EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – JULY 22: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO STANDALONE PUBLICATION USE (NO SPECIAL INTEREST OR SINGLE ARTIST PUBLICATION USE; NO BOOK USE)) (L-R) Charli XCX, Taylor Swift, and Camila Cabello perform onstage during the Taylor Swift reputation Stadium Tour at MetLife Stadium on July 22, 2018 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/TAS18/Getty Images for TAS)
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Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl has arrived, and fans are already dissecting every lyric for hidden meanings. The sparkly orange-hued album touches on themes of love and finding “the one” after past heartbreaks, but it also doesn’t shy away from addressing enemies.
Swift has a long history of weaving past foes into her music — whether allegedly aimed at Kim Kardashian (“thanK you aIMee”) or Scooter Braun (“Vigilante S–t”) — and Showgirl continues that tradition. Fans, in particular, have a few questions about the album’s seventh track, titled “Actually Romantic,” which many believe is about Charli XCX.
So, what do the lyrics of “Actually Romantic” reveal, and why are fans convinced it’s about the Brat artist? Here’s a breakdown of the lyrics, the history of Swift’s relationship with Charli XCX, and what the billionaire superstar herself has said about the song.
What Are The ‘Actually Romantic’ Lyrics?
In “Actually Romantic,” Swift opens by calling out someone who allegedly dubbed her “Boring Barbie” and gossiped about her with an ex.
“I heard you call me ‘Boring Barbie’ when the coke’s got you brave,” Swift sings. “High-fived my ex and then said you’re glad he ghosted me.”
Charli is married to George Daniel, the drummer of The 1975, while Swift briefly dated the band’s lead singer, Matty Healy, in 2023. This overlap has led some people to speculate that the song’s lyrics could be a subtle nod to Swift and Charli’s history.
Swift continues, “Wrote me a song saying it makes you sick to see my face/ Some people might be offended/ But it’s actually sweet.”
Fans believe this lyric may be a direct response to Charli’s track “Sympathy Is A Knife” from her album Brat, where she sings, “Don’t know if I’m spiralling / One voice tells me that they laugh / George says I’m just paranoid / Don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show / Fingers crossed behind my back / I hope they break up real quick.”
However, when “Sympathy Is A Knife” came out, Charli denied that it was a diss track. “People are gonna think what they want to think,” she told Vulture in August 2024. “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.”
Has Taylor Swift Said Anything About ‘Actually Romantic’?
In a detailed breakdown for Amazon Music, Swift discussed each track on The Life of a Showgirl, including “Actually Romantic.”
In her commentary, she said the song is about “realizing that someone else has kind of had a one-sided, adversarial relationship with you that you didn’t know about. And all of a sudden they start doing too much and they start letting you know that actually, you’ve been living in their head rent-free and you had no idea.”
She went on, “It’s presenting itself as them sort of resenting you or having a problem with you but you take that and just accept it as love and you accept it as attention and affection, and how flattering that somebody has made you such a big part of their reality when you didn’t even think about this. It’s actually pretty romantic if you really think about it.”
What Is Taylor Swift’s Connection to Charli XCX?
TORONTO, ON – OCTOBER 03: Singer/Songwriters Taylor Swift and special guest Charli XCX perform onstage during The 1989 World Tour Live In Toronto – Night 2 at Rogers Center on October 3, 2015 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by George Pimentel/LP5/Getty Images for TAS)
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Charli XCX was a special guest during The 1989 World Tour and later opened for Swift in 2018 on the Reputation Tour. In an August 2019 interview with Pitchfork, she said she was “really grateful that Taylor asked me on that tour.” She added, “But as an artist, it kind of felt like I was getting up on stage and waving to 5-year-olds.”
After receiving backlash for her comments, the “360” singer clarified what she meant in an interview with The Independent. She said that her remarks were “taken out of context” and there was “no shade and only love” for Taylor.
Last year, Charli XCX also defended Taylor at a concert in Brazil after a fan allegedly shouted, “Taylor Swift is dead.”
“Can the people who do this please stop. 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. I will not tolerate it,” Charli wrote on her Instagram story, according to Variety.
Swift also dispelled rumors of a feud last year after she raved about Charli’s songwriting when speaking to Vulture. “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.”
Swift added, “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.”
Ultimately, neither Swift nor Charli have confirmed a feud or said that their lyrics are about one another.
The Life of a Showgirl is out now. You can listen to the album on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/monicamercuri/2025/10/03/are-taylor-swifts-actually-romantic-lyrics-about-charli-xcx-lets-break-it-down/
