Taylor Swift’s Version of ‘All Too Well’ Still Isn’t the Original Version
It’s a good time to be a Taylor Swift fan. In the past 14 months, Swift has gifted her fans with not one but three albums. Back in July of 2020, Swift shocked the world by releasing her eighth studio album, folklore. But there was plenty more where that came from and in December of 2020, she released folklore’s sister album, evermore. Just a few months later the “All Too Well” singer released Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and she’s currently gearing up to release Red (Taylor’s Version) in November.
Though Red doesn’t have as many prestigious awards as some of Swift’s other albums, it certainly is a favorite amongst loyal Swifties. The album reeks of all the joys and pains of love and heartbreak. Furthermore, it showed that Swift was unafraid to experiment with new sounds and genres. Red is also home to one of Swift’s most well-loved songs, “All Too Well”.
Taylor Swift reveals it took fans years to recognize ‘All Too Well’ as one of her best songs
“All Too Well” is a nostalgic look into a love that was lost. It is a song that Swifties belt when they are experiencing Swift in concert. Furthermore, it’s easily one of Swift’s most emotional melodies. But according to the talented songwriter, it took years for her fans to truly recognize that “All Too Well” was one of the best songs on Red.
“I think it often takes a lot of time for people to understand how they feel about music,” Swift shared with Rolling Stone. “And I know that now because there’s a song on Red called “All Too Well” that I’m really, really proud of, and it took people about three years to note that that was one of the best songs. I didn’t see that starting to pop up when people would talk about my music until about two or three years after the album had its moment.”
The ‘Cardigan’ singer promised fans a 10-minute version of the tune on ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’
Knowing how loved “All Too Well” now is, Swift has decided to gift fans with the ultimate treat. For years, it’s been common knowledge amongst Swifties that a 10-minute version of the tune exists and fans have been dying to hear it. Fortunately, for them, Swift has decided to include it on Red (Taylor’s Version).
“Sometimes you need to talk it over (over and over and over) for it to ever really be… over,” Swift shared about the heartbreak that inspired Red. “Like your friend who calls you in the middle of the night going on and on about their ex, I just couldn’t stop writing. This will be the first time you hear all 30 songs that were meant to go on Red. And hey, one of them is even ten minutes long.”
‘All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)’ still isn’t the original song Swift wrote
Naturally, fans are extremely excited to hear “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” on November 19. However, the 10-minute version is not the original version or even the longest version of the tune. In an interview with the Dallas Observer, Liz Rose, who co-wrote the song with Swift, revealed that the original version of “All Too Well” exceeds 20 minutes.
“She had this long story and musically all the things she wanted to put in it,” Rose shared about Swift’s initial rendition of “All Too Well.” “It was probably a 20-minute song when it called me. And she knew I could help her whittle it down and work on the brilliant pieces of it.” While we’re sure that some Swifties would love to hear an even longer version of the song, we’re confident that the 10-minute version of “All Too Well” will be more than sufficient.
