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"All Too Well" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was written by Swift and Liz Rose and produced by Swift and Nathan Chapman[1]. The song was the first Swift wrote for her fourth studio album Red (2012), which Swift calls her "one true break-up album."[2] Swift explains that she "felt like a broken human"[2] the day she wrote it. "All Too Well" occupies the esteemed spot of track 5, famous in the Taylor Swift canon for being the most vulnerable and emotionally devastating song on each album.[3] "All Too Well" is a country and soft rock power ballad that narrates a devastating heartache using vivid imageries.[4] Critics lauded the song's evocative lyrics that portray the "small, painful details"[5] of a "jumble of memories from a relationship recently exploded."[6] One of those details, a scarf Swift states she left at her exes sister's house, became a subject of mystery and has inspired much curiosity among fans.[7]

"All Too Well" received near universal acclaim by critics and consistently ranks as one of Swift's best-ever songs.[5][6][8][9] Pitchfork called it "the centerpiece of Red and potentially her entire career."[4] Billboard designated it as is "her finest work as a songwriter."[10] Rolling Stone writes that "No other song does such a stellar job of showing off her ability to blow up a trivial little detail into a legendary heartache."[8] The song also appeared in several publications' lists of the best songs of the 2010s decade[11][12][13], and is still beloved by her fans as "an almost cult-like favorite".[14][15] "All Too Well" peaked at number 80 on the Billboard Hot 100[16], and number 59 on the Canadian Hot 100. It was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for moving over 500,000 units in the country[17]. It received its debut performance at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards on January 26, 2014, to widespread appraisal[18][19].

Composition and Lyrics

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"All Too Well" runs five minutes and twenty-eight seconds[20] with a tempo of 94 beats per minute in the key of C major.[21] Swift's vocals range from F3 to D5[22]. Instruments used in the include acoustic and electric guitars, keyboard, drums, and bass.[1]

The lyrics of the song center around themes of memory.[6] Swift sings "I can picture it after all these days," "Time won't fly it's like I'm paralyzed by it," and of course "I remember it all too well."[1] The events of the song occur in fall,[7] with "autumn leaves falling down like pieces into place."[1] Swift paints a picture of her former relationship with highly detailed vignettes of her and her ex,[4] singing that they were "singing in the car getting lost upstate," and "dancing round the kitchen in the refrigerator light."[1] Brittany Spanos of Rolling Stone writes that the song describes "the pain of having to piece one's self back together again"[23] after relationship ends. Swift sings "I'd like to be my old self again / but I'm still trying to find it."[1] NPR writes that the song is more mature than her previous works, and Swift "owns up to her naivete" and "mourns the loss of her innocence" as she comes of age.[24]

The Scarf

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"All Too Well" opens with the lines "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."[1] Brad Nelson writes in The Atlantic that the scarf is a "Chekhov's gun" whose "reappearance" in the final verse "is thoughtful and brutal: 'But you keep my old scarf from that very first week / cause it reminds you of innocence / and it smells like me' ".[25] The missing scarf quickly became a "fantastic pop culture mystery" that has created much online buzz among Taylor Swift fans.[7] According to the lyrics of the song, the scarf was originally lost at Maggie Gyllenhaal's house, but Gyllenhaal says that she has no idea where the scarf is, and did not understand why people asked her about it until an interviewer explained the lyrics to her in 2017.[26] Both the song and the scarf are so significant to Swift's discography that Rolling Stone writes that it "should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."[8]

Critical reception[edit]

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Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone writes that Swift "[spins] a tragic tale of doomed love and scarves and autumn leaves and maple lattes" and that the song is "full of killer moments."[8] Brittany Spanos of Rolling Stone writes that the song is a "is a masterpiece of the break-up ballad form."[23] Billboard describes the song as "sumptuous country."[27]

Slant Magazine particularly lauded the song within its review, saying " "All Too Well" is arguably the finest song in Swift's entire catalogue," stating that after a slow, melodic build of of hyper-detailed memories from her relationship it "crescendos from coffeehouse folk to arena rock... until she unleashes one of her best-ever lines ("You call me up again just to break me like a promise/So casually cruel in the name of being honest") and the song explodes into a full-on bloodletting."[28] Idolator stated that of all of the songs on Red, "All Too Well" "hits the hardest... reaching an almost hysterical unraveling."[29] Nate Jones of Vulture writes that Swift "delivers the knockout blow in the bridge[6]” calling herself a "crumpled up piece of paper lying here."

