All the evidence that this new Taylor Swift song is hooked on her Charli XCX feud.

Taylor Swift's new album The Life Of A Showgirl has officially dropped and it comes complete with one or two (who are we kidding, fifty) major mic drop moments. 

From her stunning declarations of love for Travis Kelce — I already have 'The Fate Of Ophelia' on repeat — to her legacy-defining musings with Sabrina Carpenter on the title track 'The Life Of A Showgirl', there's no denying this album will be a major pop music hit. 

But there is one song causing quite a stir already, after reports broke this morning that it might be about another famous pop star: Charli XCX. 

'Actually Romantic' features lyrics that point to their rumoured feud. It comes off the back of Charli's own song 'Sympathy Is A Knife' that was released in 2024. 

But Taylor's tune stands in stark contrast to the intensity of Charli's EDM bop, which supposedly detailed how Taylor's presence irritated Charli due to her own "insecurities" and "self-doubt".

Instead, a relaxed beat, a few guitar strums, and some scorching sarcastic lyrics have been woven together to deliver a soft-yet-scathing response. Oh, and it's very catchy.

While the song attempts to be laid back, breezy, and positively unbothered, it proves the one thing we know to be true about Taylor Swift: she cares very deeply, every single time. Because if she actually didn't think about Charli at all, she would choose not to respond. But what fun would that be?

Instead, she's given us a genuinely funny 'diss track' with some of the silliest lyrics she's ever penned (who knew we'd get a line from Taylor Swift saying Charli XCX makes her wet with all this romantic attention). Even rapper Nicki Minaj is currently tweeting about how funny the song is.

The song begins with a reference to the BRAT party era, with the line: "I heard you call me 'Boring Barbie' when the coke's got you brave".

WELL THEN.

Image: Getty.

The duo both dated band members of The 1975 at the same time in 2023. But, they also have industry history, with Taylor asking Charli XCX to appear on the 1989 World Tour before inviting her to open on the Reputation World Tour — after which, Charli was raked over the coals for saying it was weird performing for "five-year-olds". She did later apologise and clarify her meaning.

The pair were never really seen together again until 2023, when their romantic lives crossed paths. Then, Charli dropped 'Sympathy Is A Knife' and ignited the flames of a fan war across social media.

But let's walk it back for those of you who don't know all the details. What does Taylor say about Charli on the new song? And how did we get here?

Is 'Actually Romantic' about Charli XCX?

While Taylor would likely never officially confirm whether this song is about Charli XCX, all the clues are right there in the lyrics.

Let's start with the introduction: "I heard you call me 'Boring Barbie' when the coke's got you brave".

Charli's BRAT era had many ties to cocaine, including lyrics and an entire cocaine-themed special record release with white powder floating along the vinyl pressing.

On her new track, Taylor sings: "Wrote me a song saying it makes you sick to see my face / Some people might be offended / But it's actually very sweet / All the time you've spent on me."

This, of course, would be in reference to Charli's own song released last year.

Taylor sings that it's "actually romantic" how obsessed this person is with her, later singing that the attention is "making me wet".

Other lyrics speak to the idea that this other person is the one causing the drama, while Taylor is just easy breezy.

"I know you think it comes off vicious / But it's precious, adorable / Like a toy chihuahua bugging at me from a tiny purse / That's how much it hurts," she sings.

"I mind my business / God's my witness that I don't provoke it," she says in another line.

She also includes specific lyrics that seem to be about her ex-boyfriend, Matty Healy of The 1975. The pair dated briefly (following a decade-long situationship) in 2023. This was at the same time that Charli XCX was dating the band's drummer, George Daniel, to whom she is now married.

"High-fived my ex and then you said you're glad he ghosted me," she sings of Matty, who famously dumped her out of the blue (as documented in her songs on The Tortured Poets Department).

"How many times has your boyfriend said, 'Why are we always talking about her?'" Taylor asks on the song, suggesting George might be tired of the Taylor Swift discourse.

