Bleachers frontman Jack Antonoff, who co-wrote “New Year’s Day” with Taylor Swift, praised Swift’s emotional performance of the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Monday night (Nov. 13).
“Taylor doing ‘New Year’s Day’ on Fallon was beautiful,” Antonoff tweeted. “That song means a lot to me. Happened so quickly at my apartment. We texted the next morning to make sure it wasn’t a dream.”
taylor doing new year’s day on fallon was beautiful
— jackantonoff (@jackantonoff) November 14, 2017
that song means a lot to me. happened so quickly at my apartment. we texted the next morning to make sure it wasn’t a dream
— jackantonoff (@jackantonoff) November 14, 2017
On his first show back since the passing of his mother, Gloria — who passed on Nov. 4 at 68 years old — Fallon took time at his desk to remember his biggest fan.
“When we were little, my mom would walk us to the store — me and my sister — and we would hold hands. She would squeeze my hand three times and say, ‘I love you.’ And I would squeeze back, ‘I love you, too,'” he said. “Last week, I was in the hospital and I grabbed her hand and I squeezed, ‘I love you.’ I just knew we were in trouble.”
Swift — who according to writer and producer Mike DiCenzo, was not originally scheduled to perform on last night’s show — was the musical guest. She sat at the piano and played “New Year’s Day,” off her newly released sixth studio album Reputation. One of the song’s lyrics even nodded toward Fallon’s earlier story about his tradition of squeezing each other’s hands with his mother: “Squeeze my hand three times in the back of the taxi.”
Watch the performance below: