Taylor Swift’s Special “Betty” Performance Was A Return To Her Country Roots

This time the rumor from Inez was actually true: Country Taylor Swift is back. Last night, The Old Taylor came to the phone made her return to the Academy of Country Music Awards stage for the first time in seven years to perform a song off of her new album folklore.

For the first time in its 55-year history, the ceremony was held in Nashville at the Grand Ole Opry House, where the two-time ACM Entertainer of the Year winner performed folklore standout "Betty" live on stage. This marks the first time Swift has played a song live from her latest album.

The stripped down performance featured Swift in a red sequined turtleneck and a loose bun, sitting on a stool and playing guitar. While in recent years the singer has pivoted to pop (and on folklore, alt-indie), the twangy, Bob Dylan-esque stylings of "Betty" have been circulating on country radio. Not only was the vibe a good fit for the ACMs, but the lyrics as well — Swift made sure to make them country music-friendly.

One of the lyrics is supposed to go, “If I just showed up at your party…would you tell me to go fuck myself?” For this performance, she changed it to “...tell me to go straight to hell.”

The singer is known for hiding Easter eggs in her songs and videos, and "Betty" is no different. The song is part of a narrative that's weaved into folklore, which includes three fictional characters named after her celebrity couple friends Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds' three children: Betty, James, and Inez. "Betty" is said to be sung from the perspective of James, who is caught in a love triangle between Betty and another woman (her perspective is captured in the song "August," and "Cardigan" is from Betty's point of view).

Swift fans delighted in her highly-anticipated performance, and expressed on social media how happy they were to see the superstar back in action.

Watch Swift's ACM performance of "Betty" below.