Swift Notes: Red (A Guide to Taylor Swift's Songs)

"All Too Well"

5. "ALL TOO WELL"

BEHIND THE MUSIC
The first written for the record, this song was also the hardest for Taylor to write, coming at the end of a six-month writer’s block that stemmed from a particularly bad breakup. The songwriter told Katie Couric, “I was going through something that was so hard that it was almost stifling, and so I wrote all these verses about everything from beginning to end of this relationship, and it ended up being, like, a 10-minute song.” This epic draft completed, Taylor called on her old songwriting pal Liz Rose to help her whittle it down to the essentials.

BETWEEN THE LINES
“All Too Well” is far from the fairytale scenarios of Taylor’s Fearless days, instead it’s grounded in the details of real romance: a road trip sing-along, an impromptu dance in the kitchen, family reminiscences, and intimate keepsakes. These moments revisited make the song as vivid as its autumnal backdrop. For listeners, as for the songwriter, they’re scenes not easily forgotten. “All Too Well” is both sweet and sorrowful, those memories made more precious by the fact that the relationship is over. “It’s a really emotional song because it does show you why loss is so painful,” said Taylor, “because it was once good and you can remember it.”

AUDIENCE OF ONE
There are plenty of hints that point to Jake Gyllenhaal: the fall romance, the visit to his sister’s home in Brooklyn (where Taylor spent Thanksgiving 2010), his glasseswearing youth, and the scarf that she was photographed wearing while dating him (and that makes an appearance in the “Never Ever” video).

(NOT SO) FUN FACTS
When folk singer-songwriter Matt Nathanson noticed Taylor’s line “and I forget about you long enough to forget why I needed to” matched one from his song “I Saw” in everything but verb tense, he tweeted, “She’s definitely a fan . . . and now she’s a thief.” Taylor has covered his songs in concert and written his lyrics on her arm. It might have been an accident or a coincidence, but Taylor’s reps didn’t comment.

DIARY DECODER
Ever since Taylor and Jake were heavily photographed drinking “maple lattes” on a date, the festive fall beverages have been associated with them.

(excerpted from our book on Swifty: Taylor Swift: The Platinum Edition, which is available wherever books are sold!)

Thanks to @Joanngel for this week's Swift Notes cover!