Taylor Swift returned to Saturday Night Live last night as the musical guest (November 13) and performed a rousing, 10-minute version of “All Too Well.”
Breaking with convention, Swift offered “All Too Well” as her only music performance of the night in her fifth stint as musical guest.
SNL musical guests traditionally deliver two performances, one before Weekend Update and one later in the show. Swift performed once for 10 minutes, with the short film starring Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien, which she wrote and directed, playing behind her. Swift makes a cameo towards the end of the film, appearing as an older version of Sink’s character 13 years after the events of the main story.
Before its general release on YouTube on Friday evening, a selection of lucky fans were invited to watch a screening of All Too Well at the AMC Lincoln Square 13 (chosen for having the same number of screens as Swift’s favorite number) in New York City.
All wearing red (naturally), attendees were each handed All Too Well branded tissues on their way in. They were encouraged to cheer and sing along by Swift herself, who later performed the 10-minute version of “All Too Well” after the film ended on a red guitar.
Addressing the crowd before the titles started rolling, Swift thanked attendees for helping her to create a “cinematic universe” around the song, despite it not being chosen as a single when the original Red was released. “For me personally, this song is one hundred percent about us and you,” she said.
Red: Taylor’s Version, the second album Swift has re-recorded since she lost the rights to her masters, was released yesterday. Alongside re-recorded versions of the songs from the deluxe version of the original Red, the album showcases several new songs, including collaborations with Chris Stapleton on “I Bet You Think About Me” and Phoebe Bridgers on “Nothing New.”