On Friday, Taylor Swift dropped her “short film” for the ten-minute long song “All Too Well.” The film and the song are about Taylor’s brief but significant romance with Jake Gyllenhaal in 2010. Jake clearly f–ked her up at the time, so much so that most of her album Red is devoted to analyzing their relationship. Now Taylor has re-recorded Red into Red (Taylor’s Version) with some newly recorded versions of the original songs plus some songs from the vault, and the 10-minute version of “All Too Well” is one of those vault songs (there is a shorter version on the original album). Even for Taylor, the song is so autobiographical. The details in the song are barely Easter eggs – she’s just recounting her relationship with Jake and where it all went wrong. And if you needed to be bashed over the head with what this song is about, Taylor explains it in vivid detail in the short film she wrote and directed:
That’s Sadie Sink as the young redheaded version of Taylor and Dylan O’Brien as the toxic Jake figure. While I absolutely see why this relationship f–ked her up so much when she was 20 years old, I just… yeah, I’m too old to fully appreciate it, I guess. I was going to say that at 20, Taylor probably didn’t have many people in life saying “girl, these are RED FLAGS” but she wouldn’t have listened to those friends anyway. What Taylor has ended up doing is making Jake look like a cliche, like a dime-a-dozen gaslighter douchebag. Maybe he is. Tay also performed the ten-minute version on Saturday Night Live this weekend:
One of the “Easter eggs” is about an actress at a party who comforts her when she’s crying in the bathroom, and people think the actress is Jennifer Aniston. It could be… but I’m not entirely sure? Remember, before there was Jake Gyllenhaal, there was John Mayer. Taylor and Jen Aniston both dated Mayer and I just… whew.
The photos are from Taylor’s premiere event for All Too Well on Friday – her velvet suit is Etro – and then on Saturday night, after SNL, when she went out partying with Joe Jonas (eh), Sophie Turner, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Getty.
Short relationships can be incredibly impactful, and if he didn’t take her V card than he was her first loooooooove. I can appreciate why it may have meant so much, but I don’t understand why she still feels the need to make such a big damn (public) deal about it.
I know, right? Why can’t she just keep emotional abuse to herself? It’s not like hearing it in a song or seeing it In a video will wake up any other young women to their toxic partners. Sheesh, Taylor, keep it to yourself for once.
Why should she keep it to herself?
You had me for a second 😉
The whole point of art, especially music, is to share experiences. This is a very common one. I’m happily married with a baby on the way and had a nice jaunt down memory lane while I watched it, thinking of my own douchebag ex, since it taught me some hard lessons and led me here. I’m guessing Taylor feels the same, since her life is pretty great these days.
Why should she keep it to herself? She is an artist, and this is how she processes her emotions and expresses herself. Her fans have been begging her for the long version for a decade, and she likely thought it was safe to release it now. Both of them have moved on with their lives.
*claps*
I’m all for that kind of behavior getting called out publicly. Toxic people THRIVE when their victims are quiet because actually speaking up is seen as socially taboo. The whole ‘don’t hair dirty laundry’ stuff protects the people who did the dirtying, not their victims. Screw that.
She’s petty and dramatic, and needs to move on. He didn’t hold her hostage in his basement, they dated and dumped her. That she needs to keep referencing him and their 2 month relationship is odd. It would only be normal if she were, currently, a 20 year old GIRL.
Really? Why can’t she keep the sbuse she suffered (emotional or otherwise) to herself? Wow.
Oh wait, you had me going there for a minute. 😏
Why should she have to keep it to herself? If she want to, fine. She turned that pain into art, which is a pretty healthy way of dealing with it if you think about it. Jake was old enough to know what he was doing. If you don’t want to be portrayed as a gaslighting douchebag, don’t be one.
So every time you get your feelings hurt in a relationship it’s abuse? I’m not saying he wasn’t a jerk but we love to fling that word around a lot, so much so that people are becoming desensitized to it. Yeah, I’m not going to give the jerk who dumped me years ago the satisfaction of knowing he’s been living rent free in my head for years.
There’s no reason she should keep it to herself. Taylor isn’t my favourite but there’s no reason why she should
To all those asking why, I’m pretty sure Freaky Lizard was being sarcastic.
She may feel the need to make a big deal about it because to her, it WAS a big deal and she, as an artist, feels empowered by expressing her feelings about it through her art. Who are we to decide what she should keep to herself?
This is prob the only relationship Taylor has had, where he had more fame than she did. Except for Harry, of course. Both relationships were when she was really young. Now, she’s the massive celebrity–and probably has to deal with her lovers feeling weird in public with her.
To me, this is what it’s like to date a Hollywood star–or be one.
I like the song. Didn’t realize it was a re-record. Thanks for the info. Explains a lot.
@Escondista, Freaky lizard is being sarcastic
So there is a prominent fan theory they “left my scarf at your sisters house” is a metaphor, for…. that. In addition to being actually about a scarf.
A red scarf……
I dislike this, and feel it’s a sexist take. Artists through the ages have been using their personal pain and life to make their art. But people love to reduce it to twee Taylor crying in her journal.
While Adele gets a tv special ….and thank goodness. I enjoyed it but TS and Adele are similar. I have emotionally abusive gaslighting dbag ex from over 10 years ago that left trauma buttons installed that my poor wife now has to navigate.
Other singers write about intangible things we all experience in relationships so its relatable, taylor is so specific these things arent for us but for her creating a scavenger hunt to peak our interest to figure out who shes talking about and taylor always paints herself as the victim-its what narcissists do
So no this isnt what other artists do
@Meg, many singers write songs about specific people.
Off the top of my head:
Adele’s entire catalog (only partly joking)
“You’re So Vain,” Carly Simon
“You Oughta Know,” Alanis Morrisette
“Heart Shaped Box,” Kurt Cobain/Nirvana
“Layla,” Eric Clapton
“Fire and Rain,” James Taylor (not written about romantic feelings or relationships but written about very specific experiences and people)
So TS is in good company.
@KCat @TigerMcqueen
Agree that here’s nothing wrong with Taylor writing about her relationships, but it’s a bit disingenuous to say that she’s exactly like many other artists who do, because how she differs from many of contemporaries is in her marketing.
Part of Taylor’s brand during her earlier days was writing her own blind items about the celebrities she dated in her songs. I remember as someone who followed her career since I was a teen.
