Hometown Cleopatra? “When Emma Falls in Love” Meaning, Explained
When Emma Falls in Love, Taylor’s 2nd vault track for Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), is a sweet and simple ode to her friend…right?
It sort of is, and it sort of isn’t. As we’ll come to learn in my full lyrical analysis, “Emma” represents so much more than someone in Taylor’s inner circle: she represents Taylor herself.
Here’s my complete English teacher dissection of Taylor’s When Emma Falls in Love meaning, line by line.
When Emma Falls in Love (Taylor’s Version) [From the Vault]
- Title: When Emma Falls in Love (Taylor’s Version) [From the Vault]
- Track: 18, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)
- Written By: Taylor Swift
- Lyrics via Genius
When Emma Falls in Love: Narrative Summary
- Setting: Watching a friend fall in and out of love over the years.
- Characters: Narrator (Taylor), subject (“Emma,” “she”)
- Theme: What others see in you vs. what you see in yourself.
- Mood: Admiration, awe, sentimentality.
- Conflict: Falling in love without losing yourself.
- Inciting Incident: “When Emma falls in love,” and the consequences it brings.
- Quest: Narrate her admiration for her friend, and learn from her friend’s example.
- Metaphors, Similes, Imagery & Deeper Meanings: “Paces the floor,” “closes the blinds and locks the door,” “the ways that this one could go wrong,” “takes her time,” “Little Miss Sunshine,” “that boy will never be the same,” “the kind of book that you can’t put down,” “Like if Cleopatra grew up in a small town,” “bad boys / good boys,” “I wish I was her,” “all on her face,” “like stars in outer space,” “she disappears,” “falls apart,” “bears it on her own,” “in it for keeps,” “so New York when she’s in LA,” “lose herself,” “call you out, put you in your place,” “boy with eyes like a man,” “heart fits right in the palm of his hand,” “her shelter when it rains,” “between me and you.”
- Lesson: What others see in you vs. what you see in yourself are two different things.
What is When Emma Falls in Love About?
When Emma Falls in Love narrates Taylor’s respect, admiration and love for her friend Emma, as Taylor observes her move and grow through life’s challenges.
The song speaks to a universal conundrum all young women face: how do you fall in love, and give a part of yourself to another person, while maintaining your sense of self?
Taylor grapples with this idea in the lyrics, and compares Emma’s experience to her own.
Who is When Emma Falls in Love About?
Most fans surmise that the “Emma” in the song is Taylor’s friend, actor Emma (Emily) Stone. The pair have been friends since 2008.
But the subject of When Emma Falls in Love isn’t the most important part of the song. “Emma” is a stand-in for all girls, who struggle to maintain a sense of self when accepting a romantic partner into their lives.
“Emma” especially represents Taylor: who she is in the face of love, and who she wishes she could be.
When Emma Falls in Love Analysis: Line by Line
The first verse begins with Taylor narrating how the subject, her friend Emma, acts when she’s in love.
“When Emma falls in love, she paces the floor,” she says of Emma’s ruminating anxiety over relationships, “Closes the blinds and locks the door.” Emma metaphorically shuts the world out when she’s in love, and doesn’t let people in on her private life.
Taylor is describing the universal anxiety over a new crush, which is a common theme running throughout her songbook.
“When Emma falls in love, she calls up her mom,” Taylor says of Emma, “Jokes about the ways that this one could go wrong.” Emma’s mom, much like Taylor’s mom, is her best friend, and they make light of this precarious new relationship to bring some humor to the situation.
“She waits and takes her time,” she says of Emma’s patience in the face of love, “’Cause Little Miss Sunshine always thinks it’s gonna rain.” She’s perceived as bright and cheerful (“little miss sunshine”), but in reality, she’s a pessimist.
“When Emma falls in love, I know,” she says, “That boy will never be the same.” Emma – much like Taylor – is such a force to be reckoned with, that she’ll change everything in her path.
Everyone who touches her is transformed (remind you of any powerful pop star we know?).
💜 How well do you know Speak Now? Take the Speak Now TV Lyrics Quiz! 💜
Chorus: “She’s the Kind of Book That You Can’t Put Down”
“’Cause she’s the kind of book that you can’t put down,” she says of her alluring qualities. She’s addicting, infatuating, and keeps people coming back for more.
This is a common metaphor in Taylorland, but it’s usually used to describe a “book” of love, like in Love Story and The Story of Us. Here, the girl herself is the complete story: she’s the narrative, and she’s the plot. The story revolves around her, and not the other way around.
Her friend is a powerful and alluring figure, “Like if Cleopatra grew up in a small town.” Cleopatra was not only an iconic beauty, but held a huge amount of power in ancient Egypt. Emma – like Cleopatra, and like Taylor – is the main character. From humble roots grew massive oak trees.
“And all the bad boys would be good boys,” she says, “If they only had a chance to love her.” She can transform any “bad boy” into a well-mannered gentleman, if she would only slow down long enough to let them into her heart.
This plays with the idea of Taylor’s own reputation, which she’ll expand upon in later songs like Blank Space, “I can make the bad guys good for a weekend,” and Cruel Summer’s “bad bad boy, shiny toy with a price, you know that I bought it.”
“And to tell you the truth, sometimes I wish I was her,” she cheekily nods to her reader. It’s at this point that we’re truly confident she’s not only speaking only about a friend – she’s speaking about herself, and about the universal ideals of main-character energy.
