I have a well-documented love affair with "All Too Well," so I understand if this choice might seem cheap or easy. But even just based on the verses that were originally cut and finally unveiled this year, Taylor Swift wrote the best song of 2021.
As one fan on Twitter noted, it speaks to Swift's peculiar, singular genius that "most songwriters can only dream of ever writing a lyric as good and poignant as 'You kept me like a secret but I kept you like an oath,' but for Taylor it's just another one-liner that she casually kept in the vault for over a decade."
And that's only a taste of several jaw-droppers in the song's extended version. The fourth verse could be its own self-contained novel. The outro, which begins with one of the most lethal couplets in Swift's extensive catalog, is enough to land at No. 1 on this list by itself.
These additions transform the song from a portrait of fragile love to an earth-shattering epiphany about power, self-worth, and nostalgia's agonizing lack of conscience. Realizing a situation was unhealthy in retrospect doesn't make it any less haunting. In fact, it may make the ghost stronger.
Reintroducing a beloved song is a very tricky business. In her quest to regain control of her music, Swift has recreated her old hits note for note and strum for strum, barely changing a thing if she can help it. She has good reason: Fans are creatures of habit and comfort. Claiming the new "All Too Well" is the "definitive" version, when the original is so deeply etched into our brains, could have been ruinous.
And yet, assisted by some of Jack Antonoff's most effective production to date, Swift made "All Too Well" even more vivid and piercing than the original, which has captivated fans and music critics alike for nine years. Now, when I listen to the five-minute version, I can't help but yearn for every confession she had yet to give us.
Listen to Insider's ranking, including 30 honorable mentions, on Spotify.