Romeo, Take Me! Diving into the “Love Story” Meaning
Taylor Swift’s iconic Love Story is a song that was everywhere when it was first released. The idealized love of Romeo and Juliet captivated us all, and this song is still just as powerful.
But what’s the real Love Story meaning? Does Taylor really want a Shakespearean tragedy as her ideal form of love? Does she think real love is a fairytale, or not?
Here’s my complete English teacher analysis of Taylor’s Love story meaning, line by line and metaphor by metaphor.

Love Story (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift
- Title: Love Story (Taylor’s Version)
- Track: 3, Fearless (Taylor’s Version)
- Written By: Taylor Swift
- Pen: Glitter, with a bit of fountain
- Secret Message: “Someday I’ll find this.”
- Lyrics via Genius
Love Story Narrative Summary
- Setting: Inside Taylor’s fairytale fantasy world/daydream.
- Characters: Narrator (Taylor), subject: “you” (love interest).
- Mood: Hopeful, naive, hopeless romantic.
- Conflict: Forbidden love.
- Inciting Incident: “Daddy said ‘stay away from ‘Juliet’”: their love is forbidden.
- Quest: Be together, no matter who tries to stop you. Get your happily ever after.
- Theme: Fairytale love.
What was the Secret Message in the Love Story Lyrics?
The secret message in the original version of Love Story was “someday I’ll find this.” This hidden message in the liner notes shows how young and idealistic Taylor was at this point in time.
But is she really this into idealized love? Let’s take a look.
Love Story Meaning: Line by Line

Taylor establishes the setting in the first verse: “we were both young when I first saw you.” They’re young when they first meet, but we enter her flashback in the second line, with “I close my eyes and the flashback starts.”
From this point on, we’re inside her flashback, which is likely not a flashback at all – it’s a fantasy. The secret message, “someday I’ll find this,” lets us know that none of this is something that actually happened.
“I’m standing there,” she says, “On a balcony in summer air.” She paints a cinematic scene of standing atop a Juliet balcony, in the beautiful and hopeful time of summer.
“See the lights, see the party, the ball gowns,” she says, painting a scene of a grand ball or gala. Inside her romantic fantasy, she imagines she’s a princess in her castle, greeting the crowds as they arrive.
This princess will “See you make your way through the crowd and say, ‘Hello’,” she imagines, “Little did I know.”
The crowds cinematically part like the Red Sea, and her fantasy man steps forward to greet her. “Little did I know” foreshadows all that’s to come.
Pre-Chorus: “You Were Romeo, You Were Throwing Pebbles”

“Little did I know,” she says, “that you were Romeo.” In her fantasy, she’s Juliet, and he’s Romeo, comparing their romance to the Shakespearean classic. But the tale of Romeo and Juliet, as any reader knows, is a tragedy. It’s full of romance, sure, but they both end up dead.
So why is Taylor using this tragedy as a metaphor for her perfect love story? Because true love doesn’t always work out the way you want it to. She’s straddling the line between romantic ideals and the realities of love.
Her “Romeo” is “throwing pebbles,” meaning trying to get her attention in a secretive way. She imagines she’s in her bedroom and hears the “clink” of pebbles hitting her window, elated that her lover has come to talk to her.
Why does he have to be secretive? Because “my daddy said, ‘Stay away from Juliet’.” This love is forbidden, because their families don’t approve of the match, just as in the real Romeo & Juliet.
“And I was crying on the staircase,” she imagines, “Begging you, ‘Please don’t go’.” She fantasizes that she’ll crave this love so badly that it will turn into a dramatic scene, where she’s the “dutiful daughter”, held back by her controlling father.
Will her lover persevere, and wait for her? We’ll soon find out.
First Chorus: “Romeo, Take Me”

