Throughout her nearly two-decade career, Taylor Swift has proven time and time again that she knows how to write a good love song.
So, when it turned out that the track Really romantic from her new album, The life of a dancerNot at all what the title suggests, it came as a surprise to many listeners.
“Like a toy Chihuahua barking at me from a tiny purse / That’s how much it hurts,” Swift sings over an arrangement of electric guitar and drums.
Critics and fans believe the song is a diss track directed at pop star Charli XCX, best known for her hit 2024 album. Brother.
On Life of a Dancer (track version)Swift explains that the song is about “realizing that someone else has had a one-sided, hostile relationship with you… and you just accept it as love.”
WATCH | Taylor Swift's lyric video for “Actual Romantic” (explicit):
As people continue to study Swift's songs for Easter eggs — or the clues she leaves in her music for fans to decipher — some industry observers are wondering what this tongue-in-cheek track from one of the world's most influential artists says about female solidarity in pop music.
“I would say that aside from the die-hard Swifties… It's not being received very well by the general public,” said Jason P. Frank, a writer for the US pop culture website Vulture.
What Swift is doing here is “in the great tradition of Regina George.” [from Mean Girls]”
The story of Swift and Charli XCX
The two pop stars have been linked professionally since 2015, when Swift invited Charli XCX as a surprise guest on the second night of her world tour in Toronto in support of her album. 1989. Three years later, the British singer joined Swift on her tour in support of Reputation opening act with Camila Cabello.
IN Pitchfork interview 2019Charli XCX said that while she was grateful to be part of the tour, it felt like “walking on stage and waving to five-year-old kids.” When Swift fans took offense to this remark, Charli XCX updated she meant no harm.
That was until BrotherHowever, fans began to suspect that the two pop stars had a complicated relationship. When the album was released, many listeners guessed that the song Sympathy is a knife it was about how Charlie XCX felt while in Swift's orbit.
“This girl touches my insecurities,” sings Charli XCX. “I couldn’t be her if I tried / I’m the opposite, I’m on the other side / I feel all these feelings that I can’t control.”
“Within the experience that Sympathy is a knife points to how Taylor is reflected multiple times,” said Liz Duff, host of the pop culture podcast. Scrolling late at night.
WATCH | Lyric video for “Sympathy Is a Knife” (explicit):
She also says the song “really has heart” Brother.
“It's true that it's easy to be intimidated, and being a pop girl and trying to make it in pop culture spaces means you're constantly comparing and looking around at who else is making art around you,” Duff said.
“Taylor Swift has nowhere to beat”
On Really romanticSwift sings about someone speaking badly about her after doing cocaine, praises Swift's ex for stalking her, and talks about Swift ad nauseum to her boyfriend.
There was a wide range of reactions to Really romanticFrom love to hate, from contempt to disappointment.
“The reaction to this song has been nuclear,” Duff said.
Criticism Really romanticBut it goes beyond just warring fan groups, says Xtra magazine senior editor Mel Woods.
“I think, like many other people, [I] really related to [Brat] and that era because not only is it musically interesting, innovative, exciting, but lyrically and thematically,” Woods said. “She is both confessional and honest, but also… carefree, relaxed.”
Woods said, “Gays are accepted because we rode horses.” [for Charli XCX] for a long time now, and it's great to see gay club songs like this going mainstream.”
On the highly publicized remix album Brother, and this is completely different, but still a bratCharli XCX has collaborated with some of the most influential women in pop music today, including Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish and Robyn. The album also allowed Charli XCX to resolve an ongoing conflict with fellow artist Lord, who appeared on the track's remix. Girl so confusedwhich became one of the biggest tracks Brother era.
WATCH | Charli XCX and Lorde perform Girl, So Confusing live:
“One could argue that Girl so confused The remix was the exception that proved the rule, wasn't it?” – Frank said. “This story was so exciting because we had never seen it before—these people trading barbs and getting together and working on something and creating great art in spite of it.”
Woods says the broader culture hasn't responded to Really romantic just like Brotherbecause the intention behind it is not considered as genuine.
“It’s not coming from the same confessional, honest place. It's a hit because when you're Taylor Swift it's always going to hit. Taylor Swift has nowhere to beat.”
Is there still sisterhood in pop music?
This isn't the first time Swift has used her music to target those who have crossed her. She famously sang about controversies with industry contemporaries such as Katy Perry, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.
Actually, Really romantic this may not be the only diss track on The life of a dancer. Father figure It is believed that part of the story is about Olivia Rodrigo. Many fans believe that the two stars quarreled over copyrights and royalties for Rodrigo's debut album. Sour.
Frank says Really romantic it's actually less of a “cat fight” and more of a song about, “You're just not popular enough for me to pay attention to you,” and that's a strong word. In that sense, I think it's potentially regressive.”
Woods adds that the song's subtext is Swift's hint that the songThe subject is so obsessed with her that he might as well be in love with her, which seems like a tactic straight out of a 2004 movie. Mean Girls.
“Saying, 'This is something gay,' is not the best way to do it. [a diss track] in 2025. Honestly, it feels outdated and a little obnoxious,” Woods said.
At the same time, Frank says he wants to “give Taylor Swift room for her messy emotions.”
“Do I think Taylor is sending a good message to her fans by doing this? No, no. But I also can't ask that Taylor be a moral figure first and foremost,” he said. “She's a singer.”
Duff sees this potential feud as a chance to reflect on why we as a culture are so drawn to these kinds of narratives.
“Pop girls have been pushed together for as long as pop music has existed,” she said. “There is no era of pop greats who create albums like Taylor's that dominate the charts, streaming and sales, and that don't come without conflict with others, especially other women.”
Duff says, “It feels like we're watching this spectacle of WWE proportions, and it's actually two really great pop songwriters just writing about their own experiences in their own art.”
