TAYLOR SWIFT / RED (TAYLOR’S VERSION) EXPLICIT
These lyrics are from Taylor Swift’s 2021 re-recording of her 2012 fourth album, Red. These lyrics may be modified to better fit roleplay purposes. Please note: every track from the new album has been included, however All Too Well lyrics are divided up between the standard version, containing the original lyrics and the ten minute version which only shows the new lyrics. Additionally acoustic and remixes of pre-existing tracks are not included unless new lyrics are featured.
Please note: Due to the nature of the song Ronan being a highly personal song for the family and about a real child — it felt inappropriate to use lyrics from the song for roleplay memes, and thus has been omitted.
All we know is touch and go
We fall in love ‘til it hurts or bleeds or fades in time
You come around and the armour falls
You pierce the room like a cannonball
You were never a saint and I’ve loved in shades of wrong
We learn to live with the pain
This love is brave and wild
This is a worthwhile fight
Love is a ruthless game unless you play it good and right
This is the golden age of something good and right and real
Loving you is like driving a new Maserati down a dead end street
Loving you is like trying to change your mind once you’re already flying through the freefall
Losing you was blue like I’ve never known
Missing you was dark grey, all alone
Forgetting you was like trying to know somebody you’ve never met
Touching you was like realizing all you ever wanted was right there in front of you
Memorizing you was as easy as knowing all the words to your old favourite song
Fighting with you is like trying to solve a crossword and realizing there’s no right answer
I wish I never found out love could be that strong
Remembering comes in flashbacks and echoes
Moving on from you is impossible when I still see it all in my head, burning red
You’re spinning around my head
Put your lips close to mine, as long as they don’t touch
I’ll do anything you say, if you say it with your hands
I’d be smart to walk away, but you’re quicksand
I’d be smart to walk away
This slope is treacherous
This slope is treacherous and I like it
I can’t decide if it’s a choice, getting swept away
All we are is skin and bone trained to get alone
I’m forever going with the flow, but you’re friction
Your name has echoed through my mind
Nothing safe is worth the drive
This daydream is reckless
I guess you didn’t care, and I guess I liked that
When I fell hard, you took a step back without me
He’s long gone when he’s next to me
I realise the blame is on me
I knew you were trouble when you walked in
You flew me to places I’d never been
Now I’m lying on the cold hard ground
He pretends he doesn’t know that he’s the reason why I’m drowning
You pretend you don’t know that you’re the reason why I’m drowning
A new notch in your belt, that’s all I’ll ever be
He was long gone when he met
I realise the joke is on me
The saddest fear comes creeping in
The saddest fear comes creeping in, that you never loved me, or her, or anyone or anything
You never loved me, or her, or anyone, or anything
Something about it felt like home, somehow
I left my scarf at your sister’s place
We were singing in the car, getting lost upstate
I can picture it after all these days
I know that magic’s not here
I might be okay, but I’m not fine at all
You almost ran the red while you were looking at me
I remember it all too well
You used to be a little kid with glasses in a twin-sized bed
Your mother’s telling stories ‘bout you on the tee-ball team
You told me about your past, thinking your future’s with me
I know it’s long gone and there was nothing else I could do
There was nothing else I could do
I forget about you long enough to forget why I needed to
Maybe we got lost in translation
Maybe I asked for too much
This thing was a masterpiece before you tore it all up
You call me up again just to break me like a promise
You’re so casually cruel in the name of being honest
Time won’t fly, it’s like I’m paralyzed by it
I’d like to be my old self again, but I’m still trying to find it
It feels like a perfect night
It feels like a perfect night to dress up like hipsters and make fun of our exes
It feels like a perfect night for breakfast at midnight
We’re happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time
It’s miserable and magical
I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling twenty-two
You don’t know about me, but I bet you want to
Everything will be alright if we just keep dancing
It feels like one of those nights
This place is too crowded
Who’s Taylor Swift anyway?
It feels like one of those nights where we ditch the whole scene
We’ll end up dreaming instead of sleeping
We’re happy, free, confused, and lonely in the best way
You look like bad news, I gotta have you
I bet this time of night you’re still up
I bet you’re tired after a long hard week
I bet sometimes you wonder about me
I just want to tell you it takes everything in me not to call you
It takes everything in me not to call you
I wish I could run to you
I wish I could run to you, I hope you know that every time I don’t, I almost do
I hope you know that every time I don’t, I almost do
I bet it never, ever, occurred to you that I can’t say hello to you and risk another goodbye
Each time you reach out, there’s no reply
We made quite a mess, babe
It’s probably better off this way
I confess that in my dreams you’re touching my face
WE ARE NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER
I remember when we broke up - the first time
I remember when we broke up
This is it, I’ve had enough
We hadn’t seen each other in a month after you said you needed space
I miss you and I swear I’m gonna change - trust me
Remember how that lasted for a day?