The lyric booklet that came with her CDs had randomly capitalized lines that would be linked with songs to create a message. The message would also be linked with other Easter Eggs, lines that would reference well known pap shoots or social media posts so fans could figure out who the song was about and how she felt about that person.
For example, the secret message in Enchanted was “ADAM,” and that, coupled with other Easter Eggs, led fans to believe that the song is about Adam Young from Owl City. Or “YOU THOUGHT I WOULD FORGET” for Better Than Revenge, would tease her feelings about Joe Jonas moving onto Camilla Belle.
It was a brilliant marketing tactic, and Taylor did this for albums up until Reputation in 2017. These Easter Eggs helped grow her fan community as they would work together to figure these blinds out.
I think that’s what Meg was pointing out. While I don’t have an issue with Taylor’s work (and love a lot of her songs), she has built her earlier brand on blind iteming her partnerships and creating investment with her fanbase as they dug through clues to figure out who her partner was and what he did. That’s different from many of Taylor’s peers who have written songs about specific people. Her peers have written songs, but they haven’t incorporated this hunt and this level of emotional investment into their fan culture.
What’s interesting about Carly Simon’s famous song is that she has never told who she wrote about, although someone won a charity auction prize: to be the only person who knew exactly who she was singing about.
It’s one of those great musical mysteries.
Fun trivia bit, if you listen closely to the chorus singers in that song, you’ll hear Mick Jagger.
Now, if we only knew what Billy Joe McAllister threw off the Talahatchee Bridge, right? Bobbie Gentry never told anyone that.
Carly Simon auctioned that secret off several times at Vineyard fundraisers. She also acknowledged that it was about more than one man.
Did you watch the Adele special last night? Song after song was about personal heart ache. I couldn’t help wonder how she kept singing these songs and whether it brought it back to her or not. My guess is that after a while they stop meaning what they originally meant for the artist. Maybe that’s how Taylor feels about it,also.
You know she wrote this song when she was 21 right? Released 10 years ago? She is re-releasing it because she wants to own her music. She’s dating someone else. He’s dating someone else. I don’t think she’s actually still hung up on him anymore. This is art now.
Yup. I’m sure Jake is more bothered by some of her fans harassing him than he is about Taylor re releasing songs. An ex boyfriend reached out to Taylor when she released Red the first time around to compliment the work and said it was bittersweet. It’s most likely him.
They also have a mutual friend, Ryan Reynolds, and if there’s any ugly drama I’m sure Ryan wouldn’t be openly supporting Taylor (he and Blake went to SNL to watch her perform). That or maybe Ryan/Jake aren’t that close haha.
Blake also directed the music video that just came out-also seemingly about Jake given the red scarf. I think at this point both parties have a sense of humour and understanding about it-both are in LTRs.
Cq, Ryan is much closer to Taylor than to Jake. Taylor has said that after Joe, Ryan and Blake are the first people to listen to every song of hers and she went trick or treating with them and their girls.
I don’t interpret it as being hung up (she probably waited so long to release the full version so it wouldn’t come off that way). The song is a fan favourite despite her never releasing a video/doing promotions for it. People have been asking for the long version for years, I can see why she would oblige them a decade later.
Have to say I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought. It’s a good song and I find her media savvy/penchant for melodrama amusing.
1) she’s a musician – you don’t have to like her to acknowledge it’s literally her job to create music about her experiences
2) she doesn’t “keep referencing” and “making a big public deal” about this for no reason – she’s rerecording her catalogue after some douche sold her masters out from under her
but surely jbyrdku knows this and is just being petty and dramatic – it’s not like she held you hostage to listen to the song or to click on this article
She made the late night TV rounds this week and talked about it extensively. First she’s re-recording all of her old music for f*ck Scooter Braun reasons. Over the years this song, which was never released as a single and never had a video, has been embraced by her fans more than any other previously unreleased song. She’s been performing the 10 minute version of it on tour for several years. So while she had the chance to record the long version and direct a short film to accompany it, for posterity, she did. She’s releasing it as a single now because she knows her fans already love it and releasing would help generate buzz to sell what is essentially an album of covers of her younger self.
@ Dutch this has nothing to do with scooter it’s about owning her art. And she hasn’t been performing it for years at all? The original is 5.5 minutes. Before the 12th no one has heard the 10 minute version. I’m not sure why you’re so adamant about something you so obliviously know nothing about.
Finally if you actually watched the (two) late night shows she was on she talks about how this version is for the fans because WE’VE asked for it.
No, she has never performed the 10 minute version before now, she only teased that it existed.
Didn’t she perform the 10-minute version at some of her concerts? I’ve never been to a concert but I have known about this version for as long as Red has been around. I just had never heard it before.
EVERY singer writes about relationships gone bad/good, etc.Taylor’s songs are notable because everyone knows who she’s dated. And this album is not about making a “big damn public deal” about it.
The big damn public point she’s making with re-recording her OLD albums is that SHE owns her own material now, not a bunch of rich white dudes decided to sell her master recordings and make a bunch (more) money off of her without her getting a say.
@abby no she 100% had never performed it before now. She talked about it for the first time a few years ago but it hasn’t been known as long as the stolen version of Red has been around.
Classic country music used to be all about story telling. Look at Dolly Parton, Hank Williams (Your Cheating Heart), Merle Haggard and Loretta Lynn.
All Too Well is on the original RED….just not the 10 minute version which she wrote and sang as she played the chord. Like her or not, she is a genius. Billy Joel called her the Beatles of her generation.
I like Billy Joel but no. Taylor Swift is no Beatle. However, I actually like this song. I think in the last few years her music has shown a tremendous amount of growth, but will people be listening to her music in 50 years or talking about it in musical history classes? I seriously doubt it.
I actually think they will, if not for her music but for the huge steps she has taken towards artist ownership, the conversation she has opened, etc. Re-recoridng her masters was a big move. But I also think her music is enduring and the fact that we have seen when grow as an artist and her music style change. I think the Beatles are musically over-rated but what is special about them is how they changed the music scene.
She’s a prolific songwriter whose songs have been recorded by dozens of artists. You’ve probably heard lots of songs that she wrote and gave to other musicians.
