The Lyrics Lettering 00016-All Too Well by Taylor Swift

The Work

The Inspiration

After listening to her album "Folklore", I recently became a Taylor Swift fan, realizing her charm and the lyrical genius she is. I now totally get why she's so famous.  It took me a while to realize how great she is, but it's better late than never.

 

Among all her songs, the song "All Too Well" stands out as a true masterpiece. Its lyrics and imagery beautifully captured the essence of a complicated relationship. One particular line that struck me was, "You kept me like a secret, but I kept you like an oath." I was so moved by the emotion and symbolism of the relationship dynamics in this line that I decided to create a lettering piece inspired by it. 

I slightly changed "I remember it all too well" to "We knew it all too well," to highlight the shared understanding of the toxic relationship in the past. You can see the past beyond just reminiscing with this adjustment, as it adds more layers to the story without the song's context.

And there we are again 
When nobody had to know 
You kept me like a secret 
But I kept you like an oath 
Sacred prayer and we'd swear 
to remember it all too well  Well 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  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 Process

 

In designing the lettering, I aimed to incorporate symbolism from the song's themes of secrets and oaths. So I decided to use a lock and key, as well as an oath ceremony, in the design.

Creating this design required meticulous attention to detail and precise composition. Despite spending two hours into the initial layout, I couldn't finish the design in one sitting. I had to settle for a rough draft, with plans to revisit it for improvements

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While this style of design may not be something I tackle frequently, the detailing and precision required for such a piece made me realize the dedication and skill that go into lettering art.