Taylor Swift ‘All Too Well’ 10-Minute Version Lyrics & What They Really Mean

24 August 2022, 13:33

Taylor Swift reveals how the song All Too Well came together

Capital FM

By Capital FM

Taylor Swift broke our hearts and made us cry happy tears all at the same time with the 10-minute version of ‘All Too Well’ on ‘Red – Taylor’s Version’.

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Taylor Swift first released ‘All Too Well’ way back in 2012 when she released her fourth studio album ‘Red’, after experiencing serious heartbreak over her split from Jake Gyllenhaal, who was nine years her senior.

Nine years later and Taylor made us cry all over again with the re-release of ‘Red’, and as well as a new recording of ‘All Too Well’ Taylor has given us a 10-minute version to be the soundtrack of so many sobbing sessions.

There’s a string of never-heard-before lyrics that didn't made the original cut, giving Swifties more of an intimate insight into the end of her relationship with the Love & Other Drugs actor.

How To Watch Taylor Swift's 'All Too Well' Short Film

One of the lyrics touches on how well Jake and Taylor's dad Scott got along, but it was her dad who was left comforting her at her 21st birthday party as she waited for her boyfriend to walk through the door.

"And he said, 'It's supposed to be fun turning twenty-one'," Taylor sings in the extended version.

Taylor spoke in a recent interview about how the extended version came about all those years ago, so let’s take a look at what the ‘All Too Well’ lyrics mean and what they look like on the 10-minute version.

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Taylor Swift dated Jake Gyllenhaal when she was 21
Taylor Swift dated Jake Gyllenhaal when she was 21. Picture: Getty

What do the ‘All Too Well’ lyrics mean in Taylor’s 10-minute version?

Taylor wrote ‘All Too Well’ when she was just 22 and ‘going through a bit of a sad time’.

She recalled on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon she arrived for a band rehearsal 'really upset and sad' and everybody knew it was 'not fun to be around me that day'.

“And so I started playing guitar and just kind of playing the same four chords over and over again,” added Taylor, who said her band started to join in.

Taylor Swift talks about release of Red (Taylor’s Version)

Taylor Swift wrote 'All Too Well' while in a band rehearsal 'sad and upset'
Taylor Swift wrote 'All Too Well' while in a band rehearsal 'sad and upset'. Picture: Getty

She continued: “I started ad libbing what I was going through and what I was feeling, and it went on, and the song kept building and building and building in intensity, and the song just went on for about, you know, 10 to 15 minutes of us doing this. And then we got done with that and then we moved on to the regularly scheduled rehearsal.

“And at the end of the day, my mum came up to my sound guy and she's like, ‘Is there any chance that you recorded that?’ And he was like, ‘Yep,’ and handed her a CD,” she went on.

At the time, Taylor had split from Jake Gyllenhaal after a three-month relationship, leaving her heartbroken when he didn’t turn up to her 21st birthday party.

Taylor Swift is in the process of re-recording her first five albums
Taylor Swift is in the process of re-recording her first five albums. Picture: Getty

What are the lyrics to ‘All Too Well’ in the 10-minute version?

[Verse 1]

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

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]

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]

'Causе there we arе again on that little town street

You almost ran the red 'cause you were lookin' 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 tell me 'bout your past, thinking your future was me

And you were tossing me the car keys, f*** the patriarchy

Key chain on the ground, we were always skipping town

And I was thinking on the drive down, any time now

He's gonna say it's love, you never called it what it was

'Til we were dead and gone and buried

Check the pulse and come back swearing it's the same

After three months in the grave

And then you wondered where it went to as I reached for you

But all I felt was shame and you held my lifeless frame



[Pre-Chorus]

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]

'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

And there we are again when nobody had to know

You kept me like a secret but I kept you like an oath

Sacred prayer, and we'd swear

To 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

[Verse 3]

They say all's well that ends well

But I'm in a new hell every time you double-cross my mind

You said if we had been closer in age maybe it would have been fine

And that made me want to die

The idea you had of me, who was she?

A never needing ever lovely jewel whose shine reflects on you

Not weeping in a party bathroom

Some actress asking me what happened, you, that's what happened, you

You who charmed my dad with self-effacing jokes

Sipping coffee like you're on a late night show

But then he watched me watch the front door all night, willing you to come

And he said, "It's supposed to be fun turning twenty-one"

[Chorus]

Time won't fly, it's like I'm paralysed 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



[Post-Chorus]

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

[Verse 4]

And I was never good at telling jokes but the punch line goes

I'll get older but your lovers stay my age

From when your Brooklyn broke my skin and bones

I'm a soldier who's returning half her weight

And did the twin flame bruise paint you blue?

Just between us, did the love affair maim you too?

Cause in this city's barren cold, I still remember the first fall of snow

And how it glistened as it fell, I remember it all too well



[Outro]

Just between us, did the love affair maim you all too well?

Just between us, do you remember it all too well?

Just between us, I remember it (Just between us) all too well


Wind in my hair, I was there, I was there

Down the stairs, I was there, I was there

Sacred prayer, I was there, I was there

It was rare, you remember it all too well

Wind in my hair, I was there, I was there

Down the stairs, I was there, I was there

Sacred prayer, I was there, I was there

It was rare, you remember it

Wind in my hair, I was there, I was there

Down the stairs, I was there, I was there

Sacred prayer, I was there, I was there

It was rare, you remember it

Wind in my hair, I was there, I was there

Down the stairs, I was there, I was there

Sacred prayer, I was there, I was there

It was rare, you remember it

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