Well, Jake Addressed Taylor’s “All Too Well” Lyrics
Sadly, he didn’t mention the scarf.
He has spoken. Taylor Swift’s song “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)” became an internet sensation last fall nearly a decade after its initial release. This is thanks, in part, to her incredibly detailed lyrics (and short film), which are widely theorized to be about a previous relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal. The actor has largely avoided discussing the song and his relationship with Swift... until now.
Gyllenhaal initially didn’t publicly comment on the re-release of the song last year. However, in his cover story for the March issue of Esquire, he finally shared his thoughts.
“It has nothing to do with me,” he said when journalist Eric Sullivan brought up the song. “It’s about her relationship with her fans. It is her expression. Artists tap into personal experiences for inspiration, and I don’t begrudge anyone that.”
Gyllenhaal then used the interview to touch upon cyberbullying in a more general sense. As Sullivan detailed, Gyllenhaal didn’t specifically mention the onslaught of attention he, his sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and even their godmother, actor Jamie Lee Curtis, received following the re-release of “All Too Well.” The Esquire profile reports Gyllenhaal did turn off his Instagram comments following the re-release.
“At some point, I think it’s important when supporters get unruly that we feel a responsibility to have them be civil and not allow for cyberbullying in one’s name,” he told Esquire. “That begs for a deeper philosophical question. Not about any individual, per se, but a conversation that allows us to examine how we can—or should, even—take responsibility for what we put into the world, our contributions into the world. How do we provoke a conversation?”
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The actor also addressed the question of everyone’s mind: Has he listened to Swift’s new album? “No,” he simply replied to Sullivan’s question.
Swift and Gyllenhaal dated in fall of 2010. Though their relationship was reportedly brief, it’s believed to have inspired one of Swift’s most compelling heartbreak songs to date. While Swift never outright said “All Too Well” was penned about her relationship with Gyllenhaal, her ultra-specific lyrics have tipped off fans since its initial 2012 release. In one line Swift sings in the new version, “You said if we had been closer in age maybe it would have been fine / And that made me want to die.” As fans are well aware, Swift and Gyllenhaal share a nine-year age gap.
In his Esquire interview, Gyllenhaal didn’t mention the whereabouts of the infamous scarf Swift sings about on “All Too Well.” “And I left my scarf there at your sister’s house / And you’ve still got it in your drawer even now,” she sings. Maggie told Andy Cohen in 2017 on Watch What Happens Live she doesn’t know where it is. This is one “All Too Well” mystery that remains unanswered.
