"All Too Well" Song Meaning

Today's Taylor Swift song is the meaning of "All Too Well" from her "Red Album".

This is one of my favorite songs on the album. I love the music and I love the message. It starts out soft and gentle, but grows to a very full song. When Taylor performs this song she even throws in a few head bangs.
The song starts out soft, describing events and feeling associated with new love; "almost ran the red cause you were lookin' over at me", "wide eyed gaze[s]", "singing in the car", "getting lost upstate", "checks turning red",  and "dancing around the kitchen in the refrigerator light". The song takes a dramatic turn when Taylor stops recollecting what that the new love was like and tries to figure out what went wrong. "Well 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".  In the end she resigns herself and admits that it is hard to imagine it's over because she "remembers" it all too well.

This happened so many times to me in my life.  I would fall in love with a guy and then nothing, no calls, nothing.  Luckily I eventually found someone that did not go away and I can cherish those initial feelings I felt when we first dated forever.

Taylor says in the stories behind the songs, "This is the first song that I wrote for this record.  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."

Who is this song about?

Taylor Swift performing "All Too Well" January 26, 2014 at the 56th annual Grammy Awards.  (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) 2014 Getty Images

A very prominent hint is in the lyrics liner notes, MAPLE LATTES.  Why are maple lattes significant?
Because she got them with Jake Gyllenhaal. According to People Magazine, November 26 Taylor was "in Brooklyn, alongside new boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal. Around 10:30 a.m., the pair popped into Park Slope's Gorilla Coffee for specialty maple lattes, made with pure Vermont syrup." Jake LOVES maple lattes.

There are also countless other clues in the lyrics pointing to Jake.

In the line, "And I left my scarf there at your sister's house", Taylor references Jake's sister Maggie Gyllenhall. Taylor hung out with her when she was dating Jake.

In the line, "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", Taylor references an apple picking date they went on.

They went apple picking in upstate New York on October 22nd, right when the leaves would be changing. According US Weekly, "The two were spotted Saturday at the Fishkill Farms in Hopewell Junction, N.Y, where they toured fall foliage and went apple-picking. 'They were walking through the trees, having fun together," says a local. 'They looked happy. Some of the customers tried to take a photo of them, but they were hiding from them in the trees. They drove through the orchard and bought the apples on the way out.'

Taylor also references a younger Jake, "You used to be a little kid with glasses". The picture says it all.

Jake Gyllenhaal when he was a kid.

While their romance lasted it was magical and special, but sadly the relationship did not last. "And you call me up again/Just to break me like a promise". He broke it off with her, and she "remembers it all too well".  She references an "old scarf from that very first week" that he kept to remember her by. It symbolizes; all the fun times they had, her innocence, being caught up in the magic of love, and missing love when it went away. The break up was so fresh in her mind when she wrote this song.  It was amazing while it lasted and painful to remember when it was over.  "It was rare, I was there, I remember it all too well". I hope someday you find that love Taylor and it doesn't go away!

Click here for the lyrics to the song, "All Too Well".