Like most everyone in the country this past week, I have been obsessing over Taylor Swift’s release of Red (Taylor’s Version). I was also ecstatic to listen to the 10 minute version of one of the biggest heartbreak songs, but, on the morning after the release, my roommate told me that she liked the original “All Too Well” because the 10 minute version lost all of its anger. So, naturally, I had to listen to that song immediately. And I agree; the enraging anger from the shorter All Too Well was lost, however, I do not believe that that is a bad thing. In place of the anger we all felt almost 10 years ago is a matured and sorrowful pain caused by an aged understanding.
It is obvious that Taylor Swift wrote the newer lyrics recently because they resemble her current aestheticism of folklore and evermore more than they do that of the lyrics in Red. “Kept me like a secret, but I kept you like an oath,” is a beautiful and matured line on par with the lyric “you had a speech your speechless, love slipped beyond your reaches, and I couldn’t give a reason,” from her evermore album. Because of this, the 10 minute Version of All Too Well is less focused on being angry at Jake Gyllenhaal, and more focused on the pain he cause 20 year old Taylor Swift.
Over 10 years later, Taylor Swift now has experience of a 30 year old in a relationship with a 20 year old. She can see how those extra 10 years leave too much room for manipulation, abuse, and gaslighting. She is looking back at the younger her and feeling a older-sister like pain for her because no one should have to go through what Jake Gyllenhaal put her through.
So while, yes, All Too Well (Taylor’s Version) (10 Minute Version) isn’t the song you scream in the shower, it has matured into the song you savor and digest to understand the pain of a broken relationship.