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Taylor Swift releases 'Charli XCX diss track' on her new album - makes a serious allegation
The pop music world is buzzing over what looks like a lyrical back-and-forth between Taylor Swift and Charli XCX.
When Charli dropped her critically acclaimed album Brat in June 2024, fans immediately speculated about the meaning behind one of its most vulnerable tracks, 'Sympathy Is a Knife'.
The song’s lyrics explore insecurity, jealousy, and spiraling self-doubt in the presence of another woman connected to her partner.
It all started with a Charli XCX song that seemed to reference Taylor Swift
Because Charli is married to George Daniel of The 1975, and Taylor Swift briefly dated his bandmate Matty Healy in 2023, some listeners quickly assumed the track was a veiled reference to Swift.
Charli, however, shut down that theory in an interview with New York Magazine in August 2024. “People are going to think what they want to think,” she said.
“That song is about me and my feelings and my anxiety and the way my brain creates narratives and stories in my head when I feel insecure.”
Taylor’s alleged response on The Life of a Showgirl
Now, with Swift’s new album The Life of a Showgirl out, fans are drawing parallels between Charli’s song and Swift’s 'Actually Romantic'.
Positioned as the seventh track on the record, the placement itself feels intentional, echoing the seventh track on Brat, 'Everything Is Romantic'.
In 'Sympathy is a Knife' Charli sings: “I don’t wanna share the space / I don’t wanna force a smile / This one girl taps my insecurities / Don’t know if it’s real or if I’m spiraling.”
Later in the track, she adds: “Don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show / Fingers crossed behind my back, I hope they break up quick.”
The lyrics of 'Actually Romantic' appear to directly acknowledge gossip around Swift’s short-lived romance with Healy and Charli’s rumored response.
It also includes a reference that many have interpreted as being about drugs - but you'll pick up on that.
Swift describes being mocked, written about, and even reduced to a nickname like "Boring Barbie": “I heard you call me ‘Boring Barbie’ when the coke’s got you brave / High-fived my ex and then said you’re glad he ghosted me / Wrote me a song saying it makes you sick to see my face/ Some people might be offended / But it’s actually sweet / All the time you’ve spent on me.”
'Coke's got you brave', huh?
An interesting allegation, if that is indeed what it is.
Instead of firing back in anger, she flips the narrative, interpreting the attention as a kind of twisted affection: “It sounded nasty but it feels like you’re flirting with me / I mind my business, God’s my witness that I don’t provoke it / It’s kind of making me wet / ’Cause it’s actually sweet / All the time you’ve spent on me / It’s honestly lovely / All the effort you’ve put in / It’s actually romantic / Really got to hand it to you, to you / No man has ever loved me like you do.”
Where Charli sang about discomfort (not wanting to share space or secretly hoping for a breakup) Swift reframes the tension as something oddly flattering.
The chorus underlines this reversal, presenting obsessive criticism as “actually sweet” and even “romantic.”
Public praise amid private tension
Despite the speculation, Swift has publicly praised Charli.
In Charli’s New York Magazine cover story, Swift called her songwriting “surreal and inventive,” adding that she’s admired her talent since her 2011 debut.
The two artists also share history - Swift brought Charli onstage during her 1989 World Tour in 2015 and later invited her to open for the Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018.
Whether 'Actually Romantic' is truly aimed at Charli or inspired by internet chatter, the track has already become one of the most talked-about moments on The Life of a Showgirl.
For Swift, the drama isn’t just something to endure; it’s raw material for reinvention.