We called it off again last night
We are never, ever, getting back together
I used to think that we were forever
I used to say never say never
So he calls me up and he’s like “I still love you” and I’m like, “this is exhausting, okay we are never getting back together, like ever”
I’m pretty sure we almost broke up last night
I was expecting some dramatic turn away
I read you should never leave a fight unresolved
I’ve been loving you for some time
You think it’s funny when I’m mad
I think it’s best if we both stay
I only dated self indulgent takers who took all their problems out on me
I love you because you’ve given me no choice but to
You took the time to memorize me, my fears and hopes and dreams
I feel like hanging out with you all the time
It’s been occurring to me I’d like to hang out with you, for my whole life
I’ll be loving you for quite some time
No one else is gonna love me when I get mad
THE LAST TIME (FT. GARY LIGHTBODY OF SNOW PATROL)
I’m not sure how I got there
All roads, they led me here
I’m not sure how I got there, all roads, they led me here
This is the last time I’m asking you this
Put my name at the top of your list
This is the last time I’m asking you why you break my heart in the blink of an eye
This is this last time I’m asking you this: put my name at the top of your list
I was there to watch you leave
All the times I let you in, just for you to go again
You disappear, when you come back everything is better
This is the last time you tell me you got it wrong
This is the last time I say it’s been you all alone
This is the last time I’ll let you in my door
This this is last time, I won’t hurt you anymore
This is the last time I’m asking you
I was reminiscing just the other day while having coffee
You fit in my poems like a perfect rhyme
I left a note on the door
Right where we stood was holy ground
For the first time, I have something to lose
I guess we fell apart in the usual way
I wonder how you think about it now
I see your face in every crowd
Tonight, I’m gonna dance for all that we’ve been through
I don’t wanna dance if I’m not dancing with you
I’m gonna dance like you were in this room
Words, how little they mean, when you’re a little too late
Good girls, hopeful they’ll be and long they will wait
We had a beautiful magic love affair
What a sad, beautiful, tragic love affair
We both wake in lonely beds, different cities
Time is taking its sweet time erasing you
You’ve got your demons and darling, they all look like me
Kiss me, try to fix it, could you just try to listen?
Could you just try to listen?
For the life of us we can’t get back
In the angel’s city, chasing fortune and fame
The camera flashes make it look like a dream
You had it figured out since you were in school
Everybody loves pretty, everybody loves cool
They’ll tell you now, you’re the lucky one
Can you tell me now if you’re the lucky one?
Your lover in the foyer doesn’t even know you
Your secrets ended up splashed on the news front page
They tell me that I’m lucky, but I’m so confused
They tell me that I’m lucky, but I’m so confused - because I don’t feel pretty, I just feel used
I don’t feel pretty, I just feel used
I wonder if I’ll make it out alive
They still tell the legend of how you disappeared
Take the money and your dignity and get the hell out
They say you bought a bunch of land somewhere
It took some time, but I understand it now
Let me tell you now, you’re the lucky one
EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED (FT. ED SHEERAN)
All I knew this morning when I woke is I know something now I didn’t before
All I’ve seen since 18 hours ago is green eyes and freckles and your smile in the back of my mind
I just wanna know you better
Your eyes look like coming home
You’ll be mine and I’ll be yours
All I know since yesterday is everything has changed
I feel in my stomach is butterflies
Come back and tell me why I’m feeling like I’ve missed you all this time
I’m feeling like I’ve missed you all this time
Meet me there tonight and let me know that it’s not all in my mind
Let me know that it’s not all in my mind
Dust off your highest hopes
Oh my, what a marvelous tune
The whole place is dressed to the nines
I met Bobby by the boardwalk
We were seventeen, crazy and running wild
Can’t remember what song it was playing when we walked in, the night we snuck into a yacht club party
We were dancing like we were made of starlight
Look at you, worrying so much about things you can’t change. You’ll spend your whole life singing the blues if you keep thinking that way
Look at you worrying so much about things you can’t change.
You’ll spend your whole life singing the blues if you keep thinking that way
Don’t you see the starlight?
Don’t you dream impossible things?
We could get married, have ten kids and teach them how to dream
He didn’t like it when I wore high heels, but I do
He didn’t like it when I wore high heels
You always said you didn’t get this song, but I do
You always said you didn’t get this song
I was expecting that you’d be late
You don’t know how nice that is
You throw your head back laughing like a little kid
I think it’s strange that you think I’m funny 'cause he never did
I’ve been spending the last eight months thinking all love ever does is break and burn and end
You’re coming off a little shy
I’ve never met one girl who had as many James Taylor records as I do
For the first time, what’s past is past
On a Wednesday in a café, I watched it begin again
You should have been there
You should have burst through the door with that ‘baby, I’m here’ smile
I would have been so happy
People were asking me how I’ve been as I combed back through my memory about how you said you’d be here
It was like slow motion, standing there in my party dress in red lipstick with no one to impress
There was one thing missing
That was the moment I knew
Your close friends always seem to know when there’s something really wrong
I’m trying not to fall apart
What do you say when tears are streaming down your face in front of everyone you know?
