Taylor Swift - The Last Time (Taylor's Version)

Lyrically, “The Last Time” tells the story of a couple on which the girl is fed up with her lover’s promises about them. From the other side, the boy tries to convince her to come back together with him.

In the hidden message of this track in the album cover Swift wrote: “LA on Break”. This seems to hint that this person may have broken up with her while he was in LA on his break. Perhaps in Hollywood on a break from acting. This may be pointing at Taylor’s ex, actor Jake Gyllenhaal. The pair broke up after he did not pitch to her birthday, as he was in LA to promote his movie Love and Other Drugs. This was detailed in her track “The Moment I Knew.”

Written By: Jacknife Lee, Taylor Swift & Gary Lightbody

Produced By: Jacknife Lee

[Verse 1: Gary Lightbody]

I find myself at your door

Just like all those times before

I’m not sure how I got there

All roads they lead me here

I imagine you are home

In your room, all alone

And you open your eyes into mine

And everything feels better

[Pre-Chorus: Both]

And right before your eyes

I'm breaking

No past, no reasons why

Just you and me

[Chorus: Both]

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, eye, eye

[Verse 2: Taylor Swift]

You find yourself at my door

And just like all those times before

You wear your best apology

But I was there to watch you leave

And all the times I let you in

Just for you to go again

Disappear when you come back

Everything is better

[Pre-Chorus: Both]

And right before your eyes

I'm aching

No past, nowhere to hide

Just you and me

[Chorus: Both]

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, eye, eye

[Bridge: Taylor Swift, Gary Lightbody, Both]

This is the last time you tell me I've got it wrong

This is the last time I say, "It's been you all along"

This is the last time I let you in my door

This is the last time, I won't hurt you anymore

Oh, oh, oh, oh

[Chorus: Both, Taylor Swift, Gary Lightbody]

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 the last time I'm asking you this (This is the last time I'm asking you this)

Put my name at the top of your list (Put my name at the top of your list)

This is the last time I'm asking you why (This is the last time I'm asking you why)

You break my heart in the blink of an eye (You break my heart)

[Outro: Both]

This is the last time I'm asking you, last time I'm asking you

Last time I'm asking you this

This is the last time I'm asking you, last time I'm asking you

Last time I'm asking you this

This is the last time I'm asking you, last time I'm asking you

Last time I'm asking you this

This is the last time I'm asking you, last time I'm asking you

Last time I'm asking you this

Written By: Jacknife Lee, Taylor Swift &

Gary Lightbody

Produced By: Jacknife Lee

[Verse 1: Gary Lightbody]

Find myself at your door

Just like all those times before

I’m not sure how I got there

All roads, they lead me here

I imagine you are home

In your room, all alone

And you open your eyes into mine

And everything feels better

[Pre-Chorus: Both]

And right before your eyes

I'm breaking, no past

No reasons why

Just you and me

[Chorus: Both]

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 (Eye, eye)

[Verse 2: Taylor Swift]

You find yourself at my door

And just like all those times before

You wear your best apology

But I was there to watch you leave

And all the times I let you in

Just for you to go again

Disappear when you come back

Everything is better

[Pre-Chorus: Both]

And right before your eyes

I'm aching, run fast

Nowhere to hide

Just you and me

[Chorus: Both]

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 (Eye, eye)

[Guitar Solo]

[Bridge: Taylor Swift, Gary Lightbody & Both]

This is the last time you tell me I've got it wrong

This is the last time I say it's been you all along

This is the last time I let you in my door

This is the last time, I won't hurt you anymore

Oh-ho, oh-ho, oh-ho, oh-ho

[Chorus: Both]

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

[Post-Chorus: Taylor Swift & Gary Lightbody]

This is the last time I'm asking you this (This is the last time I'm asking you this)

Put my name at the top of your list (Put my name at the top of your list)

This is the last time I'm asking you why (This is the last time I'm asking you why)

You break my heart in the blink of an eye (You break my heart)

[Outro: Both]

This is the last time I'm asking you, last time I'm asking you

Last time I'm asking you this

This is the last time I'm asking you, last time I'm asking you

Last time I'm asking you this

This is the last time I'm asking you, last time I'm asking you

Last time I'm asking you this

This is the last time I'm asking you, last time I'm asking you

Last time I'm asking you this

“The Last Time” is a song that I wrote with Gary Lightbody, of Snow Patrol. I’ve always wanted to work with Snow Patrol, they’re my favourite band. This was a song that I wrote about something I had been going through. I picture a door and, on the outside of the door, standing outside in the cold, there’s this guy who’s left his girlfriend over and over again and comes back and asks for a second chance over and over and over again. On the other side of the door, you have this girl standing there with tears in her eyes, wondering how she could possibily turn him away when she loves him this much, but she can’t get hurt again. It’s both of these people swearing that this would be the last time. She’s swearing it’s the last time she’s going to take him back, he’s swearing it’s the last time he’s going to leave her and hurt her. It’s a really intense song and I’m so proud to have Gary on the record.

— Swift via a Red (Track by Track) YouTube video (2012)

On a 2012 interview with NPR, Taylor said:

The idea was based on this experience I had with someone who was kind of this unreliable guy. You never know when he’s going to leave, you never know when he’s going to come back, but he always does come back. My visual for this song is, there’s a guy on his knees sitting on the ground outside of a door. And on the other side of the door is his girlfriend, who he keeps on leaving — and he keeps coming back to her, but then he leaves again. He’s saying, “This is the last time I’m going to do this to you.” And she’s saying, “This is the last time I’m asking you this: Don’t do this again.” And she’s wondering whether to let him in, and he just wants her to give him another chance, but she doesn’t know if he’s going to break her heart again. It’s a really fragile emotion you’re dealing with when you want to love someone, but you don’t know if it’s smart to.

Gary has also commented on the track on an interview with Rolling Stone in 2018:

It was so fast. She works really fast. She’s extraordinary. We actually did that song, wrote it and recorded it in a day. And that was the version of it on the recordm which is very rare. Normally you write and record something with somebody and then down the line they’ll record it, if you’re lucky. With her, the whole thing was done in nine hours.

We co-wrote with Taylor on the song The Last Time. And I had the privilege of singing on it too. I’m so proud of the song and delighted to revisit it. It is extraordinary what Taylor is doing with the new versions of her albums. A gargantuan feat that would consume the lives of any mortal musician. I’m honoured to be a part of Red and I know Jacknife is too. I hope you all enjoy the song and most of all the album which is absolutely stunning and also has many more great bonus tracks on this version too. Thanks to Taylor for having us back and to all her amazing fans for your kind messages.

– via BeleFastTelegraph UK (2022)