India, Oct. 6 -- Taylor Swift released her twelfth studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, on October 3, 2025. Her track Actually Romantic immediately drew attention because listeners linked it to Charli XCX's 2024 song Sympathy Is a Knife from the album Brat. Charli's song had already been speculated to reference Swift, though Charli denied this, saying it reflects her own insecurities. Swift described Actually Romantic as about realizing someone had held a one-sided adversarial fixation on her.

Charli XCX's "Sympathy Is a Knife" portrays jealousy and emotional unease, mentioning a woman backstage and hoping for a breakup. Some listeners thought this hinted at Swift, especially because of overlaps in their social circles. The lyrics read,...