All Too Well

"All Too Well" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Its five-minute version is part of her fourth studio album, ''Red'' (2012), whereas its re-recording and uncut 10-minute version is part of her second re-recorded album, ''Red (Taylor's Version)'' (2021). Swift wrote "All Too Well" during rehearsals for her Speak Now World Tour, and asked longtime co-writer Liz Rose to help trim the song to five minutes from its original 10-minute length. "All Too Well" is a power ballad combining country rock, soft rock, folk and arena rock styles, with lyrics narrating a romantic relationship and its subsequent dissolution using vivid imagery.

After ''Red'' was released by Big Machine Records on October 22, 2012, "All Too Well" peaked at number 80 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and 59 on the Canadian Hot 100, and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Swift first performed the track at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in January 2014, and included it in her Red Tour (2013–14) and Reputation Stadium Tour (2018) among many other concerts. It went on to become one of Swift's most acclaimed and widely covered songs, and earned a cult following, with its "scarf" reference becoming a popular culture phenomenon. Critics, fans, and media outlets have often called "All Too Well" Swift's best song, highlighting its cathartic songwriting; emotional engagement; specific, expository details; slow-burning production; vocal performance; and musical climax. It featured on several publications' lists of the best songs of the 2010s decade and the greatest songs of all time, such as ''Rolling Stone'' 2021 revision of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (number 69).

In 2021, following the controversy regarding her masters, Swift re-recorded two versions of "All Too Well"—the 5-minute "All Too Well (Taylor's Version)", and the unabridged "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)"—for ''Red (Taylor's Version)'', released on November 12 via Republic Records. The 10-minute version contains the removed verses and melodies, produced by Swift and Jack Antonoff. It was accompanied by '' All Too Well: The Short Film'', a romantic drama written and directed by Swift, starring Sadie Sink and Dylan O'Brien.

Surpassing the 2012 track's chart performance, "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" was met with international commercial success, topping the charts in various countries and breaking the '' Guinness World Record'' for the longest song ever to reach number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It was met with rave reviews from music critics, who praised Swift's songwriting for the "epic" songcraft, song structure, and the extended storytelling for providing more context and perspective than the five-minute version. Publications named it one of the best songs of 2021 in their year-end rankings and a career highlight for Swift. Both the 10-minute song and the short film have received numerous accolades, including the MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year and a nomination for Song of the Year at the forthcoming 65th Annual Grammy Awards.

2012 version

Background and release

"All Too Well" was the first song Swift wrote for her album ''Red'', having penned the lyrics almost two years before the album's release. While collaborating with different writers on ''Red'', Swift wrote the song along with Liz Rose, with whom she had written many songs on her earlier albums. Rose has said that Swift unexpectedly asked her to help write the song as a one-off project after not having collaborated with Swift for some years. Swift wrote a first draft of the song by herself unexpectedly while on her Speak Now World Tour in February 2011, with the final draft being completed in March of that same year.

In an interview with '' Good Morning America'', Swift said that the song was "the hardest to write on the album", saying: "it took me a really long time to filter through everything I wanted to put in the song without it being a 10-minute song, which you can't put on an album. I wanted a story that could work in the form of a song and I called my co-writer Liz Rose and said, 'Come over, we've gotta filter this down,' and it took me a really long time to get it." Rose also said that the song was originally "10, 12 or 15 minutes long" before cutting down to "the important pieces". In a later interview, Rose described "All Too Well" as originally being "probably a 20-minute song when wiftcalled me." Even after cutting it down, the song is the longest track on the album, clocking in at five minutes and twenty-eight seconds (5:28). In a 2020 interview on ''Rolling Stone'''s '' 500 Greatest Albums'' podcast, Swift later confirmed that the original version was about 10 minutes long and also revealed that it was explicit. The song's studio recording was produced by Swift and Nathan Chapman.

In an interview with ''Rolling Stone'', Liz Rose explained how "All Too Well" came to be, stating "When we did 'All Too Well,' I hadn't heard from her in awhile. She hadn't really been writing." After receiving a call from Swift asking her to collaborate on the song, Rose explained that "wifthad a ''lot'' of information. I just let her go. She already had a melody and she started singing some words, and I started writing things down, saying, 'Ok, let's use this, let's use that." Rose later stated "It was the most emotional, in-depth song we've ever written."

