If you're a fan of Taylor Swift, it's likely that you'll have heard the folklore (lol) behind "All Too Well," undeniably one of the standout tracks from her fourth album, Red.
The song was released in 2012, and has been a fan favourite ever since, and as a result has been the subject of years of speculation, both over who it's about and how it was written.
Long story short, the 10-minute version of "All Too Well" has been a fandom in-joke/meme/we're-actually-kinda-serious-about-wanting-to-hear-it-tho ever since.
Well, during an appearance on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums podcast released on Tuesday, Taylor opened up a little about the creative process of making Red, including an extended version (sorry) of the story behind "All Too Well."
"It was a day when I was just, like, a broken human, walking into rehearsal just feeling terrible about what was going on in my personal life," Taylor said of the day she wrote the song.
"It literally just was that song, but it had probably seven extra verses and it included the f-word," she laughed.
Going on to speak about fans' overwhelmingly positive reaction to the song, Taylor said it was completely unexpected, because it was never released as a single.
"It wasn't a single, and it didn't have a video — all these ways that I was taught music permeated culture," she said. "I didn't see that happening with that song."
"I really didn't pick that one," Taylor concluded. "I thought it was too dark, too sad, too intense. It's fun when things surprise you like that."