In the chorus, she asks him to run away. Keep in mind we’re still inside her fantasy, so she’s imagining this world where she has a love that’s so intense that she has to escape her life for it.
“Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone,” she imagines, “I’ll be waiting, all there’s left to do is run.” They’ll have a grand romantic escape, like Getaway Car, I Know Places, and the lakes.
“You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess,” she says of their iconic royal love story. In her fantasy, they are the main characters, and their tale will be passed down through the ages like the royal weddings of centuries past.
“It’s a love story, baby, just say, ‘Yes’,” she begs. To “say yes” is to agree to running away with her, but in later lines it will change meaning.
‘Be in this fantasy with me,’ she asks him, ‘and let me live out my wildest dreams.’
2nd Verse & Pre-Chorus: “I Was a Scarlet Letter
![Annotated portions of Taylor Swift's "Love Story" (Taylor's Version) lyrics on a shimmering gold background. Red English teacher's pen translates hidden meanings, points out literary and narrative devices, and helps the reader understand the tone and message of the song.
The lyrics of the 2nd verse and pre-chorus read:
"So I sneak out to the garden to see you
We keep quiet 'cause we're dead if they knew
So close your eyes
Escape this town for a little while, oh, oh
[Pre-Chorus]
'Cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter
And my daddy said, "Stay away from Juliet"
But you were everything to me
I was begging you, "Please don't go," and I said"](https://swiftlysungstories.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/i-was-a-scarlet-letter-meaning-love-story-annotated-lyrics-verse-2-1024x1024.jpg)
“I sneak out to the garden to see you” references an actual scene from Romeo & Juliet in which Romeo & Juliet agree to run away to be married.
But the garden also represents a secret garden, a theme that Taylor will also use in later songs like Cruel Summer and betty. It’s a place where they can have their clandestine meetups, and no one will find out.
“We keep quiet cause we’re dead if they knew” also references the play itself, and the end result of their romance, which is death. Taylor is being hyperbolic here – they won’t actually die – but it emphasizes how intense this romance is.
“So close your eyes,” she says to him, “escape this town for a little while.” They can escape together, if only in their dreams. They imagine a world where they can be together with no one to tear them apart.
“’Cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter,” she says, referencing another classic literary work: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter. In the novel, a ‘scarlet letter’ is an actual letter the protagonist needs to wear on her dress to mark her as an adulteress.
The scarlet letter in this case doesn’t represent adultery, but it’s a symbol of something that’s bad or forbidden. She’s a “fallen woman” in the eyes of her family or society, a theme which will come around again and again in songs like New Romantics, Illicit Affairs, mad woman, and Slut!
Red for Taylor has always represented passionate love and relationships, but also symbolizes her reputation (as in “Here’s the truth from my red lips” in End Game, and her “red lip classic” of Blank Space). Calling herself the scarlet letter is no exception – she’s hinting at her reputation and how the world sees her.
If Taylor is the scarlet letter, then it means she is a bad idea for him. But her family thinks that he’s a bad idea for her, too, as her father “said, ‘Stay away from Juliet’.”
“But you were everything to me,” she says, clinging to him and the hope that this romance brings, “I was begging you, ‘Please don’t go’.” This is actually a really sad moment – she’s begging him to stay with her even though there’s so much wrong with this relationship.
But the overall message? She’s dreaming of a love that’s so intense that no one – not even her family – can tear them apart.
Chorus: “This Love is Difficult, But it’s Real”

The first part of the chorus repeats, then we get a bit more exposition in the second half.
“Romeo, save me, they’re trying to tell me how to feel,” she says, finally saying the quiet part out loud. She’s the “damsel in distress” archetype, and he’s the “white knight.”
Her family is trying to control her – “tell me how to feel” – and act as if she doesn’t know her own mind. She’s both the damsel in distress, and the rebellious daughter who yearns for the bad boy like in But Daddy I Love Him.
“This love is difficult, but it’s real,” she assures him. But this is ironic: this story is entirely a fantasy, and this love is entirely a fantasy.
“Don’t be afraid, we’ll make it out of this mess,” she says, which turns the tables. She’s the one encouraging him, implying that she’ll be the one to save him.
“It’s a love story,” she says, as if saying it can make it so. But are real love stories this treacherous, and difficult, and forbidden? Not usually. But in Taylor’s fantasy, she imagines a love that knows no obstacles and can conquer anything.
This is what Taylor is really looking for here inside her prince and princess narrative: a grand, all-consuming love that feels intense and dramatic, just like Romeo & Juliet.
Bridge: “My Faith in You Was Fading”

