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"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."

"All Too Well" is a pop/rock song from Taylor Swift's Red album, released in 2012. It was written by Swift and Liz Rose.

The song is about Swift reminiscing on a past relationship and trying to reconcile the painful feelings of the breakup with the woman she has now become. Though never released as a single, "All Too Well" has had remarkable legs thanks to its lyrical attention to the smallest details of heartbreak, and the buzz and speculation it has continuously generated after Swift teased it as a Celebrity Breakup Song about her past relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal.

The original version of the song is already quite long by itself (clocking in at 5:28, it was the longest song on the original album), but its draft form was ten minutes long before Swift partnered with Rose, a collaborator for many songs on her first two albums, to trim it down to a more manageable form. In 2021, both versions of the song were included on Red (Taylor's Version).

The ten-minute version was also accompanied by a romantic drama short film/music video (All Too Well: The Short Film) directed by Swift and starring Sadie Sink and Dylan O'Brien as the two ex-lovers.


Tropes in the original song:

  • Bittersweet Ending: The narrator and her ex-lover are still broken up, and she's still mourning the lost relationship, but life goes on, and at least they still have memories of the good times—and the ex still hangs onto her old scarf, which she takes as a sign he does still care.
    I'd like to be my old self again,
    but I'm still trying to find it.
  • Beware the Honest Ones: She accuses her boyfriend of using honesty as an excuse to be cruel after their relationship ended.
  • Break-Up Song: The song is about a woman nostalgic about a relationship that has ended.
  • Brutal Honesty:
    And you call me up again just to break me like a promise
    So casually cruel in the name of being honest
  • Dance of Romance: One of the happier memories in the lyrics is about "dancing in the kitchen in the refrigerator light".
  • Embarrassing Old Photo: Mentioned:
    Photo album on the counter
    Your cheeks were turning red
    You used to be a little kid with glasses in a twin-sized bed
  • Love Nostalgia Song: The song occurs years post-breakup, with both parties still trying to reconcile the fallout of the relationship. The central theme of the song is remembering things you'd like to forget... all too well.
    And I know it's long gone and
    There was nothing else I could do
    And I forget about you long enough
    To forget why I needed to
  • Song of Many Emotions: She is hurt ("And you call me up again just to break me like a promise"), doubtful and somewhat regretful ("Well, maybe we got lost in translation, maybe I asked for too much"), and angry at her ex ("But maybe this thing was a masterpiece 'til you tore it all up") and at the same time, she reminisces about the happiness they have lost.
  • Suddenly Shouting: "All Too Well" is mostly sung very gently and softly, almost like a murmur, before the bridge, where Taylor practically screams, "You call me up again, just to break me like a promise."
  • Title Drop: The line "I remember it all too well" is sung at the end of the verses, emphasizing that these are memories the singer has.
  • Wide-Eyed Idealist: The song implies that she and her lover were this at the beginning of the relationship before everything went south:
    Oh, your sweet disposition
    And my wide-eyed gaze

Tropes in the extended version and short film:

  • Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
    • The 10-minute version of "All Too Well" delves deeper into why the relationship fell apart, revealing the narrator's ex could be cruel, insensitive, and aloof. The short film makes it even more explicit, showing him gaslighting her and emphasizing that she's very young and naïve compared to him.
    • With the inclusion of details regarding the ex's behavior, the meaning of the song's title shifts from the narrator just remembering the relationship to her also fighting back against her ex's dismissal of her feelings and asserting that she remembers everything that occurred between them "all too well".
  • Adaptational Jerkass: The boyfriend. In the original song, he's only mentioned as being cruel to the narrator after the breakup. A few new lyrics added to 10-minute version and the short film reveal even when they were together, he didn't treat her particularly well, but she was too young and too in love with him to recognize the red flags.
  • Author Avatar: Sadie Sink's young girl in the film is an avatar for Taylor Swift herself, since she's acting out the Break-Up Song's emotions. At the very end, Swift plays the older version of the character, though she retains Sink's red hair and appears to be an author rather than a musician.
  • Age-Gap Romance: Deconstructed. The narrator and her boyfriend are just too far apart in age to connect properly, and it's implied he's taking advantage of her naiveté and inexperience to manipulate her. One of the last verses hints this is a pattern for him. In the short film, they are played by Dylan O'Brien and Sadie Sink, who are fittingly about a decade apart in age.
  • Armor-Piercing Question: This hard-hitter:
    The idea you had of me, who was she?
    A never-needy, ever-lovely jewel
    Whose shine reflects on you?
  • Bittersweet Ending: The end of the relationship was devastating and emotionally scarred the female lead, but given how the boyfriend acted, it's for the best. The Distant Finale shows that she's turned the experience into a bestselling novel and she's moved on with her life, though the pain still lingers. The ex watches her at a live reading but doesn't approach her, with a hint of regret.
  • A Birthday, Not a Break: The narrator's birthday is ruined when her boyfriend blows off her party, and she spends the whole night wishing he'd show up while her father sadly watches.
    [My father] said, "It's supposed to be fun...
    turning twenty-one."
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: The boyfriend absolutely has some nastier tendencies that are hidden by his easygoing, friendly disposition. It's unclear whether these are two sides of a complicated, seriously flawed individual or if the niceness was just a mask for his real personality.
  • Book Ends: In the film, the song begins with the young woman leaving her red scarf at her boyfriend's sister's house. It ends with the boyfriend outside a book reading of hers thirteen years later, still wearing the same scarf.
  • Call-Forward: The original lyrics say, "All's well that ends well, but I am in a new hell every time you double-cross my mind," referencing the pain the ex caused the narrator. Later, in the title track of Lover, the narrator will tell her new partner, "All's well that ends well to end up with you."
  • The Cameo: Shawn Levy makes a seconds-long appearance as the woman's father, who is charmed by her boyfriend.
  • Distant Finale: The final segment shows the narrator thirteen years after the breakup, now a successful author and wiser person.
  • Epic Rocking: "All Too Well", while cut down to 5:28 for the album, ran for ten minutes in its original form; the original ten-minute version of the track was eventually released on the "Taylor's Version" rerecording of Red.
  • Epigraph: The film opens with a quote from Pablo Neruda, fitting the song's thematic focus on the nostalgia of a failed romance.
    Love is so short, forgetting is so long.
  • Headbutt of Love: The poster depicts a moment in the film where "Her" and "Him" touch foreheads.
  • Hypocrite:
    • The narrator's ex dumps her for being immature and says that maybe if they were the same age, it would've worked out... only to continue dating people about her age.
    • The narrator's ex has a "fuck the patriarchy" keychain but treats her very poorly.
  • I Should Write a Book About This: At the end of the short film, "Her" has written a book presumably about the heartache of her youth as "Him" looks on from outside a book reading.
  • Love Hurts: Dear God, does it ever. The poor girl is left an emotional wreck by the relationship and subsequent breakup, and it's implied it wasn't exactly fun for the guy, either.
    Just between us,
    did the love affair maim you, too?
  • Loving a Shadow: The narrator concludes that the boyfriend ultimately loved a version of her that wasn't real; he wanted her to never need him, to always adore him, to never cry, and to make him look good.
    The idea you had of me,
    who was she?
  • Metafictional Title: The woman eventually writes a book called All Too Well, the title of the song and short film.
  • No Name Given: The ex-lovers are listed as "Her" and "Him" in the credits.
  • Parents as People: The narrator's father is described a concerned father that ultimately failed to protect her from her boyfriend's behavior and bought into his facade:
    You who charmed my dad with self-effacing jokes
    Sipping coffee like you're on a late-night show
    But then he watched me watch the front door all night, willing you to come
    He said, "It's supposed to be fun...
    turning twenty-one."
  • Piggyback Cute: One of the earlier scenes is a cute moment of the boyfriend giving the narrator a piggyback ride during an upstate trip.
  • Precision F-Strike: The noted mention of the boyfriend's "fuck the patriarchy" keychain in the second verse.
  • Secret Relationship: The lovers had this for a time.
    There we are again,
    when nobody had to know.
    You kept me like a secret,
    but I kept you like an oath.
  • Timeshifted Actor: Sadie Sink plays Her for much of the film, while Swift plays her at the very end, thirteen years later. The younger and older Him are played by Dylan O'Brien and Jake Lyon, respectively.
  • Wham Line: Several for different reasons:
    • One line reveals that it isn't just an unspecified occasion her love interest is missing, but her 21st birthday. Also serves as a Wham Line for the whole Red album, as it recontextualizes both "22" and "The Moment I Knew."
      But then [my father] watched me watch the front door all night, willing you to come
      And he said, "It's supposed to be fun...turning twenty-one."
    • Towards the end, it becomes clear that Swift isn't pulling any punches with how scathing she can get:
      And I was never good at telling jokes, but the punchline goes:
      "I'll get older, but your lovers stay my age."

"It was rare, I was there, I remember it...all too well."

 
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Alternative Title(s): All Too Well The Short Film

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A Happier Memory

Love is in the air for this young couple, emphasized by the camera rotating around them as they kiss.

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