@Merricat, I’m a die-hard Springsteen fan and to me he’s a songwriter. I enjoyed Taylor’s last album, as it reminded me of early Tori Amos. I find most of TS’s pop stuff to be boring. My radio station is firmly on classic rock. So, I wouldn’t know who Taylor has written songs for unless I’ve read it here.
Music is very subjective, so what some people like, others can’t stand.
I also love Springsteen. I wouldn’t say that I love Taylor Swift, but I recognize her talent and business acumen. She’s affected the industry in far-reaching ways. She’s written scores of songs for herself and for others that have been well received upon release. I mean, that’s just the objective truth.
i’m not particularly a taylor fan but i think most people can recognize that she has made significant achievements in her field (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Taylor_Swift) and yes, in all likelihood, when people are listening to music from this period of history, she will make the shortlist
We currently talk about Taylor in the music appreciation class that I teach, so it stands to reason that we might still be doing that decades on, if for no other reason than what’s currently happening with her reclaiming her music.
That’s your opinion, and you are definitely entitled to it. IDK if BJ actually said that about TS, but if he did, you can disagree but not contest that it is his opinion.
All Too Well was on Red? just not the full ten minute version, which she’s said is because she didn’t feel she could put a song that long on the album back then.
John Mayer’s next. Also, I love Dylan O’Brien.
John Mayer is probably jealous that All To Well isn’t about him.
She took her shot at John Mayer with “Dear John” and he got all pissy and shot back with “Paper Doll”
Wow just when i thought she grew up a little she regresses. This is ridiculous and unfair to the guys she targets in her songs because some of her Swifties take it too far. And before people say all song writters write about past experiences…Taylor not only makes it painfuly obvious but she always eggs on her fans. No one can even name one of Adeles exes.
Well said! I totally agree with you. Also, some of her fans threatened Jake via twitter and wrote offensive stuff like he should never work again in movies…that’s insane.
Why should an emotionally abusive and manipulative man that still likes to date naive 20 year olds be spared the consequences of his own actions?
Oh wow someone was crazy on the internet? That’s literally never happened before
But seriously I find this all pretty harmless. People are commenting song lyrics and scarf emojis on his page. I think he’ll live.
So that’s her fault? Interesting. Man is crappy to woman, woman writes song about 8. Woman re-recorded song years later. People recall d bag behavior and call it out.
People blame… woman.
Mina – I hope you feel the same way about Leo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, Sean Penn, Dennis Quaid et al. because if that’s the take you’re going with half of Hollywood should be out of business.
@Deeee I hate this kind of reply. First off nobody said Jake should be out of business but we can call out people for being shityy. And if you really think that Leo, Ben, Sesn etc get a pass you havent been paying attention to the last 10 years. Leo is literally constantly called out for his love of models under the age of 25
@Mina_Esq “Why should an emotionally abusive and manipulative man that still likes to date naive 20 year olds be spared the consequences of his own actions?”
Because she didn’t name him and didn’t accuse him. She wrote a song, if she feels he was abusive and wants to actually contribute to any change in society, it’d be nice to say, here’s the song and also it’s about this person who did this and this wrong and I want to share my story to help other people in situations similar to what I’ve been through. For all we know, the song is fiction or part fiction part her experience. I’m a writer, I weave real events and conversations and experiences into otherwise completely fictional settings, I add events that never happened but characters can be a mix of real reactions for real people, often one character is a mix of a number of things several real people did. We don’t know her creative process, I don’t think she says anywhere that this or other songs are word for word what happened. Plus, she has cowriters, who’s to say some lines weren’t suggested by a cowriter? Maybe it’s a real relationship but, say, dancing in the refrigerator light could’ve been something her cowriter did with her husband the day before they wrote the song. I feel like if she wants the man to be held responsible, she needs to come out and say it. She doesn’t have to, just that I do believe her but I stop short of assuming. Well, to be completely honest, yes, sure, I’m assuming and side-eyeing the guy and not really liking him much anymore, but I won’t admit that unless she names him. Or at least says that the lyrics are 100% accurate to what really happened.
It’s 2021 now, almost 2022, we’re not protecting adult men who target young and inexperienced women anymore (and we shouldn’t have been doing it 12 years ago either). Taylor has never said a single name, and her answer at the premiere about it becoming a bigger story that many people have experienced/own was tactful.
well said! it’s time we stop calling women dramatic and attention seeking when all they are looking to do is to process the abuse they’ve been through.
lol yes, Taylor is always the victim and she always blames others. Again this is Taylor version of the story, there are always two versions of stories. Taylor is good at marketing herself as a poor white woman victim.
Come on, it was 10 years ago and Jake has to feel sorry for what…? Ending a relationship? I mean the age gap was clearly the issue but he could be as dumb as she was. Or he thought he was being careful not to take things too far but she was just too young in love to see the red flags. I’m 100% projecting by the way, I had a similar heartbreak. Most people in age-gap relationships are just fools, both sides.
Luna – I hate to disagree but both sides aren’t fools most of the time. These older men know exactly what they’re doing.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Dude is 40 and has been dating someone in their early (now mid) 20’s for 3 years now. Even though the Taylor relationship was a while ago he’s clearly a creep who enjoys that power dynamic. He absolutely deserves to be called out for it.
Good lord. I’m sure Jake will be fine. Stop feeling sorry for him because he got some music fans sad on Twitter.
ALSO, it is ridiculous to say she is responsible for everything her fans ever do. Give it a rest already.
She’s re-recording all of her music after Scooter Braun sold the rights to it (don’t ask me details, I don’t know them) to take ownership again. That’s it. This song is about 10 years old.
🤷🏼♀️
No one knows Adele’s ex lovers because she doesn’t date famous people. Rich Paul is the most famous and he’s a business celebrity not another artist.
Adele is also a better songwriter and the stuff she wrote at 21 is far more complex and sophisticated than the songs Taylor wrote at that age.
Taylor knew what she was talking about with the line about how she’ll get older and all his dates will stay the same age. His current girlfriend is what, 25?
Also, I am obsessed with velvet suits but can’t find one to fit my plus sized self. Love that look.
I feel you. ASOS and the ICONIC has velvet pieces (I was window shopping online for velvet tonight). They do have some plus sized clothing but I’m pretty sure it ends at AU 22. Anyhow I hope something beautiful in velvet soon! It’s such a lovely fabric to wear.
