bitchy | Is Taylor Swift’s ‘Actually Romantic’ about Charli XCX’s ‘Sympathy Is a Knife’?

Just like The Tortured Poets Department, Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl leaked online a few days before the album’s official release. People quickly became focused on one particular song, “Actually Romantic.” The first lines of the song: “I heard you call me “Boring Barbie”/when the coke’s got you brave/High-fived my ex and then you 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/It’s honestly wild/All the effort you’ve put in/It’s actually romantic.”

The backstory: Taylor used to date Matt Healy, the lead singer of The 1975. Charli XCX dated and is now married to George Daniel, drummer of The 1975. Charli and Taylor were around each other briefly because of that. Charli referenced that in the song “Sympathy Is a Knife” on her album Brat, which came out last year. The lyrics to “SIAK” include: “I don’t wanna share this 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” and “’Cause I couldn’t even be her if I tried/I’m opposite, I’m on the other side.”

Charli’s song is about her own insecurities, and comparing herself unfavorably to Taylor. Charli’s message last year was very clear, and she even spelled it out in interviews and social media, that most of Brat was about not feeling good enough, comparing herself to other pop stars, and feeling societal pressure to both compete with other pop girls and be besties with other pop girls. And Taylor took that as a diss track and called Charli a cokehead. Is it possible that Taylor just… didn’t understand “SIAK”? Possibly. Is it also possible that Charli and Taylor had beef beyond “SIAK,” beef about Matt Healy? Probably. Charli is close to Healy’s fiancee, and I could absolutely see how Taylor is in her feelings about the Matt Healy of it all.

Incidentally, last year, Lorde understood the assignment. Lorde heard Charli’s “girl, so confusing” and she didn’t take it as a diss track or anything. Lorde immediately hopped on the remix, and it turned into the best song to come out of the Brat Era, with both Charli and Lorde owning their own insecurities and Lorde telling Charli that of course she still rides for her.

Updated to add Taylor’s new explanation for “Actually Romantic,” which is bonkers. Taylor really operates as if every single personshe encounters is obsessed with her.

Lmao the way she explains the track😭 pic.twitter.com/5d9NjDLwpN

— Lyrical SWlFT (@CasualSwiftay) October 3, 2025

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, cover courtesy of TS.