The song's secret message in ''Red'''s liner notes is "MAPLE LATTES". The first of four Target-exclusive deluxe editions of Swift's 2019 album '' Lover'' contained her old diary, in which some of the scrapped lyrics of "All Too Well" can be found: "There we are again / You're crying on the phone / Realized you lost the one real thing you've ever known" was the original bridge of the song, while the original opening lines were "I walked through the door with you / The air was cold / Pictures on the fireplace, you're showing me around." Additional original lyrics included "There we are again / When you blew the candle out / Took this blazing love and steered it right into the ground / Running scared, I was there," and "You'll mail back my things in a box with no note / Except for that scarf from the very first week / Yeah you keep it in your drawer 'cause it smells like me."

Following a dispute with Scooter Braun and Big Machine Records over the rights to the masters of her first six studio albums, including ''Red'', Swift announced her intention to re-record each of the albums under her new label, Republic Records. On June 18, 2021, Swift announced that ''Red (Taylor's Version)'' would be released on November 12, 2021. In the social media post announcing the album, she wrote, "This will be the first time you hear all 30 songs that were meant to go on ''Red''. And hey, one of them is even ten minutes long," driving widespread speculation that the extended 10-minute version of "All Too Well" would be included on ''Red (Taylor's Version),'' which was confirmed by Swift when she revealed the tracklist on August 6, 2021.

Composition and lyrics

"All Too Well" is a country, country rock, arena rock, folk, power pop, and soft rock power ballad vividly narrating the difficulty of moving on from a crushing heartbreak. It runs for five minutes and twenty-eight seconds, making it the longest track on the album. Musically, the song is set in the key of C major with a tempo of 93 beats per minute. Swift's vocals range from F₃ to D₅. The song is instrumented by acoustic and electric guitars, keyboard, drums, and bass. The song follows the track five pattern noted by music critics, in which the fifth track on Swift's albums are the most "anguish-filled" songs, featuring "stabbing lyrics and climactic bridges." The song is often categorized as ''Red'''s emotional centerpiece by critics. Brad Nelson of ''Pitchfork'' identified the song as the climax of ''Red'''s overarching theme that "Nothing dies without leaving some trace of itself."

The lyrics see Swift long for the memories of the relationship that have been frozen in time. Swift sings "I can picture it after all these days," "Time won't fly / It's like I'm paralyzed by it," and "I remember it all too well."Swift, Taylor. — Liner notes for ''Red'', by Taylor Swift. Big Machine Records. 2012, compact disc. The verses narrate expository details. Rebecca Farley of '' Refinery29'' described the lyrics as blameless, lamenting the negative space left by a breakup and recounting the lost memories. Brittany Spanos of ''Rolling Stone'' writes that the song describes "the pain of having to piece one's self back together again" after a relationship ends. The song crescendos from a slow, folk-inspired intro to an arena rock bridge, where Swift sings "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." The events are set mainly in autumn, with Swift singing "Autumn leaves falling down like pieces into place / And I can picture it after all these days" in the first verse. Ginny Montalbano of the University of Texas at Austin's Country Music Project highlighted the song's unique structure Swift used to accommodate the song's dramatic details.

The song opens with the lyric "I walked through the door with you / the air was cold / but something about 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." The scarf is mentioned again towards the end of the song: "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." Nelson compared the scarf to a Chekhov's gun, symbolizing the persisting emotional flame of their romance long after it has physically ended.

Critical reception

"All Too Well" has received widespread acclaim from critics, who have lauded it as one of Swift's best-written songs for its heavily detailed and powerful lyrics. Rob Sheffield of ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it as Swift's greatest song, and wrote that Swift " pinsa tragic tale of doomed love and scarves and autumn leaves and maple lattes." Brittany Spanos also of ''Rolling Stone'' wrote that the song is a "masterpiece of the break-up ballad form". In a track-by-track review of ''Red'', '' Billboard'' described the song as a "sumptuous country" track that sees Swift mourn the memories "of a romance that has seemingly been buried in time." Writing for '' Slant Magazine'', Jonathan Keefe chose "All Too Well" as "arguably the finest song in Swift's entire catalogue:" it "crescendos from coffeehouse folk to arena rock ..until she unleashes one of her best-ever lines ..and the song explodes into a full-on bloodletting."