The overall tone of this song seems to be that this other person has wronged her, but she is beyond it now. It has the more grown-up and pointed energy of her Lover-era song 'I Forgot That You Existed' especially with the line "hadn't thought of you in a long time". And the sound? Unexpected for Taylor, and entirely delightful.

But the song is already being denounced as petty by some fans, who insist upon the narrative that Taylor can't let anything go. Which brings us back to the song that started it all. Or rather, the person.

Image: Getty.

What did Charli XCX say about Taylor Swift on Sympathy Is A Knife?

'Sympathy Is A Knife' is a high-energy synthy tune that focuses on feelings of inadequacy and the negative stories Charli would tell herself in the presence of another woman.

"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 spiralling," Charli sings, about finding herself sharing spaces with Taylor when she began dating Matty.

While the pair had previously worked together, the two singers did not publicly seem to cross paths much until their romantic lives intertwined. Then, suddenly, a diss-track appeared on BRAT.

"Don't wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend's show / Fingers crossed behind my back, I hope they break up quick," she sang.

Okay, wishing a split, not the best! But the chorus of the song made it clear that, for the most part, Charli simply struggled with the idea that she would be compared to Taylor.

"Cause I couldn't even be her if I tried / I'm opposite, I'm on the other side," she sang. "One voice tells me that they laugh / George says, 'I'm just paranoid' / Says he just don't see it, he's so naive / I'm embarrassed to have it, but need the sympathy."

When pressed on the song, Charli said it was about her own self-doubt rather than being about hating Taylor Swift herself.

"People are gonna think what they want to think," she told New York magazine. "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 and how I don't want to be in those situations physically when I feel self-doubt."

While that's all well and good, it wasn't the end of the story.

Charli hoped to quell rumours it was meant as a diss track, a subsequent photo shoot really sent the internet spiralling.

Charli XCX and the friendship bracelets photo shoot.

In a New York Magazine profile following the release of her album BRAT, Charli was photographed standing near a giant severed hand that was wearing a friendship bracelet.

While friendship bracelets are synonymous with rave culture, there's no denying that in 2023 and 2024 they were a major symbol of Taylor's Eras Tour. There were entire economies lifted on the back of bracelet bead sales.

So, it was seen as a commentary on Charli and Taylor's relationship. For what it's worth, Taylor gave quotes to the magazine in which she called Charli "surreal" and "inventive".

"I've been blown away by Charli's melodic sensibilities since I first heard 'Stay Away' in 2011," she said. "Her writing is surreal and inventive, always. She just takes a song to places you wouldn't expect it to go, and she's been doing it consistently for over a decade. I love to see hard work like that pay off."

Despite Taylor giving a quote to the mag, the photo shoot was seen as a dig at the Midnights singer. And so, fan feuding picked up online.

Some of Charli's fans started showing up to her shows wearing anti-Taylor Swift merchandise. They started chanting that they wanted her to die.

"Can the people who do this please stop," Charli wrote on Instagram in 2024. "Online or at my shows.

"It is the opposite of what I want and it disturbs me that anyone would think there is room for this in this community."

Despite this, it was still a firmly held belief in the fandoms that these two stars were at war.

Until The Grammys.

Taylor Swift and Charli XCX at The Grammys.

While the New York Times quote did little to quell rumours of a feud, Taylor visibly dancing along to Charli's performance at the 2025 Grammy Awards was seen as proof that there was no real bad blood.

All was well!

This makes it all the more surprising to hear the lyrics on 'Actually Romantic' today. It seems that Taylor was — at that time of The Grammys, after The Life Of A Showgirl had already been recorded — well aware she'd written a diss track in response to Charli's music. And a scathing one, at that. And yet, there she was publicly smiling and dancing along to the performance.

Perhaps this is her way of getting the last laugh?

If Taylor previously had positive things to say about Charli after the release of 'Sympathy Is A Knife' it begs the question, what happened next? For her to suddenly view the song differently?

Given the lyrics of 'Actually Romantic' reference Charli's private conversations about the breakdown of the relationship with Matty, Taylor may have since learned more information that saw her change her mind.

Maybe the gals can work it out on the remix…

Feature Image: Getty.