I saw someone post about how Jake kept calling Tom Holland kiddo on their Spider-Man press tour, but he and his girlfriend are the same age.
gross
I’ve always kind of liked Jake, but that is LOL funny, and also kinda gross. It says a lot about a guy when he always is dating 25 year olds.
I honestly forgot he and Taylor were ever a thing.
If I were any of her ex’s, I’d be terrified she’d write a song or video about me even several boyfriends later.
Didn’t Michael J Fox make a joke about this? Lol
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler made a joke at the Golden Globes. MJF and Tracy Pollan’s son was one of the “kids of show business folks” who was helping onstage at the GG, that they do every year.
TF and AP said something like “no Taylor, don’t try to line up a date with him” referencing her dating history, which got a laugh, but was essentially shaming a woman for dating.
It was probably referring to when she was an adult and dating that underage Kennedy. She used to sign him out of his boarding school IIRC.
if you treated her right, you probably wouldn’t have anything to fear about
I don’t know about that.
When a relationship breaks down (not talking about Taylor and Jake here, I mean in general), there usually was something wrong. In most cases nothing criminal or even particularly imoral, but there will still be a hurt party there, and in that case there’s always a story to tell.
For example we don’t know why Taylor and Hiddles broke up. Taylor might be fine with it and has no hard feelings whatsoever and is not planning a song, but if I were Hiddles, i’d still worry she’s gonna write a beautiful balad about something at one point. Even if it’s something small. She just has a track record of writing songs about her exes. And this shows time isn’t a limit either.
She wrote Back to December about Taylor Lautner and took full ownership that she broke his heart and wished for a do-over. So it’s not fair to say that she always plays the victim. I have been a fan of TS since her first album. She certainly processes her emotions through her music and that is what resonates. Her lyrics and maturity have grown quite a bit as well which you can see in this version since she clearly updated it to talk about “patriarchy “ which was not a cultural discussion in 2010 when she originally wrote this. She also strikes me as a deeply sensitive person which seems to lead to feeling victimized when she was younger.
Not necessarily the case. She got caught lying about Kanye just so she could play the victim.
@February-Pices: No she didn’t. Kayne and Kim got caught lying about her.
She did write a song about hiddleston called Getaway Car. It’s Calvin Harris that has to worry cause they dated for years but she never wrote anything about him
Taylor and Calvin dated for a little over a year, not for “years” so it wasn’t that long of a relationship. But at the time, it was her longest relationship to date (now it’s Joe Alwyn, they truly have been together for years) so my feeling is it was probably a pretty devastating breakup for her. I think she has written about him, just the fans haven’t figured out which songs are about him.
Gateaway Car is about Hiddleston? Heh. Then he’s lucky, her lover in that song seems blameless.
Maybe Calvin Harris should feel worse than any of them for not inspiring any songs. He was with her for a year but so vanilla she apparently skipped right over him and wrote about her rebound boyfriend instead. 😀
She won’t mess with Calvin. He stood up for himself & that shut her up quick.
I’m glad she waited so long to release the long, full of details version. The 5 min version has enough details that True Fans could figure out who is was about, but not so much that people couldn’t see themselves in the song. If the full length song had come out back then, it would have been fodder for gossip, but probably not as loved as the shorter, tighter song has become.
But time has passed, and now Taylor is in a much better place to say, Oh yeah, here’s the real story. Having the actors in the short film be the right ages just demonstrates even more the age difference between the two. And details like he met her parents, she met his mother and saw the photo album. If this was a casual fling, you don’t meet the family! No wonder she thought it was Serious.
Jake G isn’t the first guy to screw around with the emotions of a young woman, but dayum, he shouldn’t have messed with a songwriter who could memorialize his d-bag actions for all time.
One of her new songs, “I bet you think about me”, is arguably even worse because it portrays him as a huge pretentious hipster d-bag. Like, I now totally understand why Jake doesn’t have long-term relationships. I don’t think it’s him choosing not to do so, although being in love with his own reflection likely makes things easier for him. Sounds like he loved putting her down and making her feel inadequate and unworthy of his pretentious a-hole time. With respect to All Too Well, I really love the new parts. The song doesn’t feel 10 minutes at all.
He’s been dating the same French model since 2018 actually, he doesn’t consistently have 3 month relationships with women in their early twenties. I saw them out in public together once, she was pretty low key. But yes, she is significantly younger than him, I think she’s 25 which means she was 22ish when they first got together. He does consistently have relationships with much younger women as we know though and that is an issue.
I want to say accusations of Jake being pretentious and only liking bands before others ‘discovered’ them being brought up after he stopped dating Reese Witherspoon too
I’m in love with this velvet outfit.
I’m just saying it now early in the comments – she is not hanging on to this relationship. She is reclaiming her music in the most spectacular way possible. She’s been in multiple relationships since Jake—her last two albums do not refer to any specific ex or boyfriend at all. So the “oh she sings about every guy” isn’t really true at this point.
This is about taking her music back. And I really think she’s also doing it as a gift to her fans.
I loved the film – the aesthetic is perfect and it made me understand the 10-minute version of the song so much better. It doesn’t feel that long at all, and I keep thinking about it even when I’m not listening. This album came out after I was newly married, but the themes resonate for many reasons—past relationships. And her songwriting skills (at 22 even!) are so good.
I’m probably in the minority, but the original version of All Too Well is much better IMO. The 10 min version is just too awkward or something.
I agree. The original version is a stronger song. The longer version is fun as a novelty, but weaker as a song. I also didn’t like the short film (I didn’t watch the whole thing). To me, it was far too literal. Sometimes more is not better.
The problem is that these self-centred men never do remember you well. You were just a piece of arm candy, or as I was once referred to, as ‘young ass’, but they move on once the limerence phase has passed.
Ironically, I bet he doesn’t think about her at all. With those types, once they’re done, they’re done.
Are you aware that she’s JUST released a video for her song I bet you still think about me? Just thought it’s funny you said this lol.
Katherine, I’m not aware of that at all. I have no idea what the song is about. But I am betting, knowing the type, that he doesn’t think about her. Because guys like that do not. As soon as they’re done, that’s it. So while it’s comforting to think a guy is still thinking about you, I bet in this case, he isn’t.
Well, he’s someone else’s problem now. Taylor has moved on nicely.
