In his highly anticipated new HBO stand-up special, Marc Maron cracked a joke, asserting that he now fears death—but only under one peculiar condition: a specific Taylor Swift tune must be playing at the time. Entitled "Marc Maron: Panicked," the special premiered on Friday, where the comedian reminisced about a self-dubbed "near-death experience" during a hiking expedition.
Maron vividly recounted, "It was an arduous hike, featuring a grueling uphill climb for a grueling 150 minutes." One fateful day, the unthinkable happened: after performing a squat stretch, he blacked out. "For years, during that stretch, I'd muse, 'It's astonishing I haven't fainted yet,'" he reminisced. "But on this particular occasion, I did."
During this period of his life, Maron was mourning the loss of his partner, Lynn Shelton. He mused, "The peculiar aspect of grief is that, initially, it's all-encompassing. It seizes your mind, heart, and spirit, relentless and unstoppable, leaving you uncertain if it will ever subside." Seeking solace in adventure, he embarked on the hike. On his journey, he pondered, "Why is Taylor Swift so popular?" A part of his mind suggested, "Why not give her music a listen?"
Intrigued by Swift's fame, he downloaded "Midnights," which was the album of the moment. As he embarked on his hike, "Bigger Than the Whole Sky" from the album began to play. "About halfway up the mountain, this haunting melody started," he recounted, mimicking Swift's opening verse, "No words appear before me in the aftermath."
"It's already melancholic," Maron quipped, continuing with the track until its chorus. As Swift sang, "Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye," Maron exclaimed, "Oh my God!" He continued, "I was audibly crying, sobbing as I climbed the hill. Yet, I kept repeating the song, embracing the emotions. I thought, 'Oh God, this is terrible.' As I bent down, I feared the worst. I rose again, thinking, 'Oh fuck!' And then, I collapsed, losing consciousness."
Upon regaining consciousness, the first thing Maron heard was Swift's signature chorus line. "She was singing, 'Goodbye, goodbye,'" he recalled. "I gathered myself, brushed myself off, and drank some water. In that moment, I had a profound realization. I thought, 'I'm not afraid to die anymore, because it's just nothing. I'm not afraid as long as it's swift and I have time to play that song.'"
During an episode of the "Good One" podcast last Friday, Maron teased that a track from the 14-time Grammy Award winner would feature in "Panicked." To ensure the inclusion of the Swift song in his stand-up special, he enlisted the help of his friend and Swift's frequent collaborator, Jack Antonoff. "I'm acquaintance enough with Jack Antonoff to text him," Maron explained. "He co-wrote ['Bigger Than the Whole Sky']. I asked, 'I'm unsure of the proper procedure, but we're running out of funds. It might come out of my pocket. Can you help with the song or talk to Taylor?'"
The music producer guided Maron through the process of acquiring the necessary licensing, allowing him to include the song in his special for a fee of $50,000. "It was manageable, tight, but due to ticket sales for the special, we could afford it," he said. "Plus, it was under a minute," he added, clarifying that he paid for only a minute of the track. "If I'd exceeded that, it would have cost more," Maron noted.
"Marc Maron: Panicked" follows the comedian's announcement of the end of his long-running podcast, "WTF with Marc Maron," after 16 years. The final episode will release later this fall, though an official date hasn't been set yet.