The song consistently ranks at the top of Swift's discography.[4][5][6][8][9] Pitchfork ranked "All Too Well" as the 57th best song of the 2010s, applauding "her emotional intelligence, her candor, her economy of words, her ability to find beauty in vulnerability."[13]



  1. ^ a b c d e f g Swift, Taylor. ― Liner notes for Red, by Taylor Swift. Big Machine Records. 2012, compact disc.
  2. ^ a b Stone, Rolling; Stone, Rolling (2020-11-17). "500 Greatest Albums Podcast: Taylor Swift on How 'Red' Changed Everything For Her". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  3. ^ Browne, Erin (2020-12-11). "All of Taylor Swift's Famously Devastating Track 5's, Ranked". Vulture. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  4. ^ a b c d "Taylor Swift: Red". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  5. ^ a b c "Every Taylor Swift song ranked in order of greatness". NME | Music, Film, TV, Gaming & Pop Culture News. 2020-09-08. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  6. ^ a b c d e Jones, Nate (2021-01-11). "All 179 Taylor Swift Songs, Ranked". Vulture. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  7. ^ a b c Tiffany, Kaitlyn (2017-10-17). "With fall comes the return of a fantastic pop culture mystery". The Verge. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  8. ^ a b c d e Sheffield, Rob; Sheffield, Rob (2020-11-24). "All 129 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked by Rob Sheffield". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  9. ^ a b "The best song from every Taylor Swift album". EW.com. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  10. ^ copy, Copied to clipboardClick to. "Why Taylor Swift's 'Red' Is Her Best Album". Billboard. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  11. ^ Sheffield, Rob; Sheffield, Rob (2019-12-23). "Rob Sheffield's 50 Best Songs of the 2010s". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  12. ^ "The 10 Best Songs of the 2010s". Time. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  13. ^ a b Pitchfork. "The 200 Best Songs of the 2010s". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  14. ^ Skinner, Paige (2019-02-06). "From Irving to Nashville to a Grammy: Songwriter Liz Rose Crushes It". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  15. ^ "Taylor Swift tells fans they changed meaning of heartbreaking All Too Well". Metro. 2018-12-31. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  16. ^ "The Hot 100 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  17. ^ "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  18. ^ January 26, Christina VinsonPublished:; 2014. "Taylor Swift Gives Emotional Grammys Perf of 'All Too Well'". Taste of Country. Retrieved 2021-02-19. {{cite web}}: |last2= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ "Taylor Swift Hair-Whips "All Too Well" at 2014 Grammys, Fans Weep With Joy". E! Online. Mon Jan 27 02:15:00 GMT+0 2014. Retrieved 2021-02-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ ""All Too Well" by Taylor Swift". Song Meanings and Facts. 2020-09-09. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  21. ^ Taylor, Swift; Liz, Rose; Taylor, Swift (2012-11-14). "All Too Well". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  22. ^ Taylor, Swift; Liz, Rose; Taylor, Swift (2012-11-14). "All Too Well". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  23. ^ a b Spanos, Brittany; Spanos, Brittany (2016-08-22). "Ex-Factor: Taylor Swift's Best Songs About Former Boyfriends". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  24. ^ "Taylor Swift's 'Red,' A Canonical Coming-Of-Age Album". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  25. ^ Nelson, Brad (2012-11-01). "If You Listen Closely, Taylor Swift Is Kind of Like Leonard Cohen". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2021-02-25.
  26. ^ "Maggie Gyllenhaal Addresses Taylor Swift's Lost Scarf Lyric". Time. Retrieved 2021-02-25.
  27. ^ "Taylor Swift, 'Red': Track-By-Track Review". Billboard. Retrieved 2021-02-25.
  28. ^ Keefe, Jonathan. "Review: Taylor Swift, Red". Retrieved 2021-02-25.
  29. ^ "Taylor Swift's 'Red': Album Review". idolator. 2012-10-22. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
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