Taylor Swift and Stevie Nicks reunited in Dublin on Sunday, June 30, with The Eras Tour headliner dedicating the night’s acoustic section to the iconic Fleetwood Mac singer. With Nicks in attendance, it was the perfect occasion for Swift to perform The Tortured Poets Department’s “Clara Bow” live for the first time ever. The song mentions Nicks in the second verse, with Swift singing: “You look like Stevie Nicks/ In ’75, the hair and lips/ Crowd goes wild at her fingertips/ Half moonshine, a full eclipse.”
“I’ve never played this song live at all,” Swift noted before performing “Clara Bow,” which was one of two acoustic performances at her Aviva Stadium concert, her third date in Ireland. “The reason I want to play this tonight is because a friend of mine is here who is watching the show,” Swift hinted. She praised this friend for paving the way for her, saying she’s “one of the reasons why I get to do what I get to do” and that she’s been a guiding hand to many other female artists.
Swift added, “She’s a hero of mine. I could tell her any secret; she’d never tell anybody.” She then announced, “I’m talking about Stevie Nicks,” leading the audience in a massive round of applause. Playing on guitar, Swift worked lyrics from “The Lucky One” — her 2012 Red song with a theme that parallels that of “Clara Bow” — into the live debut of “Clara Bow” during her surprise song set.
Swift then played “You’re on Your Own, Kid,” from her 2022 Midnights album, on piano. At Sunday’s show, there was an unsaid reason for her choice of song: it has personal meaning to Nicks. In May 2023, Nicks expressed her gratitude to Swift for writing the song, as it helped her in grieving the late Christine McVie, Nicks’ dear friend and bandmate who passed away in November 2022. “Thank you to Taylor Swift for doing a favor for me, and that is writing a song called ‘You’re on Your Own, Kid.’ That is the sadness of how I feel,” she said on stage last year.
“Never an argument in our entire 47 years,” Nicks said of her deep connection with McVie. “The two of us were on our own, kids. We always were. And now, I’m having to learn to be on my own, kid, by myself. You helped me to do that. Thank you.”
The rock icon was first spotted by fans in the Dublin stadium earlier at Swift’s show on Sunday, walking to and from the VIP tent that’s set up for Swift’s guests. Nicks, in town for her own tour (with a date in Dublin on July 3), is directly connected to Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, which rules at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart for a 10th consecutive week. The singer-songwriter penned a poem “for T — and me…” that appeared on the album art for physical copies of the set, Swift’s 11th studio album.
The poem, in part, reads: “She looked back from her future/ And shed a few tears/ He looked into his past/ And actually felt fear/ For both of them/ The answers — would never be/ Everclear/ Don’t ask questions now/ Do that later/ She brings joy/ He brings Shakespeare/ It’s almost a tragedy/ Says she/ Don’t endanger me/ Don’t endanger me.”
In the next stanza, Nicks writes: “He really can’t answer her/ He’s afraid of her/ He’s hiding from her/ And he knows — that he’s hurting her.”
More than 14 years ago, at the 2010 Grammy Awards, Swift and Nicks sang a medley of Fleetwood Mac’s 1976 hit “Rhiannon” (which Nicks wrote) and Swift’s 2009 hit “You Belong With Me.”
Following “Clara Bow,” Swift performed “You’re on Your Own, Kid” from Midnights on piano during the surprise section of her set. Her three-night run in Dublin included surprise live debuts of the songs “The Albatross” from The Tortured Poet’s Department: The Anthology on Saturday and Folklore’s “Hoax” on Friday. Swift’s next set of Eras Tour dates find her in Amsterdam, where she will perform at Johan Cruijff Arena from July 4 through the 6. The European and U.K. leg of Swift’s tour runs through August before the tour heads to Canada for a string of dates that concludes on Dec. 8 at BC Place in Vancouver.
Taylor Swift has dedicated the live debut of ‘Clara Bow’ to Stevie Nicks while performing in Dublin, Ireland. Last night, during the last of her three shows at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Swift performed ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ cut ‘Clara Bow’ live for the first time. While that would be a special moment on its own, Swift made the performance additionally more exciting by revealing that Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks was present at the arena.
Swift would go on to dedicate the song to Nicks, describing the Fleetwood Mac singer as her “hero.” “I’ve never played this song live at all,” Swift said, before explaining: “The reason I want to play this tonight is because a friend of mine is here who is watching the show is one of the reasons why I or any other female artists get to do what I get to do.”
“She’s paved the way for us… she’s a hero of mine and also someone I could tell any secret to; she’d never tell anybody. She’s really helped me through so much over the years. I’m talking about Stevie Nicks.”
Upon her arrival in Ireland last week, Swift’s welcome was highlighted by a bouquet of flowers sent by U2. In an Instagram story, Swift revealed the band had sent the flowers alongside a note that read: “Welcome back to our hometown… leave some of it standing?!!!!” The card was signed by her “fan club” — Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr. Swift shared the gesture, writing: “Already feeling that Irish hospitality!! @U2 thanks for always being the classiest & the coolest.” U2 aren’t the only rock icons to give their flowers to Swift – in the past week, both Cyndi Lauper and Chrissie Hynde have expressed their admiration for her.
After leaving Dublin, Swift is set to make a two-night stop in Zurich, Switzerland, before touring Italy, Germany, Poland, and Austria. She’s then set to return to London to close the European leg of the ‘Eras’ tour, before heading to Canada, where she’ll be supported by Gracie Abrams.
Source: Rolling Stone US, NME
