{"id":2066071,"date":"2025-10-03T07:05:22","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T07:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2066071"},"modified":"2025-10-03T07:05:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T07:05:22","slug":"fans-think-taylor-swifts-new-life-of-a-showgirl-song-actually-romantic-is-a-charli-xcx-diss-track","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/fans-think-taylor-swifts-new-life-of-a-showgirl-song-actually-romantic-is-a-charli-xcx-diss-track\/","title":{"rendered":"Fans think Taylor Swift&#8217;s new &#8216;Life Of A Showgirl&#8217; song &#8216;Actually Romantic&#8217; is a Charli XCX diss track"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Fans of <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/taylor-swift\">Taylor Swift<\/a> believe \u2018Actually Romantic\u2019 off her new album \u2018The Life Of A Showgirl\u2019 is a diss track aimed at <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/charli-xcx\">Charli XCX<\/a> \u2013 see why below.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"post-content-read-more\">\n<li><strong>READ MORE:\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/features\/music-features\/taylor-swift-eras-tour-end-impact-3820896\"><b>Taylor Swift\u2019s Eras Tour comes to an end: a look at its massive global impact<\/b><\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Following the release of <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/fans-react-to-taylor-swifts-the-life-of-a-showgirl-taylor-swift-youve-done-it-again-3896920\">\u2018The Life Of A Showgirl\u2019<\/a>, fans have been dissecting the lyrics to every song off Swift\u2019s 12th studio album \u2013 but no track has garnered as much attention as \u2018Actually Romantic\u2019.<\/p>\n<p><figure id=\"attachment_3884695\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3884695\" style=\"width: 2000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3884695\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Taylor Swift, 2025. Credit: Mert Alas &amp; Marcus Piggot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>The lyrics \u2013 while cryptic \u2013 seem to contain enough hints for fans to believe that the track is a swipe at Charli XCX. Its opening lines hit out at someone who\u2019s \u201cbrave\u201d when on cocaine, and \u201cwrote a song saying it makes you sick to see my face\u201d, all of which point at the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/reviews\/album\/charli-xcx-brat-review-lyrics-tracklist-3762875\">\u2018Brat\u2019<\/a> artist.<\/p>\n<p>Taylor sings to kick off the track:\u00a0\u201c<em>I heard you call me \u2018Boring Barbie\u2019 when the coke\u2019s got you brave \/ High-fived my ex and then said you\u2019re glad he ghosted me \/ Wrote me a song saying it makes you sick to see my face\/ Some people might be offended \/ But it\u2019s actually sweet<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Full lyrics to Taylor Swift&#8217;s Charli XCX answer song &#8220;Actually Romantic&#8221;<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/TSTheLifeofaShowgirl?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#TSTheLifeofaShowgirl<\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/TaylorSwift?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#TaylorSwift<\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/nvWF4JCaFe\">pic.twitter.com\/nvWF4JCaFe<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Pancake Buffalo (@tankedwbk) <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tankedwbk\/status\/1973592466013200422?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 2, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The rest of \u2018Actually Romantic\u2019 sees Swift spin her detractor\u2019s snark for admiration: \u201c<em>It\u2019s actually sweet \/ All the time you\u2019ve spent on me \/ It\u2019s honestly wild \/ All the effort you\u2019ve put in \/ It\u2019s actually romantic \/ I really gotta hand it to you \/ No man has ever loved me like you do.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Listen to Swift\u2019s \u2018Actually Romantic\u2019 below.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Taylor Swift - Actually Romantic (Visualizer)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ShsfUTynzQU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>While unconfirmed, \u2018Actually Romantic\u2019 seems to be a rebuttal to Charli\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/reviews\/album\/charli-xcx-brat-review-lyrics-tracklist-3762875\">\u2018Sympathy Is A Knife\u2019<\/a>, off \u2018Brat\u2019. That track saw Charli sing about the self-doubts that still plague her despite her public demeanour of never being affected by the public\u2019s perception of her.