What do you do when the one who means the most to you is the one who didn’t show?
I’m sorry I didn’t make it
How strange that I don’t know you at all
In my mind, I play it back, spinning faster than the plane that took you
I don’t wanna miss you like this
I guess you’re in New York today
I don’t wanna need you this way
If I had known what I know now I never would’ve played so nonchalant
I can’t help but wish you took me with you
I guess you’re in London today
This is falling in love in the cruelest way
This is falling for you when you are worlds away
I’m in New York, be here —- but you’re in London, and I break down cause it’s not fair that you’re not around
Cause it’s not fair that you’re not around
Don’t look at me, you got a girl at home and everybody knows that
Don’t look at me, you got someone at home
I don’t even know her but I feel a responsibility to do what’s upstanding and right
I feel a responsibility to do what’s upstanding and right
You’ve been getting closer and closer and crossing so many lines
Honey, I am no one’s exception
It would be a fine proposition if I was a stupid girl
It would be a fine proposition if I was stupid
I see you turned off your phone now that you’ve got me alone
I just want to make sure you understand perfectly that you’re the kind of man who makes me sad
I just want to make sure you understand perfectly
You’re the kind of man who makes me sad
While she waits up, you chase down the newest thing and take for granted what you have
Call a cab, lose my number
You’re about to lose your girl
Let’s consider this lesson learned
It would be a fine proposition if I hadn’t once been just like her
I’m probably better off on my own
I see the permanent damage you did to me
I just wish I could forget when it was magic
I’m probably better off on my own than loving a man who didn’t know what he had
The bravest thing I ever did was run
Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I can feel you again
I just wish you were a better man
I’m probably better off all alone than needing a man who could change his mind at any given minute
It was always on your terms
I waited on every careless word and hoped it might turn sweet again
Your jealousy, I can hear it now!
You’re talking down to me like I’ll always be around
You push my love away like it was some kind of loaded gun
I never thought you’d run
I hold onto this pride because these days it’s all I have
I gave to you my best and we both know you can’t say that
I wonder what we would’ve become if you were a better man
We might still be in love if you were a better man
You would’ve been the one if you were a better man
They tell you while you’re young “Girls, go out and have your fun“ then they hunt and slay the ones who actually do it
People criticize the way you fly when you’re soaring through the sky and shoot you down and then they sigh and say, “She looks like she’s been through it”
She looks like she’s been through it
You look like you’ve been through it
Lord what will become of me once I’ve lost my novelty
Lord what will become of me
I’ve had too much to drink tonight
I know it’s sad but this is what I think about
It’s like I can feel time moving
I’m getting older and less sure of what you like about me anyway
How can a person know everything at 18 and nothing at 22
Will you still want me when I’m nothing new?
How long will it be cute?
How long will it be cute? All this crying in my room when you can’t blame it on my youth and roll your eyes with affection and my cheeks are growing tired from turning red and faking smiles
You can’t blame it on my youth
My cheeks are tired from turning red and faking smiles
Are we only biding time till I lose your attention?
I know someday I’m gonna meet her
It’s a fever dream, the kind of radiance you only have at seventeen
She’ll know the way and then she’ll say she got the map from me
I’ll say I’m happy for her then I’ll cry myself to sleep
You broke the sweetest promise that you never should have made
You said “no one else”, so how could you do this?
We aren’t getting through this one.
This is the last time you’ll get to hear me call you babe
Your face doesn’t look so innocent
Your secret has a consequence and that’s on you
I break down every time you call
I keep picturing her lips on your neck
I hate that because of you, I can’t love you
What about your promises?
I know that you like me and it’s kinda frightening standing here waiting
I became hypnotized by freckles and bright eyes
Now you’re so far away and I’m down feeling like a face in the crowd
I’m reaching for you, terrified.
You could be the one that I love
I could be the one that you dream of
Sending a message in a bottle is all I can do standing here, hoping it gets to you
You could be the one that I keep, and I can be the reason you can’t sleep at night
You could be the one that I keep
I can be the reason you can’t sleep at night
Look how you made me but time moves faster, replaying your laughter
Where are you while I’m wondering if I’ll ever see you again?