I think it’s a really good song, and brilliantly evokes how that kind of heady young romance/love can leave a lasting mark, for better or worse. I do think it’s interesting that she talks about the red scarf, how he kept it because it reminded him of her, the best thing he ever lost, etc. Maybe that’s how it was and maybe it wasn’t. If he’s as big a douche as the song and short film make him out to be, he probably moved on and never looked back. But, it does make for a better song and story this way.
Apparently after Red came out Jake Gyllenhaal called her and said something like the album was like looking thru a photo album of memories and thanked her.
As Colin Jost said on Weekend Update Saturday night: “Just give her back the scarf!”
Ha! That’s perfect.
It can both be true that it is not mentally heathy to dwell on a bad relationship from 10 years ago and that artists often create great art by doing so.
She’s not dwelling on a relationship from 10 years ago — this song was written when Red came out and she’s releasing the full 10-minute version now. It wasn’t just written or anything.
She chose to write and direct a short film based on the song, a not insignificant endeavor, casting and writing it in a way to tie it to the old relationship. This is a choice, which could be seen as growing and finding closure. It could also be seen as unhealthily dwelling on a long past relationship. I don’t know the woman.
After letting it grow on me a bit, I love the 10 minute version and it was great seeing her perform it on SNL.
Contrary to public opinion, I think the song is mostly fictional and/or not specifically about Jake, and I think this theory is supported by author!Taylor in the music video publishing All Too Well *A Novel* and reading it in a detached manner while her fans hang on her every word crying.
I think it is specifically about Jake, or at least based on that relationship. But I don’t think the fact that she re-released it in a longer version means that she’s dwelling on it in an unhealthy way. She wrote the original song when the emotions were more raw. Now a decade later, she’s looking back, touching an old (pretty much healed) wound and recalling the story through the an older and wiser lens.
Agree with all of this Ann.
I agree that the fact that she released a song she originally wrote years ago doesn’t mean she’s still dwelling on the subject. That’s an odd suggestion to me — fans have known the extended version exists for years and she’s finally releasing it as a gift to fans and to make Red (Taylor’s Version) even more compelling. I think it’s a great idea.
I love this take!
I’m NOT a fan of hers, and she’s always a bit pitchy when she sings live so I tend to avoid, but yes, I watched the entire 10 minutes on SNL. I had not heard the song before, so I initially did not understand why someone as young as Sadie Sink was starring in the video being projected onto the wall behind the band. (A couple minutes in I gasped and asked “is this about Jake Gyllenhaal?” to which my husband returned an extremely blank stare.) The lyric “casually cruel in the name of honesty” (I think?) caught me off-guard when I heard it, and I realized she’s actually a pretty good songwriter, probably.
To Case’s point, I thought it was probably fictional, in the sense that sometimes storytelling can feel much more truthful when it IS fiction, as opposed to being an exacting record of events. Then again, I thought “Cat Person” in the New Yorker was fiction, so who knows.
I love Taylor Swift, and Red (TV) is a delight. I spent the whole weekend listening to it. The 10 minute version of “all too well” is amazing. I have no “himpathy,” to quote Kate Manne, for any of the male characters in her songs.
I think when she wrote it all then, she was processing her relationship, but now I feel like she’s having fun with it and reclaiming her music (both the masters and sort of spiritually, because I doubt a label would have let her release a 10m version then). I’m not a swiftie by any means and I’m a few years older than Taylor but honestly all I think when I see and hear what she’s doing is GOOD FOR HER. For too long we’ve asked women to make themselves small or told them they’re hysterical or whatever. Have fun, feel your feelings, let it out, whatever. Idk it just feels like she’s owning her past, having fun with it, making it her own – unapologetically. And also the power of performing a 10m song on SNL. Frankly I’m impressed.
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
A friend of mine’s stepdaughter dated Jake for a brief period of time and said he was super narcissistic and referred to himself in the third person. So, none of this surprises me about him.
Noooooo!!!! LOL, this is going to ruin “October Sky” for me and I love that movie! Young Jake gave such a moving performance as Homer Hickham. I’m going to have to forget I read this. And remind my daughter not to date Jake. She’s not too young for him, apparently…..
I am not surprised. I watched the video short story above and my takeaway was that the relationship was all about how good it made him feel, like she was ancillary to the whole thing.
Referred to himself in third person ffs??!
They dated for two months TEN YEARS AGO. GET OVER IT.
This is about losing the rights to the songs originally recorded and re-recording them in a power move, not still thinking about a three month relationship years later. Google Scooter Braun buying Taylor Swift’s music – and licensing fees.
That’s like saying no singer can ever release a greatest hits album, or re-record an old song, or perform an old song at a concert. It’s part of her body of work, she can do whatever she wants with it.
That’s not how art works.
I think the reason I never cared for Taylor writing about highly publicized relationships is that it never feels general enough for me to apply it to my own life, it becomes “That Jake G” song in my own head and it feels like a chore to listen to. Even if she’s never publicly confirmed details, the fans are adamant about it enough so I’m aware of the song’s mythology. Love songs/break up songs are presumably about *someone*, but knowing who it is kills the listening experience because it’s too specific. I certainly don’t give a toss about Jake and his behavior is completely gross, but I don’t enjoy any of her autobiographical break up jams for this same reason. The video was lovely to watch, and I will always be proud of Taylor for re-recording her masters after Scooter stripped them from her.
I appreciate your comment in sum, and I especially appreciate the left turn it took toward the end. I think I feel exactly the same way about it. Good stuff.
I listened to the 10 minute version and had all the feels because it reminded of me that age, of those heartbreaks and I have younger relative going through something similar right now (young woman being jerked around by an older, more experienced man) and I know that listening to the song, hearing Taylor put it all out there has really hit her hard and made her feel less alone.
Plus I have no sympathy for Jake who is still dating women in their 20s. Just like I would have no sympathy if Leo was put on blast (and that line in The Man always makes me chuckle). You know what you do if you don’t want nasty songs written about you? Don’t treat women like crap.
Longtime fan of Taylor’s music. I enjoyed the 10-minute version, but like others have said, I’m glad it was the original that made the cut. Still, some of the new lyrics were really amazing.