In Sam Lansky's review of ''Red'' published in ''Idolator'', he stated that of all of the songs on ''Red'', "All Too Well" "hits the hardest... reaching an almost hysterical unraveling." In a ranking of her discography (127 songs at the time of publication), Nate Jones of ''Vulture'' ranked "All Too Well" as her second-best song, praising its "string of impeccably observed details" and describing the song as a "kaleidoscopic swirl of images", choosing it as one of her most memorable songs. J. English of ''NPR'' praised its maturity compared to her earlier work, writing that Swift "mourns the loss of her innocence" while simultaneously acknowledging her naïveté as she comes of age. In a review of ''Red'', John Dolan of ''Rolling Stone'' remarked on the song's imagery, especially in the lyric "We're dancing 'round the kitchen in the refrigerator light", while Michael Robbins of ''Spin'' described that same lyric as "gorgeous". Jon Caramanica, writing for ''The New York Times'' hailed the petulance of her shouts, resulting in a song that "swells until it erupts."

Commercial performance

The week her album ''Red'' was released, all of the songs charted in different countries due to strong digital sale downloads. On the issue date November 10, 2012, "All Too Well" debuted at number 80 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, number 22 on the Digital Song Sales chart, number 59 on the Canadian Hot 100, and number 17 on the Hot Country Songs chart. On July 23, 2018, "All Too Well" was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling over 500,000 units in the country.

Charts

Certifications

2021 re-recordings

Background and release

After a public dispute over the ownership of Swift's back catalog under her previous label Big Machine, Swift began re-recording her entire back catalog in November 2020 to claim the rights to her master recordings. After her first re-recorded album, '' Fearless (Taylor's Version)''—the re-recording of her 2008 album, Swift followed with ''Red (Taylor's Version)''—the re-recording of her 2012 album. ''Red (Taylor's Version)'', released on November 12, 2021, features two versions of "All Too Well": a re-recording of the original one subtitled "Taylor's Version", and a 10-minute version subtitled "10 Minute Version (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)".

Before "All Too Well" was cut down to a 10-minute version and then more to a final five minute and 28-second version, American songwriter Liz Rose, with whom Swift wrote the song, believed it was "probably a 20-minute song". Swift had conceived the song in February 2011 while at a band rehearsal for the Speak Now World Tour.
In promoting the single's release, Swift appeared on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' on November 11, 2021, the day before the album's release. During the interview, while discussing where the origins of "All Too Well" came from, Swift recalled ad-libbing the song at a band rehearsal when she was 21, and at the end of the session, her mother approached the sound guy and collected a CD of the recorded session.

"All Too Well (Taylor's Version)" was made available to US hot adult contemporary on November 11, 2021, one day before the release of ''Red (Taylor's Version)''. ''Type'' "Taylor Swift" ''in the Search field''. "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" was released as a digital promotional single on Swift's webstore on November 15, 2021, exclusively to U.S. customers. The live acoustic version from the ''All Too Well: The Short Film'' premiere performance was released to the iTunes Store and her website for digital download the same day. The acoustic "Sad Girl Autumn" version, recorded at Aaron Dessner's Long Pond Studio in Hudson Valley, was released on November 17. In June 2022, a new version titled "All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (The Short Film)" was released for digital download and streaming that is 11 minutes and 26 seconds long with different instrumentals and outro.

Lyrics

Memories are the building blocks of "All Too Well". The song relies on specifics of the rise and fall of a romantic relationship, drawn from memory. Apart from mentioning more expository details, "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" provides greater context than the five-minute version; Swift mentions the age difference between her and the subject several times, and states how the subject used it as an excuse to terminate their relationship but continued to date women of her age. She recollects "the build-up and intensity of falling in love" and acknowledges her naivety. Apart from the unaltered bridge, the differences of "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" from the 5-minute version in song structure are an elaborate third verse, an extended chorus, two more verses after the bridge, an outro, and the absence of the male backing vocals, replaced with Swift's own backing vocals.

Critical reception

"All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" was met with universal critical acclaim, often hailed as the standout track on ''Red (Taylor's Version)'' and a career highlight for Swift. ''Rolling Stone'' music critic Rob Sheffield lauded the 10-minute version for evoking even more intense emotions than the already sentimental five-minute song: " tsums up Swift at her absolute best." Helen Brown of ''The Independent'' stated the song is a more feminist proposition with its new lyrics. ''NME'' Hannah Mylrea wrote, at its full intended length, "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" confirms its place as an "epic", exhibiting proficient storytelling, vocal performance and instrumentation. Beth Kirkbride, writing for '' Clash'', said the "epic" song "will go down in history as one of the best breakup songs ever written." Kate Solomon of '' i'' wrote the pain "feels raw" in Swift's voice.

