Songfacts®:

• Here, Hayley Williams reflects on the people who watch her every move waiting for her to make a mistake.
  
  I hate to say "I told you so"
  They love to say "They told me so"
  I hate to say "I told you so"
  They love to say "They told me"
• Though the song ended up about people watching Williams stumble in life, it was originally about something different.
  
  "It started being much more with me trying to pinpoint moments in my life where I followed my heart or gut and it did end up getting me into trouble," the singer told Zane Lowe on his Beats 1 show. "Had we not been through everything we've been through to this point, we wouldn't be here, and we wouldn't have the deep, honest friendships that we have now that feel life-giving. So that's kinda where the song started, and then it did become about this looking at my life."
• The song's music video was written and co-directed by Paramore drummer Zac Farro and Canadian actor Aaron Joseph. The clip features the band riding in a vintage Mercedes all wearing raspberry berets. The visual is based on Paramore's drives after recording sessions in L.A. Hayley Williams explained to Fader:
  
  "Zac noticed that my anxiety and overall state was just a lot more peaceful on those drives…and [he] mentioned to me that it made him happy to see me rest for a moment. It means a lot that they conceptualized a video around a passing moment we had as friends."
  
  Zac Farro added: "'Told You So' is such a visual song to me. The rhythms and lyrics caught my attention from day one. So I knew the music video needed to be equally as striking and rhythmic."