Last night, Taylor Swift dropped her re-recording of her album Red. Taylor has been methodically re-recording her albums as a way to devalue the original albums, the masters of which were sold to Scooter Braun, who then sold the Swift masters to Shamrock (he also sold off all of the other Big Machine masters to HYBE for a huge profit). Even though Scooter no longer owns any part of her catalogue, Taylor is still doing these re-recordings. For the Red rerecording, she added some songs which didn’t make it onto the original album, and fans are getting a long extended track of “All Too Well,” which is about her breakup with Jake Gyllenhaal in 2010. Tay was on the Tonight Show last night and she talked about how happy she is with all of this:
Taylor Swift’s reworking of her seminal 2012 album, Red, has been released to much fanfare. But just before it did, the pop megastar revealed what she finds most exciting about the album’s release. Red (Taylor’s Version) dropped on streaming services on Friday and the 30 track album features new versions of beloved songs such as the title track “Red” and “All Too Well.”
The re-recording of “All Too Well,” which is famously about the singer’s break up with Jake Gyllenhaal, is the thing she is most excited about on Red (Taylor’s Version).
“And that’s the thing I’m the most excited about, ’cause it’s the original lyrics,” Swift said during an appearance on The Tonight Show on Thursday. The 31-year-old told host Jimmy Fallon: “I’m really excited about it. I’ve been going through the process of re-recording all of my older music and in the process I’ve dug up these songs that I wrote along the way that didn’t make the album because I thought ‘I want to save this for the next album’—but then next album would be a completely different thing.”
She added: “It turns out this [album] is an opportunity for me to go back and re-record all the music that was on the original album and then what I’m really excited about is a few songs that no one has ever heard before that were supposed to be on that album.”
As for “All Too Well,” the updated version is 10 minutes long, Swift revealed to Fallon. “When I was writing the Red album I knew I had a favorite on the album and it was a song called “All Too Well,” she explained. “But oftentimes, my personal favorites don’t line up with songs that end up being singles or having videos, I always just have these favorites where I’m like ‘that one is just my favorite.’ But what happened with this album, is this song became the fans’ favorite on its own. My favorite and their favorite aligned.”
Apparently, she made a “short film” for “All Too Well,” which just sounds like a music video for the 10-minute-long song. The Snake Fam has been very excited about all of this, and I can only imagine that Jake Gyllenhaal is less than thrilled. Their relationship only lasted three months! LOL. Whatever, snake fam. Enjoy yourselves.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid and Taylor’s Instagram.
Unapologetic Taylor fan here. All Too Well is an excellent song to belt out in the car when you’re in your feels and I am excited for a longer version
Same here! “Soooo casually cruel in the name of being honest…la la la”
I’m a huge fan too. I know many people are just now coming around to her, but I’ve loved her from the start. I think Taylor is a great lyricist (1989, the entire album, just might be the best example of her skills, but Red isn’t far behind, in my opinion).
(As a side note, one of the biggest reasons I love Taylor is that she inspired a lot of girls to pick up a guitar. I started playing when I was 4 or 5, and for the longest time, I was the only guitar chick I knew. After Taylor came along, I suddenly had like, half a dozen friends who begged their parents for lessons and flocked to me for tips!)
Me too. And l let’s please remember that Taylor was what – 20-21? when she dated Jake. And he was just as thirsty as she was.
Red has always been my favorite album of hers and I love this re recorded Red. And I do think is fun to relive her 22 version of her life, but with a twist.
Same
Fans have been begging her for a 10 minute version of All Too Well for years so I’m not shocked that she’s excited about giving it to them.
I’m not sure it’s fair or reasonable to mock her for making a song because “Their relationship only lasted three months! LOL.” Can’t art/music be inspired by even a moment in time?
I would say she’s probably doing it more for her fans who have known about and been thirsting after this cut for years, but I can think back to ten years ago, and short flings, and would be annoyed by it being a big deal all over again. They’re both in long term relationships so I doubt they give much thought to each other anymore, but I think its more about that small subset of “fans” who already on social media are trashing Jake again.
Except she admited in Cowboys like Me that she was a hustler in her young days. You don’t get relevancy and success for only writing about boy-nextdoor songs for each album. Her each boyfriend has been her star vehicle since her breakout.