<\/p>\n<p>In the song, Charli sings:\u00a0\u201c<i>Don\u2019t know if I\u2019m spiralling \/ One voice tells me that they laugh \/ George says I\u2019m just paranoid<\/i> \/ <i>Don\u2019t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend\u2019s show \/ Fingers crossed behind my back \/ I hope they break up real quick<\/i>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>This line stuck out to fans upon the track\u2019s release, as Charli XCX is now married to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/the-1975\">The 1975<\/a> drummer George Daniel, while Swift was in a brief relationship with that band\u2019s frontman <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/matty-healy\">Matty Healy<\/a>\u00a0in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Since the release of \u2018The Life Of A Showgirl\u2019 and \u2018Actually Romantic\u2019, fans have taken to social media to share their reactions to the track \u2013 check out a few of them below.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"ht\" dir=\"ltr\">Actually romantic is definitely about charli xcx LMAOAAOAOAOO<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 karol \ud83d\ude48 (@we98195) <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/we98195\/status\/1973976020022931610?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 3, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">WHAT THE FUCK IS ACTUALLY ROMANTIC ABOUT CHARLI XCX???????? <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/TSTheLifeOfAShowgirl?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#TSTheLifeOfAShowgirl<\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/N4WLKb7YoS\">pic.twitter.com\/N4WLKb7YoS<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 gio \u2737 \ud83d\udc3e (@carpenfaist) <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/carpenfaist\/status\/1973972816640008656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 3, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">btw actually romantic is a bop and honestly? charli got lucky because taylor could\u2019ve dissed her a lot more<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 lu (@luthrsivy) <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/luthrsivy\/status\/1973984889734377524?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 3, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">not the charli xcx and taylor swift beef \ud83e\udd20<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 patto \ud83e\udd5b\ud83c\udf3b (@oatpatches) <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/oatpatches\/status\/1973988620957892704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 3, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">oh so taylor swift actually wrote that song about charli xcx<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 cami from paramore (@fanofnunez) <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fanofnunez\/status\/1973986797698052562?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 3, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Charli XCX has yet to respond to \u2018Actually Romantic\u2019, while Swift has yet to confirm if the track is about the \u2018365\u2019 singer. While it\u2019s possible that both \u2018Sympathy Is A Knife\u2019 and \u2018Actually Romantic\u2019 are blows at each other, Charli and Taylor Swift have both defended each other since the release of \u2018Brat\u2019 last year.<\/p>\n<p>At a concert in Brazil in June last year, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/charli-xcx-criticises-fans-for-shouting-taylor-swift-is-dead-at-her-gig-3768003\">a fan shouted \u201cTaylor Swift is dead\u201d, prompting Charli XCX to criticise the fan<\/a> (via\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2024\/music\/news\/charli-xcx-taylor-swift-chanting-1236045270\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i>Variety<\/i><\/a>): \u201cCan 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In August last year, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/taylor-swift-says-charli-xcxs-writing-is-surreal-and-inventive-despite-recent-fan-diss-theories-3787487\">Swift said of Charli XCX<\/a>: \u201cI\u2019ve been blown away by Charli\u2019s melodic sensibilities since I first heard \u2018Stay Away\u2019 in 2011. Her writing is surreal and inventive, always. She just takes a song to places you wouldn\u2019t expect it to go, and she\u2019s been doing it consistently for over a decade. I love to see hard work like that pay off.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><figure id=\"attachment_3802420\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3802420\" style=\"width: 2000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3802420\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Charli-XCX-Credit-Harley-Weir.jpg\" alt=\"Charli XCX\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1270\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Charli-XCX-Credit-Harley-Weir.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Charli-XCX-Credit-Harley-Weir-400x254.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Charli-XCX-Credit-Harley-Weir-800x508.