy.
My niece got to go to one of the Pittsburgh shows at the very beginning. She had just turned 14 and was beyond excited. She knew every word to every song. Her mom (my sister) sent me a video of her, glittered up, fully in the moment, singing full-out to “You Belong With Me.” She is shamelessly smiling ear to ear. Now she’s 15, almost 16, and has fully moved into her eye-rolling monosyllabic teenage years.
But don’t worry, I have the video. Just in case.
Dawn Fallik is a journalism professor at the University of Delaware who specializes in science and medical reporting. Her favorite Taylor Swift song is the 10-minute version of "All Too Well," and she fosters cats from her home in Philadelphia.