Regarding the film- it was aesthetically lovely but kind of a letdown for me due to how literal parts were, ie when she sings lyrics about wind in her hair and it cuts to a previous scene of Sadie in the car with wind in her hair, or when it’s crumpled up paper on the floor, and Sadie literally crumpled up paper at the typewriter. I did like the set up then for how Her was a writer, though.
The end- the man with the scarf looking into the window- I think even without the context of the song, the ending is a little precious/unrealistic. With the context, it is just kind of sad and not in a good way- like an oh girl, he definitely doesn’t care anymore kind of way.
Artists use their lives as source material. If you don’t want a song written about you, don’t date a songwriter.
This, for god’s sake.
So says Fall Out Boy “ I’m just a notch in your bedpost, but you’re just a line in a song”
Haha, love that!
Taylor seems to occupy this space in many peoples mind where she is just every nasty woman trope rolled into one.
In these comments alone I’ve seen it said she’s using her trauma for attention, she should just ‘get over it’, poking fun at her trauma (just give her the scarf back!) etc.
Early adult relationships can be very impactful. Emotional and mental abuse and manipulation can leave lasting scars. And every other musician writes about their love life. You’re so vain, ain’t no Sunshine, Don’t Speak, Jolene, etc etc
We’ve got musicians signing about rape (Thicke and Pharell), stalking and gaslighting (Drake), killing women (Eminem), calling them crazy, diminishing them, disrespecting them, and yet Taylor is stuck with this constant ‘teen girl’ label.
I can’t help but feel a lot of people who don’t want the tea spilled prefer their ignorance and bliss.
A+ Comment!
It’s always okay for men to not only treat women like crap but to profit from it. What has people so upset is Taylor has the power to return the fire.
So she speaks publicly about the crappy behavior most women have been subjected to, and the good girls cheerlead for the patriarchy saying she should be quiet and get over it and the men condescend to her but she just keeps winning.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 💯
Women aren’t supposed to feel, didn’t you know? They are supposed to just suck it up and be quiet. And if you do speak up? Then you are crazy or trying to ruin someone’s life or make money. Women become perpetrators when they dare to stand up to men. It is disturbing and disgusting.
I just watched the film and damn, it totally reminded me of one short relationship in particular. Actually, we circled back to one another more than once but each time, it was the same.
I listened to the song and watched her performance on SNL this weekend live. I haven’t seen the movie yet but the movie played behind her during her 10 minute performance so I got enough of a gist. I celebrate Taylor’s freedom to own her own music and to bask in the triumph of the re-recording of Red. And I’m sure at 21 or 22, however old she was when she dated Jake, his dumping felt like the biggest deal on the planet and now looking back she’s probably like “what an idiot I was to even date him.” But even a decade ago, her habit of writing about her short 2-3 month relationships where she always played the victim made me sick of her. Her entire Reputation album was mostly about getting revenge on Kim and Kanye lol. So good for her and everything, but a tiger doesn’t change its stripes. She’s still as annoying as she’s ever been.
It’s a massive exaggeration to say Reputation is *mostly* about Kimye. There’s one song that briefly references them.
I used to agree that her intense songs about brief relationships were ridiculous. But I think she’s had several relationships with women that have lasted longer and that she hasn’t made public. Changes her entire catalog for me.
I was a huge TS fan after her first album, but it became the running joke in our house that every time she would have a new single/album out my mom would say “Oh Lord, who’s done her wrong now?”
So in other words you’ve never actually listened to reputation.
Look What You Made Me Do was such an awful song, I had no desire to listen to the rest of that mess. I heard a few of the others on the radio and really didn’t think they were that great. And maybe the whole album wasn’t about Kim and Kanye but the promotion of it and Look What You Made Me Do made it feel like it, it was exhausting.
Most of the songs on reputation are about getting that good d*ck. Def not about kanye. Getaway Car, don’t blame me, and I did something bad are so good
The story with All Too Well from the start has always been that the original cut was much longer than the album cut. And it’s probably the song that many people can agree is her GOAT. So knowing that this wonderful song originally was super long – I think her co-writer said it was the first one she wrote for Red and that it was also 20 minutes long – why wouldn’t we want to hear it? If she’s releasing stuff from the vault?
It makes me appreciate the album cut even more because I think how it’s edited is so masterful. But I enjoy how much angrier the longer cut is. It really takes me back to my own relationship like this, which lasted 5-6 months officially but was more like 4 years with all the back and forth and dbaggery and gaslighting I was subjected to before I finally had enough.
They both sound like teenagers. The angst over silly shit. I remember all too well my own young dumbass lol.
But sure she has a right to sing or say whatever she wants.
Prince did it first and he did it better. As usual.
Agree 100%.
So?
Ehhh. Of course Taylor Swift has no obligation to “get over” anything and is free to dwell on a past relationship as much as she likes. And of course she, like all artists, has free rein to use her own experiences creatively. I have no beefs with any of that. And yet, all of this rehashing of old drama just leaves me cold. The feeling of her marching through her past relationships from a decade ago is just…I just don’t care about any of it, I guess. But so many people do care that it feels ubiquitous and hard to escape. I understand the logistical, practical purpose of it, to reclaim her ownership of all those earlier works, and that’s great from a business perspective. But artistically, none of this has the slightest interest for me compared to Folklore, for example, which I adored. Looking forward to all these reissues being behind us.
Yes to all of this. Folklore showed such growth, this is just a artistic rehash of the past but good for her for capitalizing on the business opportunity when presented.
I think people forget that Jake Gyllenhaal has been a huge actor for a long time. He’s also incredibly well connected in Hollywood. I’m Taylor’s age and I grew up watching a lot of Jake Gyllenhaal during my teenage years.
Yes, she was a Grammy winning artist, but there was still a huge power differential at play. Not to mention experience. 30 year old women have the experience to see through the bullshit 20 year olds do not.
I can’t watch the video at work. 😩 Can someone offer the cliff notes on what he did to her?
He appeared to be all in on being in love but never said it and was selfish and gaslightly, then suddenly and unilaterally decided to end it.
I mean…if he never told her he loved her then it doesn’t seem like he was being very “gaslighty.” He didn’t love her and she loved him so they broke up after two or three months.
And she has every right to write songs about that. Artists rely on their personal experiences! And a breakup at 20 with a first (or one of the first) loves is traumatic and painful and can feel absolutely devastating. I just don’t people then using that art to make unfounded assumptions that the persons the artist is singing about is abusive or a terrible person. A person is not a bad person because they decide after 2 or 3 months to end a relationship, especially when it’s clear the feelings are not mutual anymore (at least not to the same degree).