Verse 2: “She Takes On the Pain and Bears it On Her Own”
“When Emma falls in love, it’s all on her face,” she says in the second verse, “Hangs in the air like stars in outer space.” Emma – much like Taylor – can’t hide when she’s in love. Emma’s love is compared to a cosmic force, burning bright like faraway stars.
“When Emma falls in love, she disappears,” she says of Emma’s ghosting, “And we all just laugh after seein’ it all these years.” When she’s infatuated with a new relationship, she lets go of her friends, and seems to migrate to another world. This ties in with the outer space simile from the previous lines.
But who else do we know who “ghosts” her friends while in a new relationship? Taylor, as she admits in Fresh Out the Slammer. It’s a universal experience, both from the outside (your friend ghosting you for a boyfriend), and from the inside (trying to navigate a new relationship while maintaining your friendships).
“When Emma falls apart, it’s when she’s alone,” she says of Emma’s facade, “She takes on the pain and bears it on her own.” Emma – like Taylor – won’t fall apart publicly. Taylor doesn’t have the luxury of falling apart publicly, and Emma maintains a stoic front that only falls when she has time to herself.
“’Cause when Emma falls in love, she’s in it for keeps,” she says of her commitment, “She won’t walk away unless she knows she absolutely has to leave.” Emma is loyal, almost to a fault, just like Taylor, and just like countless young women who believe love will work out.
Bridge: “She’s So New York When She’s in LA”
The bridge begins with, “Well, she’s so New York when she’s in L.A..” The cities become metaphors for personalities. New York is fast-paced, bold and brash. LA is all about the facade, ego, and displaying wealth. Emma doesn’t compromise her values just because she’s in a different city.
The larger theme that the city metaphors speak to is how to maintain your sense of self. Taylor has admitted “I can change everything about me to fit in,” and she admires her friend’s steadfastness to her true self in the face of change.
“She won’t lose herself in love the way that I did,” she continues, speaking to a common pitfall of new relationships and life changes. “The way I did” likely refers to other Speak Now love songs Dear John, Superman, Haunted, Foolish One, and more, where Taylor seemed to lose her sense of self in love.
“’Cause she’ll call you out, she’ll put you in your place,” she says of Emma’s boldness. She’ll speak up for herself, and speak up for others. Taylor wishes she could be more like this, as she told us in the Speak Now TV prologue.
“When Emma falls in love, I’m learning,” she says of the lessons Emma has taught her. She’s learning “how to be” by watching a friend she admires. But “Emma” isn’t just one friend – she represents all young women navigating the pitfalls of love and life.
Verse 3: “Emma Met A Boy With Eyes Like a Man”
The third verse narrates what happens when Emma finally meets her match.
“Emma met a boy with eyes like a man,” she says of Emma’s new romance. He’s age-appropriate, but has more mature qualities as represented in “eyes like a man.” It’s what all young women wish for at this age: a boy who is as mature as they are.
“Turns out her heart fits right in the palm of his hand,” she says of this perfect match. They fit together like puzzle pieces. Taylor will use this metaphor again in ivy: “my pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand.”
“Now he’ll be her shelter when it rains” uses a weather metaphor to represent the trials and tribulations of life. When emotional storms roll in, her man can give her a place to ride out the rough times.
“Little does he know, his whole world’s about to change,” she says of Emma’s transformative qualities. She’s got the Midas touch, and anyone who is lucky enough to love her will be better for it.
The chorus repeats, then the outro ties the narrative all back together.
After Taylor has narrated her friend’s story, she says once again, “And to tell you the truth, sometimes I wish I was her.”
The irony – and the cheeky nod to her reader – is that Taylor is Emma, because Emma is all young women trying to navigate the tricky world of love.
“Yeah, between me and you, sometimes I wish I was her,” she says one final time.
But the secret is out: we all wish we could behave bravely and confidently in the face of love. But love is terrifying, and life-changing, and terribly hard not to lose yourself in. Like Emma, we’ll struggle, and lose, and win, and keep trying.
Emma did it, but Emma is just an example. She’s a symbol for all women everywhere: what we wish we could be, how we wish we could behave, and how we hope we’ll find our happily ever after.
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When Emma Falls in Love Meaning: Final Thoughts
Taylor has done something incredibly clever in this track: she points it toward one particular person, knowing that we’ll attribute the lyrics to Emma (real name Emily) Stone.
Yes, it’s probably partially about the real Emma. But it’s what Emma represents that is the most important theme. She’s who we wish we could be, what we wish we could be, and she’s the steadfast sense of self that we all somehow lose in the face of a terrifying new romance.
She’s not infallible. She ghosts her friends sometimes for her new man. She shuts people out. She has a hard time letting love in. But she eventually learns how to navigate this path, just like we all have to do.
Taylor wishes she could be like Emma, and we all wish we could be like Emma. We wish we could know ourselves and be confident enough in ourselves to take it slow, call people out, wait for the right person, and never lose what makes us shine.
Can we? Yes. And it’s the example – set by Taylor, and people like Emma – that allows us to glimpse what could be.
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
- Enchanted
- Better Than Revenge
- Innocent
- Haunted
- Last Kiss
- Long Live
- Ours
- Superman
- Electric Touch (ft Fall Out Boy) [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]
