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Taylor Swift’s “When Emma Falls In Love” Includes Subtle Nods To Emma Stone
The two have a long-standing friendship that dates back to when Swift was first writing Speak Now.
If one of Taylor Swift’s new “from the vault” songs is any indication, there’s a chance that sometimes she wishes she was Emma Stone. When the Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) track list was first announced, Swifties immediately speculated that “When Emma Falls in Love” was about the Oscar winner given their long-standing friendship, which particularly blossomed as Swift was making Speak Now. When the re-recording came out on July 7, fans didn’t receive certified confirmation, but the song’s lyrics do contain sly references to Stone that make this theory probable.
At its core, “When Emma Falls in Love” is an ode to friendship, with Swift recalling the ways that “Emma” behaves when she falls in love and experiences heartbreak, and most importantly, how she affects the boys that go head-over-heels for her. The most evident reference to Stone comes when Swift sings, “When Emma falls in love, she calls up her mom / 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.”
Stone is notably close to her mother, having taken her to multiple award shows and publicly stood by her during her “terrifying” breast cancer diagnosis. Fans also traced the “Little Miss Sunshine” title back to Stone, as the actor sang Natasha Bedingfield’s seminal hit “Pocketful of Sunshine” in her 2010 breakout film Easy A. And while they weren’t dating when Swift wrote the song, Stone’s ex-boyfriend Andrew Garfield once said in an interview that “she was like being bathed in sunlight.”
The lyric “Well, she’s so New York when she’s in LA” could also be referring to Stone, as the two were spotted hanging out in New York multiple times during the period when Swift was recording Speak Now, even though she resided in Los Angeles at that time. Some fans also speculated that it could be a reference to Stone’s Oscar-winning performance in La La Land, but considering the film didn’t come out until 2015, this is likely not the case.
Of course, since Swift doesn’t give a last name in the song, fans may never be completely certain that she’s singing about Stone. Other possibilities include Jane Austen’s classic novel Emma, or even her Valentine’s Day co-star Emma Roberts. But considering their history and Swift’s penchant for writing songs inspired by close friends’ love lives, it’s not a far stretch to declare “When Emma Falls in Love” her and Stone’s friendship anthem.
Read the full lyrics for “When Emma Falls in Love” below.
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
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.
When Emma falls in love, I know that boy will never be the same
’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 her
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
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 her
Well, she’s so New York when she’s in LA
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
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 change
’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 her
Yeah, between me and you, sometimes I wish I was her
