All too well

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I walked through the door with you, the air was cold,
But something 'bout it felt like home somehow and I
Left my scarf there at your sister's house,
And you still got it in your drawer even now.

Oh, your sweet disposition and my wide-eyed gaze.
We're singing in the car, getting lost upstate.
The Autumn leaves falling down like pieces into place,
And I can picture it after all these days.

And I know it's long gone,
And that magic's not here no more,
And I might be okay,
But I'm not fine at all.

'Cause there we are again on that little town street.
You almost ran the red 'cause you were looking over me.
Wind in my hair, I was there, I remember it all too well.

Photo album on the counter, your cheeks were turning red.
You used to be a little kid with glasses in a twin-size bed
And your mother's telling stories about you on a tee ball team
You tell me 'bout your past, thinking your future was me.

And I know it's long gone
And there was nothing else I could do
And I forget about you long enough
To forget why I needed to

'Cause there we are again in the middle of the night.
We dance around the kitchen in the refrigerator light
Down the stairs, I was there, I remember it all too well, yeah.

Maybe we got lost in translation, maybe I asked for too much,
And maybe this thing was a masterpiece 'til you tore it all up.
Running scared, I was there, I remember it all too well.

Hey, you call me up again just to break me like a promise.
So casually cruel in the name of being honest.
I'm a crumpled up piece of paper lying here
'Cause I remember it all, all, all too well.

Time won't fly, it's like I'm paralyzed by it
I'd like to be my old self again, but I'm still trying to find it
After plaid shirt days and nights when you made me your own
Now you mail back my things and I walk home alone

But you keep my old scarf from that very first week
'Cause it reminds you of innocence and it smells like me
You can't get rid of it, 'cause you remember it all too well, yeah

'Cause there we are again, when I loved you so
Back before you lost the one real thing you've ever known
It was rare, I was there, I remember it all too well

Wind in my hair, you were there, you remember it all
Down the stairs, you were there, you remember it all
It was rare, I was there, I remember it all too well

**********

Taylor's point of view:

The song 'All Too Well' is a song that I wrote... it's the first song that I wrote for this
record actually, um... and it kept coming back to me because it told the story so well,
in such a full way. it starts with meeting someone and all the details about that innocent
beginning and it follows the story all the way to the bitter end. It's um... it's a really
emotional song because it does show you why... why lost is so painful because it was once
good and you can remember it.

**********

Documentary:

Taylor says in the stories behind the songs, "This is the first song that I wrote for this record.  It kept coming back to me because it told a story so well in such a full way.  It starts with meeting someone and all the details about that innocent beginning and it follows the story all the way to the bitter end.  It's a really emotional song because it does show you why loss is so painful, because it was once good and you can remember it."

Who is this song about?

A very prominent hint is in the lyrics liner notes, MAPLE LATTES.  Why are maple lattes significant?
Because she got them with Jake Gyllenhaal. According to People Magazine, November 26 Taylor was "in Brooklyn, alongside new boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal. Around 10:30 a.m., the pair popped into Park Slope's Gorilla Coffee for specialty maple lattes, made with pure Vermont syrup." Jake LOVES maple lattes.

There are also countless other clues in the lyrics pointing to Jake.

In the line, "And I left my scarf there at your sister's house", Taylor references Jake's sister Maggie Gyllenhall. Taylor hung out with her when she was dating Jake.

In the line, "We're singing in the car, getting lost upstate/Autumn leaves falling down like pieces into place/And i can picture it after all these days", Taylor references an apple picking date they went on.

They went apple picking in upstate New York on October 22nd, right when the leaves would be changing. According US Weekly, "The two were spotted Saturday at the Fishkill Farms in Hopewell Junction, N.Y, where they toured fall foliage and went apple-picking. 'They were walking through the trees, having fun together," says a local. 'They looked happy. Some of the customers tried to take a photo of them, but they were hiding from them in the trees. They drove through the orchard and bought the apples on the way out.'

Taylor also references a younger Jake, "You used to be a little kid with glasses".

While their romance lasted it was magical and special, but sadly the relationship did not last. "And you call me up again/Just to break me like a promise". He broke it off with her, and she "remembers it all too well".  She references an "old scarf from that very first week" that he kept to remember her by. It symbolizes; all the fun times they had, her innocence, being caught up in the magic of love, and missing love when it went away. The break up was so fresh in her mind when she wrote this song.  It was amazing while it lasted and painful to remember when it was over.  "It was rare, I was there, I remember it all too well". I hope someday you find that love Taylor and it doesn't go away!

***********

Some more documentary:(couldn't find the meaning sooooowwwwwwrrrrrryyy)

The first song that Swift wrote for Red, she penned the tune in 2011 with Liz Rose, one of her co-writers on her first three albums. The heart-rending break-up tune came after a six-month writing block that followed a particularly painful ending of a relationship. "There's a kind of bad that gets so overpowering you can't even write about it," she told USA Today of that time. "When you feel pain that is so far past dysfunctional, that leaves you with so many emotions that you can't filter them down to simple emotions to write about, that's when you know you really need to get out."
Swift was asked by The Daily Beast if she ever felt guilty regarding writing about an ex. She replied: "I take these songs and these people who inspire these songs on a case-by-case basis. If there were someone who was a good person, I'm not going to write something bad about them. But if they handle a situation in a way that really messed up my life for a while, that's what I'm going to write about. For me, I've never changed the reason I write a song. Songs for me are like a message in a bottle. You send them out to the world and maybe the person who you feel that way about will hear about it someday."
Taylor is a noted fan of singer/songwriter Matt Nathanson of "Come On Get Higher" and "Run" fame, to the extent that she has been known to perform with the lyrics of his song "Modern Love" written on her arm. Fans have pointed out the similarity between a lyric in this song ("And I forget about you long enough to forget why I needed to"), and a line from Nathanson's 2003 tune "I Saw," ("And I'll forget about you long enough to forget why I need to").

Maybe Taylor wanted to pay homage to Nathanson or it may be simply unconscious plagiarism on her part. However, Nathanson seems to believe it to be plagiarism. According to the Gawker site, he posted a tweet after the rumors first surfaced that was subsequently deleted, in which he wrote, "She's definitely a fan, and now she's a thief."

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