Today's the day many Swifties have been looking forward to for months now, as Taylor Swift has finally dropped her long-awaited The Life of a Showgirl album.
Such fans were treated to 12 new songs on the album, but there's one specific one which has caught the most attention on social media, and that's the seventh track titled 'Actually Romantic'.
But why is this song, specifically, sparking so much buzz online?
Well, it's all to do with the long-running alleged 'beef' between Taylor and Charli XCX, so let's get into it...
Charli XCX's 'Sympathy is a Knife'
Now, the whole discourse kicked off last year when Charli released her chart-topping Brat album.
Advert
Fans focused in on her track, 'Sympathy is a Knife', given that the lyrics seemed to suggest a narrative of insecurity, comparison and a 'third-party' female presence connected to The 1975 band, which many listeners believed was Taylor.
The lyrics read: "This one girl taps my insecurities / Don’t know if it's real or if I'm spiralling.
"Cause I couldn’t even be her if I tried / I'm opposite, I'm on the other side.
Advert
"Don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show / Fingers crossed behind my back / I hope they break up quick.
"George says I’m just paranoid."
It didn't take long for fans to make such a conclusion, given Taylor’s relationship with Matty Healy, frontman of The 1975, and Charli’s connection via her husband George Daniel in that same band.
However, despite the online chatter, Charli has denied that Brat - and specifically that song - contains intentional disses directed at Taylor.
Advert
"People are gonna think what they want to think," she told Vulture. "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."
Taylor Swift's 'Actually Romantic'
Now, Taylor's 'Actually Romantic' - which interestingly is a similar title to Charli's other song 'Everything is Romantic' - was seized upon by fans and media as a possible 'answer' or shade toward the 'Von Dutch' hit-maker's implied lines.
Advert
The lyrics are as follows: "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.
"You just give me so much attention / It’s so romantic.
"No man has ever loved me like you do."
Advert
Another line reads: "How many times has your boyfriend said / 'Why are we always talkin' 'bout her?'"
In short, the track frames what might be intended as shade as a kind of attention, almost flattering, even repurposing it.
Now, despite the discourse, it's important to note that neither Taylor nor Charli has explicitly confirmed that the songs are about one another.
Additionally, Taylor has publicly praised Charli’s writing and musicality, which could run counter to a harsh feud narrative - a trope we see time and time again in Hollywood where two successful women are relentlessly pitted against one another.
The response
The whole thing has ignited a major debate, but many Charli fans are now calling out Taylor's alleged 'embarrassing misinterpretation' of 'Sympathy is a Knife'.
Swift has not confirmed whether the song is about Charli, but that hasn't stopped people from speculating.
One X user penned: "Gave her the benefit of the doubt, thinking there’s no way these lines can be real. An embarrassing misinterpretation of Sympathy is a Knife (which is about women in music being pitted against each other), and generally embarrassing lyrics for a 36-year-old to write."
"I knew Swifties would completely miss the point of Sympathy is a Knife because they're not as smart as they think they are, I didn't expect Taylor herself to misrepresent the song as just a diss track she's just as slow as her fans, wow, eternally 12-year-old losers," slammed a second.
Another social media user echoed: "If this Taylor 'Actually Romantic' leak is real she is actually the biggest f*cking loser ever lol... the way this song was literally about Charli's insecurities and intrusive thoughts like 'couldn't even be her if I tried, I'm opposite, I'm on the other side' like hello???? It was not shady at all???
"Just mean-spirited and nasty for her to use this as an opportunity to dig at Charli and a total misread of Sympathy is a Knife... what happened to the sentiment of 'Mean'."
And a final fan defended: "Charli wrote a nuanced track that actually delved into the complex emotions of being compared to more successful women in the industry and then being forced into close proximity to them and feeling sad about it.
"Taylor wrote a sh*tty diss track because she missed the point."
Topics: Celebrity, Charli XCX, Music, Sex and Relationships, Social Media, Taylor Swift, TikTok
Rhiannon Ingle