Taylor Swift has used her final two episodes of her End of an Era docuseries to highlight one song that has been overlooked in her discography.
While The Fate of Ophelia might top charts and All Too Well has its iconic 10-minute version, it is Marjorie that left me speechless from the start.
It’s a song that, despite going to the Eras Tour four times, my best friend and I have no footage of because we were too busy sobbing.
‘You’re alive, you’re alive in my head,’ Taylor sings on the track dedicated to her late grandmother, Marjorie Finlay.
Critics have widely regarded this as one of her best songs when it comes to storytelling and emotion, but its praises often go unsung.
Last year, I wrote about how the song is the great divider of fans. Placing Swifties in two distinct camps: bawling your eyes out or dancing, none the wiser.
I still believe this is the case, partly driven by the fan-propagated myth that Taylor herself is not a fan of the album it sits on, Evermore.
It’s long been joked that Evermore is the ‘lesser loved’ sister of Folklore, which were both recorded and released during lockdown.
While most fans are not being serious, I would argue this is a projection from Swifties who are largely overlooking the album, even after the Eras Tour.
Inevitably, this means casual fans are missing out on one of the most beautiful and important songs Taylor has ever written.
Who is Marjorie?
Marjorie Finlay is Taylor’s grandmother on her mother’s side, who was an opera singer and a crucial part of the superstar’s journey into music.
She was a classically trained coloratura soprano who grew up in Missouri, winning a talent competition in 1950 to sing on the radio.
After this, she performed across the country in various opera groups and concert appearances and even featured on a TV show in Puerto Rico.
The docuseries shows home footage of her teaching a young Taylor piano, clearly an influential hand steering the popstar towards her future.
When Taylor was just 13, Marjorie died, so she never saw the dizzying heights her granddaughter would reach.
‘What died didn’t stay dead/ you’re alive so alive in my head,’ Taylor sings along with lyrics wishing she’d kept ‘every scrap’ of her.
Her vocals are featured on the song in a hauntingly beautiful operatic melody that echoed around the stadiums every night.
‘And if I didn’t know better/ I’d think you were talking to me now/ If I didn’t know better/ I’d think you were still around,’ Taylor sings as Marjorie joins in.
Speaking about the inclusion of Marjorie on the Eras Tour, Andrea began to cry and said: ‘I said to her, “God Taylor, I don’t know if I can make it through the tour, crying every night when you sing that song.
‘It just gets me.’
Taylor’s mum explained that the song did not have lighting or a full choreography attached, so she was overwhelmed when fans began to hold their lights up during it.
‘It just became a very loving tribute to her grandmother,’ she added.
What has Taylor Swift said about Marjorie?
The docuseries included Taylor’s release video for Evermore, which features the track, discussing how it ‘ripped her apart’ while writing it.
Bandmate Mike Meadows shared how he thought of his dad whenever they performed, while dancer Tamiya Lewis shared how she thinks of her ‘papa’.
Vocalist Kamilah Marshall shared in the docuseries how she had lost her mum just before the start of the tour, which Taylor also reflected on.
In the final shows, Taylor choked up after singing the track, having looked at Kamilah while on stage.
As the crowd cheered, she said: ‘You have no idea how much it means to me and to my band and to my crew and to everyone, I don’t even know what I’m saying here, I’m just having a bit of a moment.’
After the show, she told her brother Austin she felt ‘like a dumbass’ for getting emotional, with him sharing it was the ‘best part’ of the gig.
Taylor explained that Kamilah’s speech before the show about her mum not being able to see the Eras had been in her mind ‘all night’ and thinking about her family ‘cracked’ her.
The impact of Marjorie is evident in the use of pictures of her for the song’s music video, as well as family photos in the Speak Now vault track Timeless.
When she released Evermore in 2020, Taylor shared: ‘I also know this holiday season will be a lonely one for most of us, and if there are any of you out there who turn to music to cope with missing loved ones the way I do, this is for you.’
Why is Marjorie such an important song?
Musically, echoes of Marjorie can be heard in the likes of Folklore’s Peace, but also in the themes of loss and moving on, which lead to the album’s final track, ‘closure’.
For those who have lost someone, Taylor’s beautiful words cut deep, and I can confirm that it does not get easier the more you hear it live.
The song may have started as a dedication to Taylor’s grandmother, but for every fan — and band member — who has lost a family member or friend, it’s become so much bigger than that.
Standing with my arm wrapped around my best friend, we sobbed as we sang along in dedication to our friend, Kirsten, who was taken from us suddenly at age 24.
Being able to release that grief, in a safe space surrounded by others mirroring my experience, was part of what made the Eras Tour so special.
It is a memory I will treasure forever.
It felt even more poignant at the Wembley shows after the Southport attack, where three young girls — Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Dasilva Aguiar — lost their lives.
However, even as Taylor lifted the song up on the Eras Tour, it has never cracked the mainstream and never climbed above 50 on the charts.
It sits at 118 in a list of her most-streamed songs, according to Kworb, although that still puts it at over 300,000,000 listens, while Cruel Summer takes the top spot at over 3billion.
On that final gig, I was shaken out of my emotional state when I spotted a man positively beaming as he sang along. He danced and shimmied to the beat, apparently oblivious to the crying eyes around him — and he wasn’t the only one.
Everywhere I looked, there were people grinning and singing away, blissfully unaware of the emotional wrecks around them.
Some even used the track as a chance to grab a drink or a quick sit-down ahead of Willow (a fan favourite).
Not everyone needs to have an emotional response to a song, and I am honestly pleased for anyone who is not reduced to a snotty, crying mess over the track.
There will never be a time when Marjorie does not make me bawl, and I will never know the joy that man felt as he bopped along. But that’s ok.
He isn’t wrong for having a less-than-devastated reaction to the track. After four shows, you realise that grief is a gift, allowing that person you’ve lost back into your life for the short time Taylor belts the track.
That rollercoaster of emotions was the real beauty of the Eras Tour and the magic of Taylor Swift. Her tribute to Marjorie ahead of the final farewell was the perfect way to close the book on this era.
Taylor Swift: The End of an Era is available to stream on Disney Plus now.
A version of this article was first published on August 21, 2024.
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