Why Fans Think Taylor Swift's ‘When Emma Falls in Love’ Lyrics Are About Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield
Emma Stone spoke last month about how she and Taylor Swift had been friends since they were teenagers. Swift even set her up with Eras tour tickets. “I was lucky ‘cause we’ve been friends for a really long time,” Stone said at the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic in New York City. “I’ve known her since we were 17 and 18, so she hooked me up, which was very nice ‘cause I know those tickets are impossible to get. She’s a wonderful friend. She blows my mind.”
What’s even more mind-blowing? Swift appeared to write a song about Stone during her Speak Now era. The song, a new “From the Vault” track on Swift’s Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) has Stone’s name in the title, “When Emma Falls in Love,” and seems to be a tribute to their friendship and how much Swift admires Stone.
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Swift and Stone became friends in 2008:
Emma Stone and Taylor Swift at Hollywood Life Magazine’s 10th Annual Young Hollywood Awards in April 2008.
Emma Stone fans on Twitter immediately speculated that the song could be referencing when Stone met Andrew Garfield. The dated for three years publicly until their relationship ending for good in October 2015.
The timeline may be a stretch, given Stone and Garfield weren’t reported to be dating until 2011. But they did meet in 2010, before Speak Now‘s original release, and some of the language in the lyrics echo what Garfield said about meeting Stone. (Other Swift fans theorized the song may have been about Stone’s boyfriend before Garfield, Kieran Culkin, whom she dated in 2010. The pair kept their relationship private and were reported to have split in 2011.)
Here’s the exact sequence of events known publicly:
News of Stone’s casting in The Amazing Spider-Man with Garfield broke during the first week of October 2010; Speak Now came out October 25, 2010.
Garfield spoke about being drawn to Stone during their screen test. News of Garfield’s casting as Peter Parker came out on July 2, 2010, meaning that Stone and Garfield’s joint audition likely happened that summer.
“It was like I woke up when she came in,” he told Teen Vogue in a 2012 interview with Stone. “She was the last person to screen-test, and I was so bored of it by then that I was mucking about—I’d been pretending I was Tom Hanks or Seth Rogen. And then she came in, and it was like diving into white-water rapids and having no desire to hang on to the side. Throughout shooting, it was wild and exciting. I couldn’t help but try to stay with her, keep pace with her, and not let her get away,” he said with a laugh. “Like an animal preying on a smaller animal, but a wily smaller animal.”
Stone laughed and told him, “Shhh. That is enough.”
Reports of them dating didn’t break until almost a year later in June 2011. People noted that they started shooting The Amazing Spider-Man together in December 2010, after Swift’s album dropped. Still, what happened between Garfield and Stone privately after their screen test isn’t known—likewise with her and Kieran Culkin. There is a slim chance that Garfield’s connection with Stone could have served as inspiration for the track. What’s less debatable is that Stone herself inspired Swift.
Here are the lyrics, via Genius:
Verse 1
When Emma falls in love, she paces the floor
Closes the blinds and locks the door
When Emma falls in love, she calls up her mom
Stone is very close to her mother. In her 2012 Teen Vogue interview with Garfield, she called her mother her hero. “My mom [is my hero], for so many reasons—for her bravery. For everything.”
Jokes about the ways that this one could go wrong
She waits and takes her time
‘Cause Little Miss Sunshine always thinks it’s gonna rain
Garfield famously described his first meeting with Stone as encountering sunshine. “She came in, and she was like a shot of espresso,” Garfield said, recalling their screen test in a 2012 feature on it. “She’s like being bathed in sunlight. She’s incredibly energetic and enthusiastic, and she had this sense of play and fun, which was incredibly exciting.”
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When Emma falls in love, I know
That boy will never be the sameChorus
‘Cause she’s the kind of book that you can’t put down
Garfield literally spoke about feeling he could write a book about Stone, although it was in a 2014 interview, long after Swift’s song was written. Still, it’s a testament to what anyone can see in Stone’s character and more evidence the song is likely about her. “I will write a book one day about how I feel about every aspect of Emily Stone [Emma’s real name],” Garfield said on Good Morning America, via Just Jared Jr. “She’s a full genius, or she has found her genius and she’s doing it so beautifully. I think everyone who works with her, everyone who brushes shoulders with her or even makes eye contact with her gets a shot of sunshine.”
Like if Cleopatra grew up in a small town
And all the bad boys would be good boys
If they only had a chance to love her
And to tell you the truth, sometimes I wish I was her
Verse 2
When Emma falls in love, it’s all on her face
Hangs in the air like stars in outer space
When Emma falls in love, she disappears
And we all just laugh after seein’ it all these years
When Emma falls apart, it’s when she’s alone
She takes on the pain and bears it on her own
‘Cause when Emma falls in love, she’s in it for keeps
She won’t walk away unless she knows she absolutely has to leave
Chorus
And she’s the kind of book that you can’t put down
Like if Cleopatra grew up in a small town
And all the bad boys would be good boys
If they only had a chance to love her
And to tell you the truth, sometimes I wish I was herBridge
Well, she’s so New York when she’s in L.A.
Stone now has homes in New York City and Los Angeles, but as Entertainment Weekly reported, she was living in Los Angeles at the time the song was written but was photographed out with Swift in New York City.
She won’t lose herself in love the way that I did
‘Cause she’ll call you out, she’ll put you in your place
When Emma falls in love, I’m learning
In April 2010, Stone spoke to MTV News about the history of her and Swift’s friendship and how their personalities meshed. The interview gives a telling look at their dynamic during the Speak Now era. “She’s so great! We’re very different, but she has such a sick sense of humor,” Stone said. “Nobody knows that. She’s so great. People know … how hilarious she is. They’ve seen her on SNL. People are seeing it more now, and she’s so funny and she’s exactly who you think she is, and I love that.”
She added of their first meeting: “We met at the Young Hollywood Awards for Hollywood Life magazine. We met there three years ago, and then I listened to some of her music, and I wrote her an e-mail saying I liked her music, I swear. And then we started talking and hanging out.”
Verse 3
Emma met a boy with eyes like a man
Turns out her heart fits right in the palm of his hand
Now he’ll be her shelter when it rains
Little does he know, his whole world’s about to changeIt’s unclear who this is about, but it could fit either Garfield or Culkin. Stone kept her relationship with Culkin private. But she did speak about Garfield being a huge factor in her taking the Spider-Man role in her 2012 Teen Vogue. She alluded to how Garfield stood out to her professionally; she playfully called him out for being “intense” and called him the “biggest thinker,” complimenting his emotional maturity.
“Something was telling me that I needed to be her [Gwen Stacy],” she started. “And then I tested with him, and that sealed the deal. Because meeting Andrew, and working with Andrew—cover your ears, Andrew, earmuffs—it was one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had. Really, the way he is as an actor is just completely different from anyone I’ve ever worked with. I never went to school for this, so getting to be a sponge off certain people is very vital to me.”
Chorus
‘Cause she’s the kind of book that you can’t put down
Like if Cleopatra grew up in a small town
And all the bad boys would be good boys
If they only had a chance to love her
And to tell you the truth, sometimes I wish I was herOutro
Yeah, between me and you, sometimes I wish I was her
Senior News and Strategy Editor
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.