In the bridge, we finally get a moment of pause and reflection. She turns inward, asking herself if he’s really worth waiting for.
It’s worth noting that in Romeo & Juliet, when Juliet ‘loses faith’ in Romeo – believing that he is dead – she kills herself. But not so for Taylor’s Juliet fantasy world – she gets one last chance to make it work with Romeo.
“But I got tired of waiting,” she says in the bridge, Wondering if you were ever coming around.” She’s wondering if she’ll ever be rescued, or if she’ll be cursed to a life of loneliness.
“My faith in you was fading,” she says, slowly losing hope, “When I met you on the outskirts of town.” They meet up outside the confines of their disapproving world, and this is where they finally find a bit of freedom.
Final Chorus: “Go Pick Out a White Dress”

In the final chorus, it all works out. But it’s not without her internal monologue questioning reality.
“And I said, ‘Romeo, save me, I’ve been feeling so alone’,” she says, “I keep waiting for you, but you never come.” This is both directed at the Romeo character of the song, and the imagined Romeo of Taylor’s actual love life. Will she ever find her white knight?
“Is this in my head?” she wonders, “I don’t know what to think.” Here’s where the irony comes full circle: this is, in fact, all in her head. But it also portrays the more confusing aspects of falling in love: is it actually happening? Can you trust your gut feelings?
“He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring,” she says, and the moment is finally here: it’s exactly what she’s been waiting for.
Her Romeo says, “Marry me, Juliet, you’ll never have to be alone.” She imagines that when she finds this person, with whom she shares an intense and all-consuming love, that they’ll be her person forever. She’ll never feel lonely again.
“I love you and that’s all I really know,” he says to her, “I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress.” “I don’t know much, but I know I love you,” he says, as the classic song goes. She can go get the dress now: it’s official.
“It’s a love story, baby, just say, ‘Yes’,” he says, proposing marriage. It’s here that the meaning of “yes” changes. Previously, it was saying “yes” to falling in love. But here, it means saying “yes” to his marriage proposal.
He’s finally saved her. But what has he saved her from? “Feeling so alone.” This romance might not be about him at all – it’s about “saving” her from feeling lonely.
⭐️ How well do you know Fearless? Take the Fearless TV Lyrics Quiz ⭐️
Outro: “We Were Both Young”
“Oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh
‘Cause we were both young when I first saw you”
-Taylor Swift, “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)”
The outro zooms back out of the fantasy and back into reality, bookending this fantastical ride with Taylor in the driver’s seat. This completes the framing of the narrative.
So what’s the lesson of Love Story? I’d argue that the word “story” is vital to understanding the song. It’s not just “love,” it’s a “love story,” story being the operative word. It’s made up, imaginary, and a work of fiction.
What does this tell us about Taylor’s idealization of love? That she knows it’s fantasy. She knows there is no Romeo and no white knight coming to save her. But she sure can dream about it, and in relaying her dreams, she captures the hearts and minds of every listener.
We can all relate to this situation where you have an ideal fantasy love and in reality it comes crashing down, just as the fantasy comes crashing down in the outro of Love Story. It was all a dream, but it sure was a nice dream to have.
Love Story Lyrics Meaning: Final Thoughts
Taylor will play with a lot of white knight and damsel in distress narratives, including in Long Live, Today Was a Fairytale, White Horse, and Forever & Always. But does it mean she believes in the concept of fairytale love? No.
In the Fearless TV Prologue, she tells us that Fearless “was the diary of the adventures and explorations of a teenage girl who was learning tiny lessons with every new crack in the facade of the fairytale ending she’d been shown in the movies.”
This album helped her realize that she’d never get the fairytale ending; the happily ever after. But it sure is fun to imagine that she can, and that’s exactly what she does in Love Story.
Fantasy, sometimes, is much easier to imagine than reality.
More Songs from Fearless (Taylor’s Version)
- Fearless & Fearless TV Prologues
- Fearless
- Fifteen
- Love Story
- Hey Stephen
- White Horse
- You Belong With Me
- Breathe
- Tell Me Why
- You’re Not Sorry
- The Way I Loved You
- Forever & Always
- The Best Day
- Change
- Jump Then Fall
- Untouchable
- Come in With the Rain
- Superstar
- The Other Side of the Door
- Today Was a Fairytale
- You All Over Me [From the Vault]
- Mr Perfectly Fine [From the Vault]
- We Were Happy [From the Vault]
- That’s When (ft. Keith Urban) [From the Vault]
- Don’t You [From the Vault]
- Bye Bye Baby [From the Vault]
⭐️ How well do you know Fearless? Take the Fearless TV Lyrics Quiz ⭐️