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Charli-XCX-Credit-Harley-Weir-696x442.jpg 696w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Charli-XCX-Credit-Harley-Weir-1392x884.jpg 1392w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Charli-XCX-Credit-Harley-Weir-1068x678.jpg 1068w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3802420\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Charli XCX. CREDIT: Harley Weir<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>Charli also <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vulture.com\/article\/charli-xcx-interview-brat-summer-fall-kamala-harris.html\">denied that \u2018Sympathy Is A Knife\u2019 was written about Swift<\/a>: \u201cPeople are gonna think what they want to think. 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\u2019t want to be in those situations physically when I feel self-doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In 2019, Charli also spoke to\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pitchfork.com\/features\/cover-story\/charli-xcx-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Pitchfork<\/em><\/a>\u00a0about the experience of\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/support-act-taylor-swifts-2018-uk-tour-revealed-camila-cabello-tickets-2251236\">opening for Swift on her \u2018Reputation\u2019 stadium tour<\/a>, saying that while she was \u201creally grateful\u201d for the opportunity, \u201cit kind of felt like I was getting up on stage and waving at five-year-olds\u201d.\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/charli-xcx-clarifies-shade-comments-against-taylor-swift-tour-2535828\">She later clarified that \u201cthere is absolutely no shade and only love\u201d between the two artists<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, \u2018The Life Of A Showgirl\u2019 has received mixed reception from fans \u2013 some have hailed it as her \u201cbest album\u201d, while others are calling it her \u201cworst\u201d. Other fans have also called it \u201cboring\u201d, while others have labelled it as \u201cpop perfection\u201d \u2013 <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/fans-react-to-taylor-swifts-the-life-of-a-showgirl-taylor-swift-youve-done-it-again-3896920\">see more reactions here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The album features only one guest \u2013\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/sabrina-carpenter-reacts-as-taylor-swift-collab-on-the-life-of-a-showgirl-title-track-is-confirmed-3884978\">Sabrina Carpenter on the title track<\/a>. However, \u2018Father Figure\u2019 sees\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/taylor-swift-reportedly-interpolating-george-michael-classic-on-the-life-of-a-showgirl-3896316\">Swift interpolate George Michael\u2019s 1987 classic of the same name<\/a>\u00a0in tribute \u2013 Michael\u2019s estate has since\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/george-michaels-estate-responds-to-taylor-swift-interpolating-father-figure-on-new-album-3896916\">responded to the interpolation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/taylor-swift-confirms-the-life-of-a-showgirl-will-not-come-with-additional-tracks-theres-no-other-songs-coming-3884703\">The star has insisted that there are \u201cno other songs coming\u201d<\/a>\u00a0beyond the standard edition tracklist. More recently,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/taylor-swift-talks-luxurious-album-artwork-for-the-life-of-a-showgirl-says-fans-will-see-more-images-than-we-ever-planned-3894073\">she talked about the \u201cluxurious\u201d album artwork<\/a>\u00a0and said fans would see \u201cmore images than we ever planned\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/taylor-swift-to-return-to-the-graham-norton-show-to-talk-about-the-life-of-a-showgirl-3893357\">Swift will also make a return to\u00a0<em>The Graham Norton Show<\/em>\u00a0later today to celebrate her album\u2019s release<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script>\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n  fbq('consent', 'revoke');\n  fbq('init', '370979561341328');\n  fbq('track', 'PageView');\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.nme.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fans of Taylor Swift believe \u2018Actually Romantic\u2019 off her new album \u2018The Life Of A Showgirl\u2019 is a diss track aimed at Charli XCX \u2013 see why below. READ MORE:\u00a0Taylor Swift\u2019s Eras Tour comes to an end: a look at its massive global impact Following the release of \u2018The Life Of A Showgirl\u2019, fans have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2066072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[21940],"class_list":["post-2066071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-pop"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Fans-think-Taylor-Swifts-new-Life-Of-A-Showgirl-song.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2066071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2066071"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2066071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2066073,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2066071\/revisions\/2066073"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2066072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2066071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2066071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2066071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}