Not even the extra allotted time in Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) on Disney+ could spare the fate of Taylor Swift’s most divisive single. On The Eras Tour, Swift plays three-and-a-half hours worth of her biggest hits and most beloved tracks from almost every era of her long-spanning career. Upon its release in theaters on October 13, 2023, The Eras Tour movie cut a number of songs from the show’s regular set list to trim the concert’s lengthy runtime. Two months later, a few cut songs were included as bonus features in the VOD release.
Finally, Swift released Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) on Disney+ in which almost all the missing songs were restored in their rightful spots. Along with showing nearly the entire concert in full for the first time, Swift also included four bonus acoustic songs in a new section called “The Acoustic Collection.” These bonus tracks were the four remaining surprise songs from the acoustic sets of the three shows that were filmed for The Eras Tour movie. Despite all these additions, Swift’s most contentious single still never stood a chance of making it into the Eras Tour movie.
As seen in TheEras Tour movie, the show opens with an intro medley, in which the fitting line, “it’s been a long time coming,” from “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince” repeats before Swift appears onstage and recites the line herself. She then launches into the chorus before carrying out the remaining five songs in the opening Lover set. Although “The Archer,” which closes out the set, was cut from TheEras Tour movie in theaters, it was later edited back into the Lover era on Disney+ after appearing at the end of the VOD release.
However, one song from Lover that still never made it into the Eras Tour movie at all was the album’s lead single, “ME!,” an exceptionally upbeat self-love anthem featuring Brendon Urie from Panic! At The Disco. On the verses of “ME!”, Swift and Urie take turns acknowledging their own relationship flaws, then spend the chorus celebrating their individuality. Even though it marked the beginning of the Lover era in 2019, Swift opted not to include “ME!” on The Eras Tour’s permanent set list.
The only time Swift ever performed “ME!” was as a surprise song during her acoustic set in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 20, 2023. Had she played “ME!” as a surprise song during one of the three shows at SoFi Stadium in L.A. from August 3 to 5 that were filmed for The Eras Tour movie, it would’ve eventually been included in “The Acoustic Collection” at the end of The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) on Disney+, but it was too little, too late. As a result, “ME!” never made it into any version of The Eras Tour movie.
It’s possible that “ME!” was excluded from the Eras Tour set list because the energy of the Lover era was already too high with “Cruel Summer,” “The Man,” and “You Need to Calm Down” back-to-back. However, the more likely explanation is that “ME!” was so incredibly divisive upon release in April 2019 that Swift was worried it wouldn’t be well-received if she played it live on tour every night.
When “ME!” first dropped, some were fond of its empowering message and unapologetically jovial nature and others grew to love it over time, but just as many people, if not more, simply couldn’t stomach it. The sickeningly sweet bubblegum pop tune was too much for even some of Swift’s biggest fans who are otherwise big pop enthusiasts. Although it definitely set the tone for the bright and bubbly dreamland of the Lover era, “ME!” was in stark contrast to the previous Reputation era’s dark and vengeful vibe.
With lyrics like “one of these things is not like the others,” “I’m the only one of me/baby, that’s the fun of me,” and, of course, “Spelling is FUN!” many Swifties also found the writing to be quite juvenile and almost self-infantilizing. With the direct address to “kids” at the top of the bridge, it was pretty clear that “ME!” was intended to appeal to a much younger demographic, which was actually Swift’s intention with the song’s message. In her 2020 documentary Miss Americana, Swift says, “I just want little kids to be like, ‘there’s no one like me.’”
This would’ve been perfect if “ME!” was released as part of some kind of initiative to encourage self-love and self-acceptance among children. However, as the lead single on a new album following a polar opposite era, “ME!” was a bold and ultimately poor choice. It was something cute for the kids, but much of Swift’s fanbase felt it wasn’t for them.
Ultimately, it makes sense that Swift left “ME!” off the set list of The Eras Tour. The Lover set was under the most pressure, as it set the energetic tone for the rest of the show. It’s still a shame, though, since “ME!” is the kind of song that would thrive as a live performance. Even if it isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, the chorus is easy to remember and would’ve been fun for fans to belt out in a crowd setting, whether that be at the concert itself or in the theaters while watching The Eras Tour movie.
What’s more, “ME!” will probably never see the light of day on stage now. Of all the tracks on all four albums she released since she last toured with reputation in 2018, “ME!” was the oldest song Swift still had yet to perform live. She didn’t even perform “ME!” at City of Lover, the one-time concert event in Paris, France in 2019 for which a TV special was subsequently released. Sadly, despite the love Swift has for it, “ME!” became a victim of mixed fan responses, which prevented it from ever gracing the big screen in Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.