We are into autumn, so that means listening to fall music! “Red (Taylor’s Version)” is a very fall album that has a collection of many great songs. “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” is part of that collection. This song shows how a healthy relationship can go to a toxic one in a meaningful way.

In the song “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)”, Taylor Swift is in a toxic relationship. In the beginning of the song, Taylor writes, “I walked through the door with you / The air was cold / But something about it felt like home somehow.” The line, “the air was cold” shows that she didn’t have a great relationship with her ex and he treated her badly.

Additionally, the line “but something about it felt like home somehow” shows how even though her ex (who is suspected to be Jake Gyllenhaal) treated her badly, she still loved him. Although Taylor’s relationship with her ex was mostly toxic, it had its good moments and she misses him. 

In the chorus of the song she is reminiscing on her fun adventures with him. For example, Taylor writes, “ ‘Cause there we are again in the middle of the night / We’re dancing ‘round the kitchen in the refrigerator light / Down the stairs / I was there / I remember it all too well.”

When Taylor and her ex were dating, her ex thought that their relationship would go far and they would spend their whole life together. This is shown in the line, “And your mothers’ telling stories ‘bout you on the tee-ball team / You told me ‘bout your past thinking your future was me.” 

When the relationship ends, Taylor realizes that the relationship slipping away was out of her control. She realizes that he was erased from her mind for so long that she forgot how toxic he was. You can really see how toxic her ex was when Taylor writes, “And maybe we got lost in translation / Maybe I asked for too much / Or maybe this thing was a masterpiece ‘til you tore it all up.”

This illustrates how she thought she wanted too much out of the relationship, but really her ex was the one who messed up. He just really didn’t care about the relationship and none of the things he promised her were true.

During the bridge of the song, Taylor wrote, “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 of piece of paper lying here.” He breaks up with her on the phone and breaks her heart into pieces. Taylor’s ex took Taylor for granted and left her. Taylor remarks, “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.”

This explains that he scarred her and she still thinks about how badly he treated her to this day. Her ex regrets what he did, but he can’t get Taylor back. Taylor writes, “But you keep my old scarf from that very first week / ‘Cause it reminds you of innocence / And it smells like me.” Here we see that even though they broke up, he misses her and he keeps her scarf because he feels guilty of what he had done to her.

The scarf reminds him of when he was good to Taylor. Taylor notes, “Back before you lost the one real thing you’ve ever known.” This explains that Taylor was one of the most genuine people he has known. 

Therefore, “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” is a heartbreaking song that shows how quickly a healthy relationship can turn into a detrimental relationship. No one deserves to go through what Taylor did.