Taylor Swift‘s passion for writing music goes back to her childhood.
“This one I wrote when I was 12 years old, so this song is 175 years old,” Swift, 34, said to the crowd during her third concert in Tokyo, Japan, on Friday, February 9, right before she began to play “The Outside” as her second surprise song, according to social media.
Swift took to the piano to give an emotional rendition of the ballad. This was the first time Swift performed the track as a surprise song during her Eras Tour.
“How could I ever try to be better? / Nobody ever lets me in / And I can still see you, this ain’t the best view / On the outside, lookin’ in / I’ve been a lot of lonely places / I’ve never been on the outside,” she sang.
Swift also played “Superman” from Speak Now as the first surprise song, which she had not played during the U.S. leg of her tour, as well.
“The Outside” was released in 2006 off of Swift’s self-titled debut album, which the Grammy winner has yet to rerecord.
After dropping her debut album, Swift opened up about what inspired her to write the song at such a young age.
“It’s about what I was going through at the time. I was a complete outcast at school and never fit in, never felt like I belonged,” she said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2007. “A lot of times back then when I was 12 or 13, I would write songs about relationships, when I wasn’t in relationships, because I would look at other people and try to observe what they were going through. But in the case of ‘The Outside,’ I was writing exactly what I saw. I was writing from pain.”
Swift has come a long way since she wrote “The Outside.” She’s won multiple Grammys and made history during the recent award show when she won Album of the Year for her 2022 record, Midnights, making history as the first person to win the category four times. She also took home the award for Best Pop Vocal Album. During her speech, she announced her 11th album would be dropping in later this year.
“[The way I can celebrate] is by telling you a secret that I’ve been keeping from you for the past two years, which is that my brand new album comes out April 19,” Swift said while holding her 13th Grammy trophy. “It’s called The Tortured Poets Department, and I’m going to go post the cover right now backstage.”