I just kind of skimmed through it looking for the dirt and only really saw one argument about whether he was ignoring her at a dinner party that was over in like 20 seconds with him apologizing so I don’t really follow why we are supposed to think he is bad now? It just looks like a young lust/love situation with a guy who didn’t want what she wanted out of it which sucks but it’s not exactly damning of him.
I think Taylor is a talented artist and I do like some of her work though it took many years to listen her music. I do think that Taylor weaponizes her white woman tear and anger. I was disgusted by her lashing out against Ginny & Georgia show KNOWING that her army of Swift Derangers would attack the actors. And sure enough Antonia Gentry got the brunt of it. So I just think she needs to be better. And she’s also friends with Lena Dunham and that tells me a lot.
I’ve been in luv with Dylan O’Brien since teen wolf but can’t bring myself to watch the video lol. But I did listen to some songs on the album and fell in love (Ronan, sad beautiful tragic). I’ve grown to like Taylor more as I’ve grown up bc I’ve learned in the past year or so I have been gaslit in past relationships and didn’t even know it. You learn as you grow and I def respect Taylor for sharing her story. It’s quite refreshing actually.
I find it profoundly disturbing that so many people can’t seem to understand that this is not a new song, but the original long version, written 10 years ago, which got shortened for the album.
And she has now re-recorded and released this 10 year old song!!!
If this is so hard to grasp, why are we so surprised by the way ppl are reacting to the pandemic or other more serious issues? 🙁
Well personally, for me, I never really listened to Taylor swift before (she annoyed me). I’m 28. So this all came out when I was 18 and naive and now I’m learning a whole lot about myself and my past relationships. So it’s basically schooling a whole new generation about gaslighting and toxic relationships. And it’s nice to not have to think about the pandemic for 5 seconds and enjoy new songs (for ppl who haven’t heard them before). YES as a teenage girl i didn’t like Taylor swift LOL
I know this isn’t a new song and I know why she rerecorded it. But it’s still somewhat embarrassing she is so willing to dredge all this up again. I cringe for her.
I’m sure she doesn’t care that you think it’s embarrassing, and enjoy your cringe.😂
So, @Bobbie, you just want to bash her songwriting, her marketing, and her willingness to give her fans what they want. My guess is you aren’t her business manager, and her bank and investment accounts are very grateful.
That’s for sure. She has a heck of a lot more money than I have and this will be a big hit. Apparently, other women out there can relate to her shamelessness and victimhood.
Also just listened to mad woman for the first time and it’s one of my new favs. I’m on a Taylor swift discovery tour 😅
Mad woman is one of my favorites from that album. SO good.
I just feel validated because I’ve always found Jake Gyllenhaal gross. Something about his smarmy, smug face gave me bad vibes. I have friends who loved him and they didn’t understand why he made my skin crawl. He has some decent movies, but always seemed like a slimy douchebag to me. Then we find out he doesn’t shower, that tracks. Now we get more info on how he treats women, that also tracks. He is gross and I don’t feel sorry for him. It’s Taylor’s story too and she can tell it as many times as she wants. I don’t think she is hung up on him anymore at all. I think she is looking back and thinking, I can’t believe I was so hung up on that fool. She is lightyears more talented than he is and she is down to earth. He is a pretentious, fake hipster, mediocre actor. His sister is better than him. He probably knows he sucks, so he needs to date way too young and buy stupid shoes…he is painfully pathetic. I hope he cried in the shower after he got “bullied” online. Boo fucking hoo. He will be fine…and for some reason women will continue to fawn over him. Men will probably start liking him more now too, since the video probably triggered their hatred of successful women and their misogyny. Taylor is a bad ass bitch and she is good to her fans. I’ve heard nothing but terrible things about how Jake treats his. He is trash…Taylor is just finally putting him where he belongs..in the metaphorical dumpster.
This remind me of Jake being on Ellen years ago promoting a play he was doing in NYC I believe so the tourists in her studio audience didn’t react much but then she changed the subject and put a picture up of him shirtless from a previous film he’d done so of course the audience reacted and he got mad. ‘really? You react to that but not the play? It’s a great play’ rolled his eyes a bit too. I thought hed be offended if they hadn’t reacted to him shirtless. he wasn’t seeing who her audience was if he was mad they reacted like that. They’re locals on a day off after a liquid lunch with friends or tourists on vacation, it’s not necessarily a Broadway audience
I agree his sister is better but he is a pretty good actor. He and Taylor aren’t in the same artistic field so it’s kind of apples and oranges.
I watched it twice and I still don’t get what makes “Jake” a d-bag. They dated it was fun then he broke up with her and she was hurt and angry. I don’t even like Gyllenhaal and still don’t see the problem.🙄
I guess you gotta look at the references that people are guessing it’s about him: he didn’t like her music and made it known (her latest video included a red scarf, and that song and We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together both reference a boyfriend that preferred indie music), he didn’t show up for her 21st birthday party which she spent waiting for him to show, they were apparently on and off, and I guess he didn’t like her sense of humour (the latest music video, and Begin Again).
I don’t think Jake was an abuser or anything to that level to her, but he seemed to be a bad boyfriend to her if those references are truly about him (only Taylor and Jake knows, because All Too Well and all the other references are only attributed to Jake by her fans).
That being said, Taylor said an ex contacted her telling her he found her songs bittersweet years ago. She compared it to another guy who wrote long angry emails. But most people think Jake was the former ex who was pretty cool with it.
Maybe it’s because I like Jake, but I can enjoy this song for being a story about falling in love, breaking up, and the relationship that you had being so hard to get over. I don’t think he’s a d-bag. Going by the song, I do think there were unequal power dynamics in part due to age, and that sucks. But I don’t think it was abusive. And I don’t really think that’s what she’s saying, either.
That scene in the kitchen is textbook gaslighting
Yeah… she was gaslighting him. I mean… I honestly was on his side during this argument.
Welp. After listening to that, I’ll be listening to her on spotify.
