What does All Too Well mean?

Taylor Swift: All Too Well Meaning

Album cover for All Too Well album cover

Song Released: 2012


Get "All Too Well" on MP3: Get MP3 from iTunes

All Too Well Lyrics

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
oh your sweet disposition
and my wide-eyed...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Jan 7th 2017 !⃝

    This is one of my top favorite songs from Red. The song isn't really confusing , it pretty much says what it means. This song was written about a former boyfriend of hers . None other then Jake Gyllenhall . They dated for a while and I suppose he was the one to break it off. This ballot is very deep and sad. Throughout the song her emotions change quite a bit , which I think is similar to what happened throughout the breakup. When you break up with someone your emotions go completely wild and one minute you feel content with what you've lost but the next you feel like you won't make it and you just want the person back so badly. One of my favorite lyrics is " and I might be okay but I'm not fine at all" basically stating that she knows she is okay but in the long run this relationship emotionally destroyed her and he hurt her so bad . Another favorite lyric is " maybe we got lost in translation, maybe I asked for too much but maybe this thing was a masterpiece till you tore it all up" this line is basically her going over the reasons this relationship may have ended but in the end she realizes that the relationship was going very well but the guy pretty much wrecked it and it's his fault. One lyric people get confused by is " hey, you call me up again just to break me like a promise so casually cruel in the name of being honest " this means that he had called to break up with her and she's saying that although it was honest it was very cruel and heartbreaking for her . Another line that I'll go over is " back before you lost the one real thing you've ever know. It was rare, I was there. I remember it all too well" this one means that their relationship was one of the only things he's ever known that was real. And again she's stating that she remembers it too well , like she doesn't want to remember all the great things and the bad things but like all of us , it's the best parts we remember the most . The very last line that I'll go over is " I'd like to be my old self again but I'm still trying to find it" I love this one because it's personally relatable to me. She's saying that this wrecked her so much that she lost herself and she wants to be who she used to be before she was completely drained by this guy but she can't find the happy girl she was .

    Hope that helped

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 2nd 2013 !⃝

    She is looking back on a relationship and all the happy memories that came along with it. Although she knows it is long over, she still gets a little sad when she looks back on the relationship, and regrets some aspects of it; She misses it. She remembers everything about the relationship, and him, all too well.

  3. anonymous
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    Aug 7th 2022 !⃝

    taylor is reflecting on her relationship while describing a rollercoaster of emotions now that it's over. she very vividly remembers the happy memories they share, while struggling to move on from something she thought was going to last forever.

  4. anonymous
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    Nov 7th 2021 !⃝

    I first heard this song as a 22 year old, living and loving…longing for boys that never liked me back. I listen again, now 10 years later and feel it deeply in the context of an old friendship…not a romantic love at all in our case, but one of two friends growing together especially during those early adulthood days and into our thirties… but now who find they have drifted apart…somewhat abruptly in the last year. We’ve both tried…but life is just getting in our way. I remember it all too well.

  5. anonymous
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    Dec 10th 2020 !⃝

    To me, this song is talking about how she remembers every single thing about this relationship that she had with this boy. How it was so sweet, but then turned toxic. "... 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. 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."

    B

  6. anonymous
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    Jan 9th 2020 !⃝

    It is truly a song about looking back on a romantically bittersweet relationship between two people. It connects with so many people who look back on a relationship that was remembered all too well. It is looking back to a previous lover whom she still has feelings for. Regret may even play a part in the song. Regrets of not having done things right.

  7. anonymous
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    Nov 24th 2019 !⃝

    The stories these songs tell might be happy or sad, truth or fiction, frivolous or serious.

  8. anonymous
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    Mar 12th 2019 !⃝

    All Too Well” [was difficult to write emotionally] because it took me a really long time to filter through everything I wanted to put in the song without it being a 10 minute song, which you can’t put on an album.

  9. anonymous
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    Jan 31st 2019 !⃝

    I’ve been to the studio I’ve been asking the producer, my producer Jennifer would help out. We will make sure that we can get our recording some music.

  10. anonymous
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    Sep 30th 2016 !⃝

    Uhmmm i like this song because its a damn narrative and the lyrics are just overwhelming. Although it was personally written by Swift and it talks about her love life, the meaning of this song for me is not literally directed to the person i "love" or relationship thing. It is about all the things in the past that you enjoyed and where u get your happy and unforgettable thoughts (childhood days, less problems, simple life, etc.) that u really miss, and get nostalgic about every time u think about it. i cant help but to cry everytime i hear this song though lol i luv this song so much

  11. singerstargirl
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    Aug 24th 2016 !⃝

    Pretty sure "All Too Well" is a song about the growth of a relationship. At the beginning it appears as though they are going on sweet dates "autumn leaves falling down like pieces into place". In the second verse she meets his mom and she is telling stories about him "on the T-ball team". By the second chorus they are in the same house. "Here we are again in the middle of the night. Dancing around the kitchen in the refrigerator light". The relationship is becoming more serious until it ends unhappily at the end of her song. The relationship has changed her "I'd like to be my old self again butni'm just trying to find it."

  12. anonymous
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    Dec 11th 2014 !⃝

    It's about one of those places where you just KNOW that you've bean there before even though you couldn't have.

  13. anonymous
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    Jul 30th 2014 !⃝

    "and you call me up again just to break me like a promise, so casually cruel in the name of being honest."
    this is the part that gets to me the most, it reminds me of my first love. he started ignoring me after making so many promises and being so sweet, we hadn't talked in over a year though we saw each other almost everyday. and as i was leaving our bus one day, he said "Goodbye Katherine." and something inside me broke. the last thing i said to him, and will ever say to him is "i hate all of you."

  14. Girlathome13
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    Jun 1st 2013 !⃝

    Taylor wrote this about Jake Gyllenhaal (sp?) She talks about the infamous scarf... Being at his sisters house... Taylor and Jake spent most of their time together while in NY during the winter.

    Taylor spent Thanksgiving with Jake and his family.

    Jake wore glasses as a little kid.

  15. anonymous
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    Jan 29th 2013 !⃝

    Here is what Taylor herself said:


    The song All Too Well is the first song I wrote for this record,actually,and it kept coming back to me because it told a story so well in such a full way. It starts with meeting someone and all the details about that innocent beginning and it follows the story all the way to the bitter end. It's a really emotional song because it does show you why loss is so painful,because it was once good and you can remember it.

  16. anonymous
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    Jan 9th 2013 !⃝

    This song is wonderful. From about 2:50 tithe end is the part to me that stands out and I figured I'd interpret that section.

    She starts to mention things like getting lost in translation which I think speaks wonderfully about miscommunication in relationships and how it just makes everthing worse. The little part where it's like you call me up again to break me like a promise, that part is about how the person you've been with finally says something to you and it kind of hits home that its over. They don't even know by being honest and sayin something even simple how much it hurts to just let it all go away. Up until the end of the song, it just says like no matter what I do I will always have these memories from the relationship and although I'm hurt, I still remember everything about them.

    I'm a big fan of this song and it means a lot to me in my life so that's how I've taken the song.

  17. anonymous
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    Dec 29th 2012 !⃝

    what does this part of the song mean
    "and you call me up again
    just to break me like a promise
    so casually cruel in the name of being honest"

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