''Variety'' Chris Willman dubbed the song as Swift's "holy grail", and felt glad the singer did not discard the original lyrics, which turn the song into "a stream-of-consciousness epic ballad", filled with more references and specifics of the song's storyline. Reviewing for ''The Line of Best Fit'', Paul Bridgewater opined the 10 minute version is "as disarming as it is fascinating"—"an artefact of wift'ssongwriting and recording process." He asserted that the song magnifies the truncated version's drama and emotion. '' Slant Magazine'' critic Jonathan Keefe stated, while the 5-minute version solely focuses on catharsis from a painful relationship, the 10-minute version "more openly implicates the ex who's responsible for causing that pain", and changes the overall tone of "All Too Well" with its new verses and song structure.

Bobby Olivier of ''Spin'' praised the song as "Swift's single finest piece of songwriting". Melissa Reguieri, in her ''USA Today'' review, said the song "lopes through encyclopedic lyrics that both bite and wound in their honesty and pain." Sputnikmusic staff critic wrote "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" is "not a flashy pop song or an endearingly rural slice of country" but simply a raw depiction of Swift's emotions, and concluded that the "towering breakup ballad" represents Swift's habit of "expressing these commonplace emotions in uniquely uncommon ways" in her writing. Lydia Burgham of ''The New Zealand Herald'' said the lyrics "paint a vivid picture of an ill-fated romance that cuts deep and captures the universal language of heartbreak." In the words of ''The New York Times'' critic Lindsay Zoladz, the song is "quite poignantly, about a young woman's attempt to find retroactive equilibrium in a relationship that was based on a power imbalance that she was not at first able to perceive."

''The Guardian'' writer Laura Snapes also dubbed the song an epic track, "one that eviscerates her slick ex in a series of ever-more climactic verses that never resolve to a chorus, just a shuddered realisation of how vividly she recalls his disregard." Snapes associated the lyric "soldier who's returning half her weight" with Swift's eating disorder, and interpreted it as a nod to the physical manifestations of heartache. Spencer Kornhaber of ''The Atlantic'' wrote that "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" contains more specificity in its lyrics, exuding "both warm nostalgia and cooling disdain", which "mesmerizes as Swift's cadence slips and slides against the steadily pounding beat", rather than cluttering the song as one would expect. Kornhaber also admired its outro and tempo shift. In a less complimentary review, Olivia Horn from ''Pitchfork'' felt the song was too long and sprawling, undermining the emotional climax of "All Too Well" (2012). In agreement, Lindsay Zoladz preferred the five-minute version, but appreciated the 10-minute version for its "unapologetic messiness" with nuanced messages about female emotions and societal relationships.

'' GQ'' ranked "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" as the best single of Swift's career, in October 2022. ''Alternative Press'' ranked it as the most emo track in Swift's catalog. The song appeared on several year-end rankings of the best songs of 2021.

Short film

On November 5, 2021, Swift posted a teaser of a self-directed short film for the 10-minute version, titled ''All Too Well: The Short Film'', based on the premise of the song, and stars Sadie Sink and Dylan O'Brien as a couple in a romantic relationship that ultimately falls apart; Swift also makes a brief appearance. It was released on November 12, 2021, to critical acclaim. The version of the song used in ''All Too Well: The Short Film'' was made available to streaming platforms on June 11, 2022, the same day Swift made an appearance at the Tribeca Film Festival to discuss her approach to making the short film.

Accolades

Commercial performance

"All Too Well (Taylor's Version)" debuted at number one on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart the same week ''Red (Taylor's Version)'' topped the Australian ARIA Albums Chart, earning Swift a fourth "Chart Double". It also helped Swift score a "Chart Double" in Ireland, her second number-one song in the country after "Look What You Made Me Do" (2017). The song was Swift's eighth number-one on the Canadian Hot 100, and entered the UK Singles Chart at number three, the longest song to reach the top three in the UK chart history.

On the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, "All Too Well (Taylor's Version)" marked Swift's eighth number-one song. It topped the chart with 54.4 million streams, 57,800 downloads sold, and negligible airplay. The song became the longest number-one song in chart history, surpassing Don McLean's 1972 song " American Pie", a feat recognized in the ''Guinness World Records''. Topping the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 the same week ''Red (Taylor's Version)'' topped the ''Billboard'' 200, it marked Swift's record-extending third time to debut atop both charts the same week. As Swift's 30th top-ten entry, it made her the sixth artist to reach the milestone. It was her fifth song to top ''Billboard'' Streaming Songs and 23rd to top ''Billboard'' Digital Song Sales charts, extending her record as the female musician with the most chart toppers on both. "All Too Well (Taylor's Version)" is Swift's ninth number-one song on ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart, 18th number-one song on ''Billboard'' Country Digital Song Sales chart, and sixth number-one song on ''Billboard'' Country Streaming Songs chart, confirming her status as the artist with the most number-one songs on the latter two. In addition, the song is the first by a solo female artist to enter the Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs charts at the summit simultaneously.

