Jimmy Fallon is probably the jolliest host in late night, but there was a lot of hurt behind his smile last night: Yesterday’s episode of The Tonight Show was Fallon’s first since his mother passed away, and in his return to TV, Fallon put on a memorable show. He talked about his mother Gloria in a brief and touching tribute, then did the usual late night stuff, and later in the episode, Taylor Swift gave a surprise performance of her Reputation track “New Year’s Day.”

The performance itself was moving, but it turns out that there was more going on than was immediately obvious. Tonight Show writer and producer Mike DiCenzo‏ (who is perhaps most recognizable as his character Mets Bucket Hat Guy) took to Twitter and shared some words about how emotional Swift’s performance really was thanks to a strange coincidence.

DiCenzo wrote that Taylor agreed to perform on short notice “with zero hesitation” to make Fallon’s return special, and when she got to a certain lyric in “New Year’s Day,” everybody in the room realized the connection between the song and the story Fallon told about his mother earlier. During his tribute, Fallon talked about how his mother would squeeze his hand three times to tell him that he loved him, which is eerily similar to a lyric from the “New Year’s Day.”

“Suddenly she sings the line, ‘Squeeze my hand three times in the back of the taxi.'” DiCenzo wrote. “I nearly gasped. Tears. I think everyone in the audience started sobbing. I could see Jimmy silhouetted at his desk dabbing his eyes with a tissue. We all lost it. It was a beautiful coincidence in a beautiful performance.”

Elsewhere, there was one easter egg in the broadcast that served as a subtle and sweet tribute to Gloria Fallon, as DiCenzo wrote, “One last note: our show was right on time today, but we edited out a minute to leave room for Jimmy high-fiving audience members during the end credits. It was Gloria’s favorite part of the show.”

Watch Fallon’s tribute to his mother and Swift’s performance above, and read DiCenzo’s story below.

