Please Don’t Be in Love With Someone Else: “Enchanted” Meaning

Continuing in the fairytale and storybook romance themes of the Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) album is the brilliant Enchanted.

That word in and of itself conjures up a Disney Princess Cinderella story: glass slippers, ball gowns, and happily ever afters.

This imagery will pepper the song, and it’s a magical ride through meeting someone you have an instant connection with. But what does this song really mean, and what can we learn from Taylor’s imagined fairytales?

Here’s my full English teacher analysis of Taylor Swift’s Enchanted meaning, line by line. 

Enchanted (Taylor’s Version)

• Title: Enchanted (Taylor’s Version) 
• Track: 9, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) 
• Written By: Taylor Swift
• Pen: Fountain
• Hidden Message: “Adam”
• Lyrics via Genius

Enchanted Narrative Summary

• Setting: In the present, looking back at a recent event where she encountered a crush.  
• Characters: Narrator (Taylor), Subject (“you”, her crush) 
• Mood: Magical, ethereal, wistful, romantic.
• Conflict: He might be dating someone else, or it might all be in her head.  
• Inciting Incident: They meet, and she’s “enchanted” by their chemistry.
• Quest: Let him know how “enchanted” she was, and how magical they could be together
• Symbols & Metaphors: “walls of insecurity,” “lonely place,” enchanted, sparkles/light
• Theme: Love at first sight, fairytale happily ever afters.
• Imagery: “shifting eyes and vacancy,” “your eyes whispered,” “your silhouette,” “sparklin’”, “blushing all the way home”
• Lesson: Sometimes love can feel like a fairytale, even if it isn’t.

What was the Hidden Message in Enchanted? 

The secret message in the original Speak Now liner notes for Enchanted was “Adam.” 

Who is Enchanted About? 

We get a clue in the hidden message, with the name “Adam.” 

Swifties believe that this references Adam Young, lead singer of Owl City, though Taylor has never confirmed nor denied this.

In the Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) Prologue, Taylor said that Enchanted is “the most wistfully romantic” song she’s ever written.

Enchanted Meaning: Line by Line

Enchanted is vivid right from the start. Like in The Story of Us, we’re in a crowded room with strangers. 

“There I was again tonight,” she says, setting the scene, “Forcing laughter, faking smiles.” She’s in public, but she doesn’t particularly want to be there. There’s a facade happening, which is probably what a lot of Hollywood and music industry events feel like. 

“Same old tired, lonely place,” she says of wherever she is physically and mentally. Nothing is exciting, and nothing helps her find connection. 

There are “Walls of insincerity” surrounding her and others, which are emotional walls put up to keep others out. Her walls are, likely, put up to protect her heart, after having been hurt (see Dear John, Last Kiss, Better Than Revenge, Mean, et al). 

There are “Shifting eyes and vacancy” in the crowd, but her eyes – and heart – are also shifting and vacant. She’s looking for something to make her feel again, and she’ll find it here. 

Those vacant, lonely feelings “Vanished when I saw your face,” she says. She spies this person, and for some reason, he makes everything feel brand new and exciting again. 

“All I can say is it was enchanting to meet you,” she says, struck speechless by the instant connection between them. She hasn’t even really “met” him yet – she’s only seen him. But she can tell they have a connection, and sparks will fly. 

💜 How well do you know Speak Now? Take the Speak Now TV Lyrics Quiz! 💜

Verse 2: “Passing Notes in Secrecy”

“Your eyes whispered, ‘Have we met?” she says of his silent stare. His eyes, of course, can’t talk. But the look in his eyes is a curious one; she can tell he’s feeling this instant connection, too. 

“Across the room, your silhouette starts to make its way to me,” she says, setting up his cinematic entrance into her life and her heart. 

“The playful conversation starts,” she says, as they begin flirting, and she’ll “Counter all your quick remarks.” They have great chemistry, with banter flying back and forth. Compared to “shifting eyes and vacancy,” this feels real, and this feels exciting. 

Their quiet flirting is “Like passing notes in secrecy”; it’s something that only they know the meaning of. On the surface it may look innocent, but the strangers beside them can’t tell how they’re really feeling. 

“And it was enchanting to meet you,” she says, feeling this magic in the air. Like in Sparks Fly, her heart has been illuminated by this new crush. 

“All I can say is I was enchanted to meet you,” she repeats. 

But why “enchanted”? There are a million emotions she could insert into these lines, and “enchanted” isn’t a commonly used word. 

It’s important that we remember the themes and motifs in Fearless and Speak Now: fairy tales, white knights, princesses being rescued, and storybook endings. “Enchanted” is the name of a Disney fairytale film, and the word itself is synonymous with fairy tale imagery. 

She’s saying that this moment was like a fairytale, just like in another track on this album, Today Was a Fairytale. The person she is “enchanted” to meet could be her Prince Charming, and she’s thrilled at the possibility.  

Chorus: “This Night is Sparklin'”

“This night is sparklin’, don’t you let it go,” she says in the first chorus, “I’m wonderstruck, blushin’ all the way home.” This night is special and memorable, and she doesn’t want him to forget the chemical connection they had.

To “let it go” is to let her go, and she doesn’t want that. 

She’s “wonderstruck” because, like in other songs on this album, she doesn’t ever seem to get the fairytale ending. But here, she just might. She blushes at the thought of this intense crush; he’s made her feel things again, and she’s no longer “vacant.” 