She’s not dredging up her relationships from years ago for the drama of it all, she’s re-recording and re-releasing her discography to take ownership of her art, and it just happens to include the songs about her exes from years ago. Creating the 10 minute version of the Jake song is a way for her to differentiate and promote the re-recording from the original version so people will buy it. C’mon people. She’s not obsessed over one short term relationship among many from over a decade ago. Although it is kind of funny that this ancient history is coming back to bite him in this way, and I actually generally like Jake Gyllenhaal. But yeah.
What a dumb thing to say, doesn’t make him a dbag because he broke her immature heart, what first love isn’t crushing or any love if one is infatuated and one is not,
I’m all for artists writing and singing about their personal pain and relationships. Taylor should be able to do that. I’m just not following what he supposedly did that was “abusive,” or even toxic. It seems like a case where they fell hard for each other at first but then he lost interest after a month or two and he dumped her. And that sucks and it hurts and it can feel like a betrayal. And he may not have handled it great. All to Well is a great breakup song. I love breakup songs and in particular love to listen to them when I’ve felt heartbroken and screwed over in a relationship. But calling the ex “abusive” or even just “toxic” just because he/she/they broke up with someone and broke a heart seems unfounded and dangerous. I don’t even think Taylor has referred to her relationship with Jake G as abusive.
Exactly.
Jake was 9 years older and I think in the video the real life actors are 10 years apart. It really drives home the maturity and power division. Sadie Sink is lovely and she does a great channeling of Taylor here.
Not some of you caping for JG’s UNWASHED ass. My goodness. 🤮
There was a power dynamic and an age discrepancy that Taylor captures quite well. The man in the film viewed the world through his thirty-something lens, and did not even consider that his much younger girlfriend might feel swallowed up. The song is more than just about a scarf; it is about her first time and him ghosting her on her 21st birthday. He was condescending and trite and how many women have been made to feel this way?
If the video shows what was real to her, I can picture why Jake, at about 35 didnt pursue the relationship. The kitchen scene about the hand drop was a little cringe for me. I’m too old to relate now. I can understand her disappointment, but I also can relate to Jake being too mature for this for details like that. It’s nothing out of the ordinary, I mean these things could happen to any couple. I dont feel jake is am a–hole for this. The age difference just jumps out to me. Also, were they broken up when she was waiting for him on her birthday? It felt like she wanted him to show up, but they were already done. Anyways, good thing they’re all happy now, many years after this. It’s just a song, and i’m happy she shared the story with us. Art is all about sharing and representing a unique reality on something real or imagined.
I wonder, does he really still hold on to her scarf…and how does she know this?
I saw a photo collage today where there was a picture of Taylor + Jake walking down the street and she’s wearing a scarf (not red lol), then a picture of her wearing that scarf and shopping with Maggie Gylenhaal, then a photo of Jake by himself WEARING THE SAME SCARF. I died. So great.
I seriously doubt he still has it now. She wrote the song soon after they broke up. It feels like a running joke now.
This song came out after I married my husband. But way back when I turned 21 (before I was with my now husband), I invited an ex boyfriend to my party. I had loved him, we dated a year and was brokenhearted about when we broke up, even though it really was mutual. It had been months since we broke up, and we stayed friends, but being honest, I would have been devastated if he hadn’t come to my party. He did come, and it still was bittersweet, but I felt that particular scene / part of the song very much.
Me: I think the scarf is a metaphor (not sure if that’s the right word🥺) for …. Well… cherry. Virginity … which is a sexist concept. But that’s how she can say I know you still have it . Basing this on an above comment and some comments on YT
So…Alice Evans should shut up about Ioan Gruffudd, but why should Taylor shut up? LOL. They’re both narcissistic egomaniacs who won’t shut up about their admittedly jerk ex- partners, but somehow everything Taylor does is empowering and brilliant.
What an utterly weird comment. Taylor writes songs. Alice rants about her ex on social media. That you even think the two are comparable is just 🙄
And this song is a 10 year old song that was re-recorded it’s not like she just wrote it..
One is losing her mind od social media while drinking wine and popping pills and neglecting her children. The other wrote a song.
Spot the difference.
Lol, this is the craziest comment I’ve read today. Alice Evans is a lunatic.
I think they’re both equally vindictive narcissists and ego-maniacs, but only one of them is smart enough to wrap it up nicely and make millions of dollars from it. I also don’t find anything artistic in Taylor’s songs and god help us if this is considered “great music” these days. It’s basically Alice’s instagram posts attached to pop music.
Hmm I’m still figuring my opinion about this. I look back at my own life and remember similar experiences that I am rather ashamed of. So on one hand I’m embarrassed for her for bringing this up, for showing herself as this naive, but on the other, she drags him under the bus too, and for that maybe it’s worth it.
I’m not sure why people think publicly shaming someone, if it’s in the form of art, means the artist is always in the right.
Why am I to believe so many of Taylor’s exes are these emotionally abusive, scarred her for life men, just because she, ONE person, said so in a song. And many of these are like 10 minute relationships.
Imagine if the truth is that these men simply didn’t hit it off with her and broke it off, but she gets so bent out of shape when a man rejects her, that she seeks cut throat revenge?
Remember how she twisted the truth about Joe Jonas, claiming he broke up with her in a 30 second phone call, when he later said she hung up on him.
Remember when she broke up with Calvin Harris, then divulged that she was a secret writer of a Calvin Harris song, making him seem like he did her wrong. Until Calvin clapped back and told us Taylor had asked to be anonymous.
Even that Kanye crap was a bit misleading as we found out he had asked her permission for some parts of his song, while she never divulged that little tidbit of info.
She slut shamed a girl when who knows if this girl even cheated with Taylor’s man when the were still together.
She bitched about Katy Perry stealing back up singers when we later learned they were on a long break between Taylor’s shows, and available. She could have paid to retain them but didn’t. So of course they chose to be available and of course they were free for the taking.
She won’t go after Calvin you notice because he came back at her when she pulled her crap and that shut her right up. But most people don’t want a public argument so we only hear her very one sided story.
Edit to Katy Perry. These were Katy Perry back up dancers originally. There was a break in her show. They took a job with Taylor. There is typically a contract with back up dancers that has 30 day requirement to work after one puts in their resignation clause with dancers, and this was true with the dancers for Swift. They did indeed put that resignation in when Perry’s show was going to return. Taylor fired them immediately rather than keep them for the 30 days. Seems like the back up dancers would rather work for Perry than Swift. Wonder why?