All too well?

 

The decision made by Taylor Swift to re-release her back catalogue has had many consequences, some more expected than others. Lest we forget, the reason the superstar singer went through any of that in the first place was to protest against the acquisition of her earlier work by music manager and businessman Scooter Braun — a decision she was not part of and vehemently opposed. Her astute retaliation tactic involved re-recording all of her own work, so as subsequent royalties would come her way rather than Braun’s. Makes sense if you ask us…

One of the semi-predictable consequences of such a move was that people got reacquainted with songs of hers that were massive hits, albeit a decade or so ago. Hence the incredible success of “All Too Well” today (well, this past November), as it was re-released in its full 10-minute glory. As it happens, Swift stated that she had listened to fans’ grievances over the years and was therefore able to highlight different songs this time around. Turns out that was also a smart move: the single topped the charts, ending Don McLean‘s 50-year run with having the longest ever chart-topper (that would be 1971’s classic “American Pie”). But that wasn’t all of the story…

For years now, “All Too Well” had been identified by fans as a thinly veiled depiction of her then-whirlwind romance of a relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal. However, because the song was back on radio — and in the charts, attacks made against the actor on social media essentially picked up where they had left off years ago. Despite the fact that both artists have been in relationships for years, of course. Although Gyllenhaal had remained quiet then, he finally commented on the topic this time around, asserting that the song was actually not related to him in any way, but rather to Swift’s own relationship with her fans. We have yet to hear from the singer herself, but it stands to reason that the topic should be laid to rest — if only because its statute of limitations ran out a long time ago…