Do you see it all in burning red? The autumn leaves, are they falling down like pieces into place? I mean, I remember it all too well.
Friday, Nov. 12, 2021, Taylor Swift released the re-recording of her hit 2012 album Red, aptly titled Red (Taylor’s Version). It’s 30 tracks long, including nine additional tracks “from the vault”; songs that didn’t make it onto the original album.
Red was a monumental album for Swift. In her own words, it was her “fourth album [so she] wasn’t a shiny new star anymore.” She had made a name for herself as a country singer-songwriter, but this album was a lot more experimental: she dabbled in pop with songs like “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”, tried her hand at dubstep in “I Knew You Were Trouble”, but still included classic ballads in songs like “Begin Again”. Red (Taylor’s Version) revisits all these songs, ones that were iconic at the time, and ones that had not been as highly marketed the first time around.
“All Too Well” has been the defining song of Red (Taylor’s Version). Long heralded as a fan favourite (by Swifties) and one of best, most beautifully written songs of all time (by me), “All Too Well” had not gotten much attention from the general public or casual fans the first time around; it was a five-minute-long non-single sandwiched between two upbeat, iconic singles: “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “22”. Rather, it was a deep cut that superfans chose to love.
In “All Too Well”, Swift sings about a deeply hurtful heartbreak using specific and concrete imagery. The ten-minute version explores this former relationship even more deeply, adding two more verses, a longer bridge and an outro. Then, Swift wrote and directed a short film based on this longer version of the song, also named All Too Well, starring Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien.
If you go on Twitter, Instagram or TikTok, you will likely hear Jake Gyllenhaal’s name being thrown around in relation to this song. It’s highly believed that it was written about him; the details line up well with the public knowledge of the former couple’s relationship. Some are completely on Swift’s side, seeking Gyllenhaal’s head (and Swift’s infamous scarf, referenced multiple times in the song) to avenge her. Others complain about how Swift is seemingly digging up old graves in order to profit.
Neither of these takes tell the whole story.
Taylor Swift has talked, at length, about how the meaning of the song has changed for her. It has gone from a song that had her crying during performances, to a song that she celebrates as an anthem between her and her fans. She’s not emphasizing this song to dunk on Gyllenhaal (though she has never actually confirmed the song is about him), but rather to celebrate and cater to her fans. This song has taken on a greater meaning than the heartbreak that spawned it—it’s now about the way the fans have continued to love and support Swift throughout it all.
There is something amazing about how Swift has been able to take a horrible situation—her masters (essentially, her entire life) being sold to Scooter Braun, a man who did so much to make her miserable––and turn it into a way to celebrate her past work with more earnestness and care than before. Minimizing this into the idea that the song “All Too Well” and, by extension, the rest of the album, is about Jake Gyllenhaal, takes away from the amount of hard work and strength Taylor Swift needed to rerecord her masters.
“All Too Well” is a story about resilience. Whether it be from a relationship that only caused pain or the celebrity gossip that has surrounded Taylor Swift throughout her career, “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” has shown that her ability to make music and art, and her connection and love for her fans, transcends all the outside voices too well.