All Too Well

"All Too Well" was the first song written for Red. While collaborating with different writers on Red, Swift wrote the song along with Liz Rose. The song was inspired by Swift's ex-boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal, according to some speculation. Swift has said that the song was "the hardest to write on the album", saying "'it [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. I wanted a story that could work in the form of a song and I called my co-writer Liz Rose and said, ‘Come over, we’ve gotta filter this down,’ and it took me a really long time to get it."

[Verse 1] I walked through the door with you, the air was cold But something 'bout 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 [Verse 2] 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 [Pre-Chorus] 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 Oh, oh, oh [Chorus] 'Cause there we are again on that little town street You almost ran the red 'cause you were lookin' over at me Wind in my hair, I was there I remember it all too well [Verse 3] Photo album on the counter, your cheeks were turning red You used to be a little kid with glasses in a twin-sized bed And your mother's telling stories 'bout you on the tee-ball team You taught me 'bout your past, thinking your future was me [Pre-Chorus] 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 [Chorus] '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, yeah [Bridge] Well, 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 [Verse 4] 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 [Chorus] '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 [Outro] 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 too well