Taylor Swift has finally revealed details about the red scarf she wore in the All Too Well video, calling it a metaphor.
While speaking at the Toronto International Film Festival, the singer-songwriter discussed the significance of the scarf in All Too Well: The Short Film, which was released in November 2021.
“Basically, the scarf is a metaphor,” she told the crowd, Variety reports. “And we turned it red because because red is a very important colour in this album, which is called Red.
“And I think when I say it’s a metaphor, I’m just gonna stop.”
All Too Well’s lyrics include the line “I left my scarf there at your sister’s house/ And you’ve still got it in your drawer, even now” in the first verse.
In the fifth verse, the line “You keep my old scarf from that very first week/ ‘Cause it reminds you of innocence and it smells like me” appears.
Genius Lyrics notes that Taylor wore a plaid red scarf while photographed on public dates with Jake Gyllenhaal in 2010, and referenced it in her music video for 2012 song We Are Never Getting Back Together.
In the deluxe edition of her 2019 album Lover, the singer shared that the original lyrics for All Too Well read “I left my scarf there at your sister’s house/ On the banister/ I remember even now”.
In All Too Well: The Short Film, actress Sadie Sink leaves the red scarf on a banister. At the end of the film, Dylan O’Brien is shown wearing it as he walks away.
