Taylor Swift Performs Joe Jonas Breakup Ballad ‘Last Kiss’ During July 9 Show — Why That Matters
Taylor Swift never misses an opportunity to prove that she’s a mastermind.
“Happy July 9th for those who celebrate,” Swift, 34, said, before performing a mashup of the Speak Now song “Last Kiss” and the Red tune “Sad Beautiful Tragic” during the acoustic set of her Tuesday, July 9, Eras Tour show in Zurich.
The singer’s decision to play “Last Kiss” on July 9 was unsurprising to dedicated Swifties, as she mentions the summer date in the ballad.
“I do recall now the smell of the rain, fresh on the pavement, I ran off the plane / That July 9th, the beat of your heart / It jumps through your shirt, I can still feel your arms,” Swift sings in the second verse.
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“Last Kiss” worked well as a mashup with “Sad Beautiful Tragic,” as both songs fondly but wistfully recall romantic relationships that didn’t work out. The former tune seemingly documents Swift’s 2008 romance with Joe Jonas.
Unlike other songs from Swift’s discography that are rumored to be about Jonas, 34 — like the vindictive “Better Than Revenge” or the cutting “Mr. Perfectly Fine” — “Last Kiss” wishes a former love interest well.
“And I hope the sun shines and it's a beautiful day / And something reminds you, you wish you had stayed / You can plan for a change in weather and time, but I never planned on you changing your mind,” Swift sings in the heart-wrenching final verse.
Swift and Jonas have had their ups and downs over the years. More than a decade after Swift put the Jonas Brother musician on blast for breaking up with her over the phone during a 2008 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, she expressed remorse for the “mouthy” comments.
“That was too much. I was 18,” Swift told Ellen Degeneres while stopping by the show again in May 2019. “We laugh about it now. … Just some teenage stuff there.” Later that year, Jonas admitted it felt “nice” to hear Swift walk back her previous remarks.
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“It’s something that I probably was feeling bad about when I was younger, but at the end of the day, I’ve moved on and I’m sure Taylor’s moved on and it feels nice,” he said during a June 2019 appearance on Lorraine. “We’re all friends and it’s all good.”
Jonas continued to clear the air by changing the lyrics to the Jonas Brothers song “Much Better” during a June 2022 performance.
“Now I’m cool with superstars / and the teardrops on her guitar,” he sang instead of the original “done with superstars” lyric, hinting at his repaired relationship with the “Teardrops On My Guitar” singer. The Jonas Brothers have continued to perform the song with the new lyrics throughout their ongoing World Tour.
After mending fences with Jonas, Swift formed a friendship with his now-estranged wife, Sophie Turner. She has been a source of support for Turner, 28, since her 2023 split from Jonas.
Swift’s decision to perform “Last Kiss” on Tuesday may have had an extra layer on top of the July 9 connection. The Zurich performance marked the 113th Eras Tour show, and “Last Kiss” is the 13th track on Speak Now.
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"I just thought since [13 is] my favorite number, I'd just do some of my favorite songs for the acoustic section,” Swift told the audience before performing a mashup of Evermore’s “Right Where You Left Me” and 1989’s “All You Had to Do Was Stay” on the guitar. She then transitioned to piano for the “Last Kiss” mashup.
Since the Eras Tour kicked off in March 2023, Swift has used the acoustic set to play “surprise songs” that aren’t on the main setlist. She previously declared that she wouldn’t repeat any surprise songs unless she made a mistake, but changed her own rule during a February show in Melbourne.
“I’ve been thinking, I want to be as creative as possible with the acoustic set moving forward. I don’t wanna limit anything and I don’t wanna just say, ‘Oh, if I’ve played a song before I can’t play it again,’” the pop star told the audience at Melbourne Cricket Ground. “I want to be able to play songs more than once if I feel like it, and I wanna be able to make changes to songs.”