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
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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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)
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.
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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