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 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

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

'Cause there we are again, on that little town street
You almost ran the red 'cause you were looking over me
Wind in my hair, I was there, I remember it all too well

Photo album on the counter, your cheeks were turning red
You used to be a little kid with glasses in a twin size bed
Your mother's telling stories about you on the tee ball team
You tell me about your past, thinking your future was me

And I know it's long gone
And there's nothing else I could do
And I forget about you long enough
To forget why I needed to

'Cause there we are again, in the middle of the night
We're dancing around the kitchen in the refrigerator light
Down the stairs, I was there, I remember it all too well

And 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 too well

Time won't fly, it's like I'm paralyzed 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
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 to well



Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings, edited by andreaaaa

Track duration: 05:28

"All Too Well" as written by Taylor Swift, Liz Rose

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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All Too Well song meanings
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21 Comments

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  • +2
    My Opinion:This song is very interesting. I've been listening to it for a while and it deeply moved me. I was maybe feeling some sort of sympathy for her but then I realized that the reason why she is seemingly so angry (and vindictive) is because she was hurt that bad. I can feel the hurt in this song but she is hiding behind her anger. I wonder if she was hurt that badly by Gyllenhaal, or perhaps in reality she really hurt herself due to her high expectations. Had she been more honest with her hurt feelings, then perhaps she wouldn't have been feeling so angry.
    Flag Eatcarpeton March 03, 2013   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:To me, this song is about loss, and not being able to move on because you remember it all. Taylor said about this song, "I think the reason why loss is so sad, is because it was all once so good.", and that just sums it up for me. Everything about this song is remembering the story right from the very beginning, when everything seemed so perfect and right, to the very end where you break up and things break down.
    Flag 13Loveon February 23, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Clearly it's the same man as in "We are never..." Not only because she has stated that the album was all about HIM, but because there are a couple of similar references to that song such as "And you call me up again just to break me like a promise".

    Without reading any other comments, I think she's reminiscing about that relationship and doesn't really know where it went wrong and why. She's confused, because they seemed to be having such a good time together. She has many specific memories of the good times. However, she can't seem to put her finger on why it ended, thus making the "pleasant" memories painful.
    Flag violonist13on January 31, 2013   Link
  • +2
    General Comment:This is the absolute best song on Red, and probably one of her best songs all together. I had no idea Jake affected her this much. I hear so much longing and confusion in this song. She remembers every single detail of their relationship, down to what the weather was and how the trees looked, because it was just that deep. But when she remembers, she knows it's over and she's not asking for him to come back, because she knows it wouldn't be the same, but that doesn't stop the memories from coming back. So beautiful!
    Flag PurplePantheron January 05, 2013   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion:"And I forget about you long enough
    To forget why I needed to"

    I don't feel like that's a really positive statement. "Why I needed to"? Sounds like she forgot all the bad while remembering all the positive memories she mentions throughout the song.
    Flag FTPx3on November 23, 2012   Link
  • +1
    My Opinion:Obviously she's in a world of hurt. A very well written song, expresses her feelings without a doubt. I like how it builds toward just before the end where she is almost yelling," And you call me up again just to break me like a promise; So casually cruel in the name of being honest".
    Flag blue60423on November 18, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The first song that Swift wrote for Red, she penned the tune in 2011 with Liz Rose, one of her co-writers on her first three albums. The heart-wrenching break-up tune came after a six-month writing block that followed a particularly painful ending of a relationship. "There's a kind of bad that gets so overpowering you can't even write about it," she told USA Today of that time. "When you feel pain that is so far past dysfunctional, that leaves you with so many emotions that you can't filter them down to simple emotions to write about, that's when you know you really need to get out."


    Swift was asked by The Daily Beast if she ever felt guilty regarding writing about an ex. She replied: "I take these songs and these people who inspire these songs on a case-by-case basis. If there were someone who was a good person, I'm not going to write something bad about them. But if they handle a situation in a way that really messed up my life for a while, that's what I'm going to write about. For me, I've never changed the reason I write a song. Songs for me are like a message in a bottle. You send them out to the world and maybe the person who you feel that way about will hear about it someday."


    Taylor is a noted fan of singer/songwriter Matt Nathanson of "Come On Get Higher" and "Run" fame, to the extent that she has been known to perform with the lyrics of his song "Modern Love" written on her arm. Fans have pointed out the similarity between a lyric in this song ("And I forget about you long enough to forget why I needed to"), and a line from Nathanson's 2003 tune "I Saw," ("And I'll forget about you long enough to forget why I need to").

    Maybe Taylor wanted to pay homage to Nathanson or it may be simply unconscious plagiarism on her part. However, Nathanson seems to believe it to be plagiarism. According to the Gawker site, he posted a tweet after the rumors first surfaced that was subsequently deleted, in which he wrote, "She's definitely a fan, and now she's a thief."
    Flag musicrocks13on November 11, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:ok, im going to stress this again. All of you seem to think this is the best song because of the "lyrics". Wrong, listen closely. THIS IS A GOOD SONG, MUSICALLY. The catchy guitar line and drum rythm give this song an awesome feeling. THIS SONG IS GOOD BECAUSE THE MUSIC IS GOOD.
    Flag Berflackon November 05, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:In addition to the lyrics, which are good, this music is good. Whoever is playing the guitar, bass, and drums knows what they are doing. Nothing better than hearing actual decent rock music backed up by an awesome vocalist.

    ok that sounded pretty gay and im a guy but this album rocks my socks
    Flag Berflackon November 05, 2012   Link
  • +2
    General Comment:Clearly the album is mostly about Jake Gyllenhaal, and something I immediately noticed in this song that I'm surprised no one else seems to have noticed yet was the phrase "sweet disposition" -

    Oh, your sweet disposition and my wide eyed gaze/We're singing in the car getting lost upstate

    Sweet Disposition is a song by The Temper Trap, a band that Jake Gyllenhaal reportedly likes, and most likely a song they listened to together when they were dating, because another lyric from it is the secret message in Treacherous, which is "Won't Stop Till Its Over", a song which I also assume is about Jake.

    I just think it's kind of interesting how she references Sweet Disposition in two songs, maybe it was "their song."
    Flag seatedabveon November 01, 2012   Link

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