“I’ll spеnd forever wonderin’ if you knеw,” she says, “I was enchanted to meet you.” She’ll always wonder if he felt the same way. Will she ever get to hear from him again? 

Verse 3: “2am, Who Do You Love?”

“The lingering question kept me up,” she says in the third verse, “2AM, who do you love?” She’s home from the party now, but she can’t sleep. She’s ruminating over the possibilities. 

Midnights and 2am are important hours in the Swiftverse, and they are used to symbolize big emotional changes. Here, she’s wondering if he’s in love with someone else.

But “who do you love” also questions her own heart. Is she in love with him, or is it just an intense crush? 

“I wonder ’til I’m wide awake,” she says, never going to bed at all, “And now, I’m pacing back and forth wishing you were at my door.” She’s worried that this might all be in her head. If he were here, she assumes, she’d know for sure. She just needs to lay eyes on him once more to know the truth. 

“I’d open up and you would say ‘Hey, it was enchanting to meet you’,” she imagines of their second meeting. Just like in a fairytale, he’ll come to her door and “rescue” her, confessing his true love and sweeping her away to the castle. 

“All I know is I was enchanted to meet you,” she says, slowly walking back into reality. She doesn’t know if any of this is true for him, or if he even feels the same way. But she’s alight with the possibilities of this new potential love story. 

2nd Chorus: “This Night is Flawless”

The first half of the chorus repeats, then she says, “This night is flawless, don’t you let it go.”

This night isn’t only sparkling, it’s “flawless,” like a rare diamond. Even if it goes no further, she’ll still have this “flawless” night, which was a fairytale in and of itself. 

“I’m wonderstruck,” she says of her intense feelings, “dancing around all alone.” She’s dancing in a dream inside her mind, but she’s also metaphorically “dancing” the dance of love. It’s just with an imagined partner – for now – instead of a real one. 

“I’ll spend forever wonderin’ if you knew,” she says, spinning around alone in her room, “I was enchanted to meet you.” The fairytale of longing in her head spins round and round, and she hopes that she’ll get her happily ever after. 

Bridge: “This Was the Very First Page”

“This is me praying that this was the very first page,” she says in the bridge, “Not where the storyline ends.” In their Love Story, she hopes that it’s only the beginning, and not the entire plot. 

Will this single night be the beginning of their narrative, or was it the beginning, middle, and end? 

“My thoughts will echo your name,” she says, obsessing and ruminating, “Until I see you again.” As if she can conjure him out of thin air, she’ll repeat his name over and over, like a mantra. 

“These are the words I held back as I was leaving too soon,” she says, “I was enchanted to meet you.” The theme of the Speak Now album is things left unsaid, and here she lets her reader (and her crush) know what she wishes she would have said aloud. 

But is “I was enchanted to meet you” really the vital message that she regrets not saying? No. 

Here’s what she really wishes she would have said aloud: “Please, don’t be in love with someone else, and “Please, don’t have somebody waitin’ on you.” 

What she really wanted to say is ‘I hope you’re single,’ and ‘if you have a Girl at Home, and this is all in my head, then I’ll give up on fairytales forever.’ 

Final Chorus: “Please Don’t Have Somebody Waitin’ on You”

The final chorus repeats what we’ve already heard: this night was special, she’s enamored with him, and she hopes he remembers her. Even if it goes no further, she’ll always treasure this night. 

But the real message, and the message that she has to “speak now” comes in the last two lines: 

“Please, don’t be in love with someone else, Please, don’t have somebody waitin’ on you.” 

The real, honest and vulnerable truth is that she hopes he’s single, because if he’s not, she’ll be tortured by the what ifs. This has to be the beginning, she prays, because if it’s already come to the end, she might not have the stamina to live out another storybook romance. 

If this Prince Charming already has his princess waiting at his castle, Taylor will just quit going to the ball altogether. But, just like Cinderella, she can always remember her one fateful night, when she danced with the Prince. 

💜 How well do you know Speak Now? Take the Speak Now TV Lyrics Quiz! 💜

Enchanted Meaning: Final Thoughts

Though the contextual theme of Speak Now is things left unsaid, the undercurrent is Taylor’s feeling of inadequacy and self-consciousness. It’s on full display in Enchanted: she’s begging her crush to choose her, and to love her. 

As she told us in the Speak Now TV Prologue: “I know now that one of the bravest things a person can do is create something with unblinking sincerity, to put it all on the line.” Though it’s a lesson she learned later in life, we can see she was actually already doing it in 2010. 

In Enchanted, she faces her self-doubt, proclaims her feelings to her crush, and – “with unblinking sincerity” – paints a portrait of a potential fairytale romance. And though she labels this song her “most wistfully romantic,” I think it’s one of her bolder and braver songs, too. 

As we know, fairytales never work out for Taylor the way she imagined. But the girl in the dress knew then, and knows now, that you’ll never get your happy ending if you don’t work towards it. And you can’t work towards it if you don’t Speak Now. 

More Songs From Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)

• Speak Now Album Prologues Compared 
• Mine 
• Sparks Fly 
• Back to December
• Speak Now
• Dear John
• Mean
• The Story of Us
• Never Grow Up
• Better Than Revenge
• Innocent
• Haunted
• Last Kiss
• Long Live
• Ours
• Superman
• Electric Touch (ft Fall Out Boy) [From the Vault]
• When Emma Falls in Love [From the Vault]
• I Can See You [From the Vault]
• Castles Crumbling (ft. Hayley Williams) [From the Vault]
• Foolish One [From the Vault]
• Timeless [From the Vault]