Don McLean, when asked about his record broken by Swift in a '' Billboard'' interview, said "there is something to be said for a great song that has staying power. 'American Pie' remained on top for 50 years and now Taylor Swift has unseated such a historic piece of artistry. Let's face it, nobody ever wants to lose that No. 1 spot, but if I had to lose it to somebody, I sure am glad it was another great singer/songwriter such as Taylor."

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Live performances

On January 26, 2014, Swift performed "All Too Well" at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, where ''Red'' was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Country Album. Wearing a dramatic beaded gown with sequin detailing and a long train streaming out behind her, she sang while playing piano on a low lit stage, before being joined by a live band midway through the performance. Her performance was praised and received a standing ovation. Swift's headbanging at the song's climax gained significant media coverage. Sean Thomas of ''The Slanted'' called it the "performance of the night," and Amy Sciarretto of '' Pop Crush'' hailed it as "unforgettable."

Swift also performed the song live throughout her Red Tour, while playing the piano. On August 21, 2015, Swift performed the song in Los Angeles at the Staples Center, the only time on The 1989 World Tour. On February 4, 2017, Swift performed the song as part of the Super Saturday Night show in Houston.

Swift performed an acoustic version of the song on the first show of her Reputation Stadium Tour in Glendale, Arizona on May 8, 2018, the fifth show in Pasadena, California on May 19, 2018, and the last show of the U.S. leg of the tour in Arlington, Texas on October 6, 2018, the latter of which appeared in her Netflix concert film of the same name. On September 10, 2019, Swift performed the song as part of the ''City of Lover'' concert. On October 11, 2019, she performed the song at a Tiny Desk Concert for NPR Music.

She performed the 10-minute song after the screening of ''All Too Well: The Short Film'' at its film premiere, and on ''Saturday Night Live'' the following night. ''Hits'' dubbed the ''SNL'' performance "one of the most riveting musical moments of the year." She also performed the song at the 2022 Nashville Songwriter Awards.

Impact and legacy

Often dubbed as Swift's magnum opus, "All Too Well" is hailed by music critics, fans and journalists as the best song in Swift's discography, citing the vivid songwriting that evokes deep emotional engagement. Sheffield commented, "No other song does such a stellar job of showing off her ability to blow up a trivial little detail into a legendary heartache."

Listicles

The song featured on many publications' lists of the best songs from the 2010s decade, including ''Rolling Stone'' (5th), ''Uproxx'' (10th), ''Stereogum'' (24th), and ''Pitchfork'' (57th). It featured in unranked 2010s-decade-end lists by ''Time'' and ''Parade'', and at number 13 on NPR's readers' poll for the best songs of the same decade. Sheffield ranked "All Too Well" first on his 2010s-decade-end list. ''Rolling Stone'' placed "All Too Well" at number 29 of its 2018 list of the 100 Greatest Songs of the Century So Far, and 69 on its list 2020 revision of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 2021, Sheffield placed the song at number one on his ranking of 206 Taylor Swift songs. In a list titled "The 25 Musical Moments That Defined the First Quarter of the 2020s", ''Billboard'' described "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" as the "crown jewel" of ''Red (Taylor’s Version)'' and one of 2021's "biggest cultural hits". In 2022, ''Billboard'' named "All Too Well (10-Minute Version)" the best breakup song of all time.

Recognition

Critics often regard "All Too Well" as Swift's best song. ''Billboard'' stated "All Too Well" is the song that "proved to skeptics who might've thoughtlessly dismissed Swift as a frivolous pop star—in an era when such artists still weren't given nearly as much credit or attention by critics and older music fans as they are now—that she was in fact a truly formidable singer-songwriter." Bruce Warren, assistant general manager for programming for Philadelphia public radio station WXPN, stated that "All Too Well" foreshadowed Swift's music direction for 2020. He said "In 2014 or 2015, you wouldn't have been able to say, 'aylor Swiftis working with Justin Vernon,' right? All Too Well'foreshadowed the place she's in now... 'All Too Well' showed the potential of how great a songwriter she would be, and how she would evolve as a songwriter. And Folklore_

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