Taylor Swift’s Vault Song ‘Mr. Perfectly Fine’ Has a Reference to ‘All Too Well’
On April 7, Taylor Swift released the song “Mr. Perfectly Fine (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)” from her upcoming re-recorded album Fearless (Taylor’s Version).
Already, “Mr. Perfectly Fine” has proved to be a hit with fans. The song also has a lyrical reference to Swift’s song “All Too Well” from her 2012 album Red.
‘All Too Well’ is one of Taylor Swift’s most popular songs
Red was released on Oct. 22, 2012. While “All Too Well” was not a single on the album, it quickly became one of Swift’s most beloved songs. Not only is the song loved by fans, but it was also acclaimed by music critics.
“All Too Well” is often regarded as one of Swift’s best songs. While most of Swift’s bridges typically pack a punch, the bridge in “All Too Well” stands out for its passion and storytelling.
In the bridge, Swift sings:
“Maybe we got lost in translation / Maybe I asked for too much / But maybe this thing was a masterpiece / ‘Til you tore it all up / Running scared, I was there, I remember it all too well / And you call me up again just to break me like a promise / So casually cruel in the name of being honest / I’m a crumpled up piece of paper lying here / ‘Cause I remember it all, all, all too well.”
Taylor Swift’s new song is similar to ‘All Too Well’
“Mr. Perfectly Fine” is one of the six new “From the Vault” songs that Swift will release on Fearless (Taylor’s Version). While the songs were originally written to be included on Fearless in 2008, they did not make the cut.
During the re-recording process, Swift revisited the songs and decided to release them. While “All Too Well” was written years after Swift released Fearless, “Mr. Perfectly Fine” has a similar lyric to the hit song.
Perhaps the most famous part in “All Too Well” is “And you call me up again just to break me like a promise / So casually cruel in the name of being honest” from the bridge.
In the chorus of “Mr. Perfectly Fine,” Swift sings:
“Hello Mr. perfectly fine / How’s your heart after breaking mine? / Mr. always at the right place at the right time, baby / Hello Mr. casually cruel / Mr. everything revolves around you.”
Like in “All Too Well,” Swift references an ex-love as being “casually cruel.”
How the singer wrote ‘All Too Well’
On Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums podcast in November 2020, Swift revealed her creative process for “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,” she said.
Swift continued. “I just ended up playing four chords over and over again, and the band started kicking in… People just started playing along with me… I think they could tell I was really going through it.”
After the studio session, Swift was given a recording of the improvised track.
“It literally just was that song, but it had probably seven extra verses and it included the f-word and basically I remember my sound guy was like, ‘Hey, I burned a CD of that thing that you were doing in case you want it.’ And I was like, ‘Sure,'” Swift said.
Because of how long the song was, Swift explained on the Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums podcast that she worked with songwriter Liz Rose to make the version of “All Too Well” that fans know.