She didn’t admit to being a “Hustler” in cowboy like me? She literally wrote the song imaging two former con artists accidentally falling in love with each other? Also what exactly is “hustling” about writing your own life experiences. None of these arguments are ever applied to her male counterparts. So why exactly is it an issue when she chooses to write a song about a relationship she had, about heartbreak she went through? Why is not an issue when Ed Sheeran or John Mayer or Bruno Mars or the 1975 or any other damn male artist does it?
Why do you have a problem with Taylor doing the rerecordings? She just wants to own her own music.
I just…. like there is a way to frame things and feel about things that don’t make you seem like you’ve been in the same mental space since high school and yet…
For instance, “totally excited about this song because look, it’s good work, great lyrics, and I’m proud of that work” would make so much more sense and sound far less burn book 10th grade nonsense than it does now.
On the flip side, if Jake hadn’t dated someone already too young for him in the best of circumstances who had also proven herself emotionally immature even for her age and circumstances, there wouldn’t be anything for her to blather about.
Did we watch the same interview? She didn’t once mention the person All Too Well is about except when Seth asked a direct question and she replied that she hadn’t thought about how they feel about the re-release or the extended version. As for emotional immaturity, I think that’s solely the province of the man who can’t date a woman anywhere close to his own age.
Just imagine dating someone for 3 months and having a 10 minute song dragging you come out like 10 years later. Lololol
The real-life part of this is embarrassing, the actual art and the song are amazing though. Like, SO GOOD. I’ve heard the 10 min version already and wanna share it all over my social media but I think even if I add a disclaimer that it’s not aimed at any ex, people are gonna side eye it. It’s just a wonderful song and emotion to feel though
I am an old, and rarely anything approaching a fangirl, but I just love this woman and how smart, self-possessed, and articulate she is. Writing all of her own music and then taking it back from the ishtheads who manipulated the ownership! Also, props to her stylist. Everything about the look is perfect. I want that dress, or a version of it that would fit my old hippie body!
Agree with all of this – signed another old.
Cosigning as another old.
I am an old too and came to Taylor rather late, really loved 1989. But it was her first Netflix documentary that cemented my respect for her. I think she really sweats her decisions, and tries to be thoughtful. She knows that she has a lot of power and influence over her fans, and I think she would like to widen and leverage it for good. Her latest album, Folklore, is wonderful too. There must be something about her musicianship that is remarkable, she’s not the best singer, but for some reason her music resonates with me.
@TeeBee; Her latest album (if we don’t count her re-recorded version of Fearless that came out in April and the re-recorded Red that was released today) is actually Evermore! It came out last winter.
Same here!
Another old, and I am proud of her for not apologizing for saying what she feels. He was a grown man and knew what he was doing; playing with the emotions of a much younger woman. It may have been only three months, but it sounds as if he made quite a few promises in that short amount of time.
I’ve been in luvvv with Dylan since teen wolf and I won’t lie I haven’t heard this Taylor song, but since he’s in the new video I’m probably gonna give it a listen
Swiftie here. All Too Well has been a fan favourite for YEARS and during her Reputation Tour documentary on Netflix Taylor played this song as a surprise song during that concert and said (I’m paraphrasing this from my memory, so it could be inaccurate) that this song reminded her of such a sad time but her fans turned it into a happy song for her because they loved it so much.
Fans have been wanting the 10 minute version for years, so why wouldn’t Taylor be happy that it’s out now? She knows it will be a success.
And the lyrics of this new version hit HARD, especially after everything she has said about men taking advantage of women when her masters had been sold without her knowledge and considering how freaking YOUNG she was when she dated Jake (and John Mayer).
People like calling out men for dating younger women, but when the woman in question is Taylor Swift then she’s suddenly the only one to blame?
I think it’s helpful to remember she was 20-21 during that relationship and song writing. The whole “reminds you of innocence” lyric makes Jake come off as a mega-creep.
I had brief but intense relationships in my early 20s that totally destroyed me…. for a little while, lol. I think that is the emotional the point that Red grew out of. I think he really did number on her.
Yeah I’ve had short “flings” that left more of a mark on me than longer relationships where we just outgrew each other. Sometimes because you’re all in and it’s a fling to them, that wounds.
Yes! My shortest relationship was the one that left the deepest scars because I was deeply in love and he just left. I was also 20-21 at the time, now nearing 40 and married, and I still “remember it all too well.” Those early unrequited loves really do change us and leave us with a kind of grief no matter the length of the relationship. If I had written a masterpiece like All Too Well about that very painful but formative time in my life that other people resonated deeply with, I would feel proud to share those other painful pieces that got left on the cutting room floor years later, when I had gained some peace and perspective.