You could be the one that I love and now I’m standing here, hoping it gets to you
You could be the one that I love
I BET YOU THINK ABOUT ME (FEAT. CHRIS STAPLETON)
I’ll bet you’re just fine
The girl in your bed has a fine pedigree
I’ll bet your friends tell you she’s better than me
I tried to fit in with your upper-crust circles
they let me sit in back when we were in love
They sit around talking about the meaning of life and the book that just saved them that I hadn’t heard of
Now that we’re done and it’s over, I bet you couldn’t believe it when you realized I’m harder to forget than I was to leave
I’m harder to forget than I was to leave
You grew up in a silver-spoon gated community, I was raised on a farm, no, it wasn’t a mansion
You grew up in a silver-spoon gated community
You know what they say, you can’t help who you fall for and you and I fell like an early spring snow
You can’t help who you fall for
You said we’re too different
You laughed at my dreams, rolled your eyes at my jokes
Do you have all the space that you need?
I don’t have to be your shrink to know that you’ll never be happy
Does it make you feel sad?
Does it make you feel sad that the love that you’re looking for is the love that you had?
Now you’re out in the world, searching for your soul. Scared not to be hip, scared to get old
You’re chasing make-believe status
You’re chasing make-believe status, when last time you felt free was when none of that shit mattered 'cause you were with me
I bet you think about me when you’re out at your cool indie music concerts every week
I bet you think about me in your house with your organic shoes and your million-dollar couch
I bet you think about me when you say “Oh my god, she’s insane, she wrote a song about me”
Oh my god, she’s insane, she wrote a song about me
She wrote a song about me
He says he doesn’t believe anything much he hears these days
Why fall in love, just so you can watch it go away?
He spends most of his nights wishing it was how it used to be
It’s not just a phase I’m in
All this time I didn’t know you were breaking down
I didn’t know you were breaking down
I’d fall to pieces on the floor if you weren’t around
I’ll be summer sun for you forever, but forever winter if you go
I’ll be summer sun for you forever
I’ll be forever winter if you go
He seems fine most of the time, forcing smiles and never minds
When the lights go out it’s hard to breathe
I pull at every thread trying to solve the puzzles in his head
I live my life scared to death he’ll decide to leave instead
I live my life scared to death you’ll decide to leave instead
If I was standing there in your apartment I’d take that bomb in your head and disarm it
I’d take that bomb in your head
I’d say I love you even at your darkest
Believe in one thing, I won’t go away
Give me the keys, I’ll bring the car back around
We shouldn’t be in this town
My so-called friends, they don’t know I’d drive away before I let you go
So give me a reason and don’t say no
There’s a chain 'round your throat, piece of paper where I wrote “I’ll wait for you”
We can go where our eyes can take us
We can go where no one else is
I could see this view a hundred times
There’s a heart on your sleeve and I’ll take it when I leave and hold it for you
I’ll take it when I leave
There’s been this hole in my heart
This thing was a shot in the dark
Say you’ll never let 'em tear us apart
I’ll hold onto you while we run
I wish I could fly and pick you up and we’d go back in time
I miss you like it was the very first night
So it goes, every weekend the same party
I never go alone, so I don’t seem broken hearted
My friends all say they know everything I’m going through
I drive down different roads but they all lead back to you
They don’t know about the night in the hotel
They don’t know how much I miss you
We weren’t trying to fall in love
We weren’t trying to fall in love but we did like children running
Back then we didn’t know we were built to fall apart
We broke the status quo and we broke each other’s hearts
Don’t forget about the night out in L.A
No one knows about the words that we whisper
No one knows how much I miss you
I wish that we could go back in time
I wish that we could go back in time and I’d say to you I miss like you it was the first time
I miss like you it was the first time
ALL TOO WELL (10 MINUTE VERSION)
I was thinking on the drive down, any time now you’re gonna say it’s love and, you never called it what it was till we were dead and gone and buried
You never called it what it was till we were dead and gone and buried
All I felt was shame and you held my lifeless frame
You kept me like a secret but I kept you like an oath
We’d swear to remember it all too well
They say all’s well that ends well but I’m in a new hell every time you double cross my mind
You said if we had been closer in age maybe it would have been fine and that made me want to die
The idea you had of me who was she, a never needing ever lovely jewel whose shine reflects on you
It’s supposed to be fun turning twenty-one
I was never good at telling jokes but the punch line goes I’ll get older but your lovers stay my age
You’ll get older but your lovers stay my age
I was never good at telling jokes
I’m a soldier who’s returning half her weight
Did the twin flame bruise paint you blue?
Just between us did the love affair maim you too?
This city’s barren cold I still remember the first fall of snow and how it glistened as it fell
It was all over the place
It was a fractured mosaic of feelings that somehow all fit together in the end
Happy, free, confused, lonely, devastated, euphoric, wild and tortured by memories past
