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“All Too Well” finds Taylor reminiscing on the memories of a past relationship from start to finish. The track was written by Taylor and Liz Rose, who was a frequent TS collaborator on both her self-titledand Fearless albums.
Taylor has expressed that this song was the hardest on the album to write. She had 10 minutes of material, but had trouble filtering the important parts. With Liz’s help, she was able to consolidate her feelings into an album-friendly track.
The song is suspected to be about actor Jake Gyllenhaal, who Taylor was in a relationship with in late 2010. In a 2015 interview with Howard Stern, Jake claimed to not know that Taylor wrote a song about him, which may or may not be true.
The song has received rave reviews from music critics, with many agreeing it was the best song on the album. SlantMagazine particularly lauded the song within its review, saying “"All Too Well” is arguably the finest song in Swift’s entire catalogue.
Of note, “All Too Well” was the fourth song to contribute to Taylor’s streak of 5th song of the album “emotional vulnerable” ballads.
Lyrics
[Intro]
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've still got it In your drawer, even now
[Verse 1]
Oh, your sweet disposition And my wide-eyed gaze 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
[Pre-Chorus 1]
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 Oh, oh, oh
[Chorus 1]
'Cause there we are again on that little town street You almost ran the red 'cause you were looking over at me Wind in my hair, I was there, I remember it all too well
[Verse 2]
Photo album on the counter Your cheeks were turning red You used to be a little kid with glasses in a twin-sized bed And your mother's telling stories 'bout you on the tee ball team You told me about your past, thinking your future was me
[Pre-Chorus 2]
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
[Chorus 2]
'Cause there we are again in the middle of the night We're dancing round the kitchen in the refrigerator light Down the stairs, I was there, I remember it all too well, yeah
[Bridge]
Maybe we got lost in translation Maybe I asked for too much But maybe this thing was a masterpiece 'Til you tore it all up Running scared, I was there, I remember it all too well And 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
[Verse 3]
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
[Chorus 3]
'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
[Outro]
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