Listening to the album at work and oh god Ronan’s song is killing me. I’m using YouTube, so the video is playing as well and I have to pause and do something else every like 30-45 seconds cuz I’m going to bawl otherwise. All Too Well seems to drag so far, will have to give it a better chance when I get home.
I went and listened to some of the album today and I heard Ronan for the first time and fell in love. Same with state of grace, sad beautiful tragic and the moment I knew.
I get that this relationship deeply affected her, but since it was obviously a blip on his radar screen, I’d feel embarrassed to keep rehashing it, particularly after all these years. I would not want to rerelease this music. I’d be working on new stuff to reflect wherever I am now.
Well, she did just put out two albums full of new stuff last year? She seems to be able to do both.
i had to two very civil messages that i tried to post but never made it through moderation? This is kinda weird. Was it literally just because i questioned the writer of this post?
Yes, probably.
OMG, let it go already, way to milk something dry….
Hasn’t TS had half a dozen boyfriend since Jake dumped her? Shows total lack of creativity to dig up this relationship and song from the grave to sell her album. I listened to the song and it reminded me of R. Kelly’s Stuck in the Closet, way to long and over hyped
She did a favor for the fans. She doesn’t need to do anything to sell records 😂
Btw, why is this getting a pass and sympathy, but Alice Evans is being mocked and ridiculed? I fail to see how a 3 month old relationship when you’re barely out of your teens compares to a 20 year old relationship and two kids (and yes I loved and lost when I was a 20 year old too). I bet Evans writing songs about her ex-husband and crying on TV would be condemned by everyone for going overboard, yet this is getting praised as “art”? Give me a break.
To start off: Alice and Taylor’s relationship with Jake are not comparable at all. But you’re the only one comparing it. Anyway…
…Taylor and other song writers write songs about their emotions and experiences as part of their job and creative processes. You would have a point if we are talking about Taylor shit talking about Jake like she did with Joe Jonas when she was a teenager. But she isn’t.
Taylor never brought up Jake’s name-she was going to re release all of her past songs (pre 2020) anyway for above mentioned business and legal reasons-and because All Too Well was a standout song from her entire discography, she decided to do a music video for it. You wouldn’t say a single is rehashing things or not being able to move on if they keep performing a particular song, right?
Taylor has been in a LTR for years now too. Whatever she is doing is part of her job.
I agree with you, but the fact that Taylor is doing this purely for money (and not because she can’t move on) is what makes it worse to me honestly.
And sure she’s not name dropping “Jake” but she name dropped that maple latte you see her holding on that US weekly cover of them together, and since he’s the only dude she’s ever been pictured with holding that drink it’s basically the same as name dropping him…
Like obviously Alice has more to grieve about but if your main point is to simply say give Alice a break even if we don’t like her, she’s clearly going through something, then I would agree but it’s hard to argue about double standards when it’s apples to oranges ya know?
She’s doing her job solely for money, how dare she?!?!
What I admire very much about Taylor’s music is her ability to see her specific situations and translate them into songs that reflect something that feels very universal.
I read the headlines about this song being specifically cruel to Jake, and I read the lyrics, and I don’t see it.
“Lovers staying the same age” – it’s what everyone says about the Leonardo DiCaprio Girlfriend experience and may be the slight cut…
But him allegedly saying that if she was older it would have worked out, “casual cruelty”, etc, that doesn’t reflect badly on him- they are all things that more than just Jake had said.
Yeah I don’t see it as a dig to Jake. She’s close friends with Ryan Reynolds and he’s openly friends with Jake. She clearly wrote about the hurt she felt at that time, probably added new lyrics for the newer version that she thought it would fit or whatever. She’s not harassing Jake and she recently refused to name who it’s about when they asked her.
The news around Alice and her ex/soon to be ex husband (don’t know) is a circus and I don’t want to pile on because I do feel sympathy for anyone losing a husband, but I don’t see why these two pieces of gossip should be compared. all too well 10 minute version is a pure business move, perhaps to also appease fans.
I was really happy to see her re-record Red, and more specifically the song Ronan.
I knew Ronan and his family, and I know how much this song meant to that whole family.
*Edited to add*
The song is based on Ronan’s mom’s words <3