Charli XCX has finally addressed the fan-fueled theory that her song "Sympathy is a knife" is about Taylor Swift.
As "brat summer" has pushed on, the pop star has topped charts and created memes, which have even caught the attention of political candidates, but whether or not the third track on "Brat" is about Swift has remained a lingering question.
Fans have speculated online that the subject of "Sympathy is a knife" is Swift due to some of the lyrics on the track, in which Charli XCX talks about her self-doubt in the pop world.
"This one girl taps my insecurities/ Don’t know if it’s real or if I’m spiraling," Charli XCX sings.
She then says that “George,” likely a reference to her fiancé and The 1975 band member, George Daniel, tells her she is being "paranoid" about the situation.
Fans think the lyrics are a bit more pointed in the song's second verse: "Don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show/ Fingers crossed behind my back, I hope they break up quick."
Swift briefly appeared to date Matty Healy, the lead singer of The 1975, in 2023. Charli XCX announced her engagement to Daniel, the band's drummer, at the end of last year in a since-deleted Instagram post on her public account, and fans quickly decided that due to the timing, the track was about Swift. (They also unearthed an Instagram post from Healy's mother, in which she posted photos with both Swift and Charli XCX at a 1975 show in January 2023.)
Charli XCX addressed the rumors in an interview with New York magazine published Aug. 26.
"People are gonna think what they want to think," she said. "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."
She added that going on tour with The 1975 was sometimes a lot to take in.
"Sometimes I’d look onstage and be like,'Oh my God … I’m never going to play these rooms, ever.'That made me feel jealous," she said. "I told Matty that. And George. They were both like, 'Shut up. What are you talking about?'"
Healy is now engaged to model Gabbriette Bechtel, his mother said in a June episode of U.K. talk show “Loose Women.”
Bechtel, whom New York magazine also describes as Charli XCX’s “close friend,” appeared to post photos of the engagement ring to her Instagram story in June, writing in the caption of one post, “Marrying The 1975 is very brat,” in an apparent reference to Charli XCX’s new album.
“I’ve always quietly thought they’d be a good couple,” Charli XCX told the magazine.
When asked if she ever considered not including the line about being backstage in “Sympathy is a knife,” Charli XCX replied, "No."
"You do the silence game. But I know that well — where you go silent and want me to talk more. But I don’t care about it being awkward," she told the interviewer. "We’ll sit in silence."
Swift also sent in a statement to New York magazine for the story.
“I’ve been blown away by Charli’s melodic sensibilities since I first heard ‘Stay Away’ in 2011,” Swift said. “Her writing is surreal and inventive, always. 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.”
Swift and Charli XCX go way back: Charli XCX opened for the singer in 2018 on her “Reputation” tour and would often join her onstage to sing “Shake It Off.”
In 2019, Charli XCX told Pitchfork: “As an artist, it kind of felt like I was getting up onstage and waving to 5-year-olds.” (Charli XCX later clarified the statement in a post on X.)
Charli XCX also appeared to try to get ahead of the rumors prior to the release of "Brat," posting a video on TikTok in which she said that there were no diss tracks on the record.
"I just wanted to come on here and clarify that there aren't, apart from maybe 'Von dutch,' which kind of is, but the other tracks in question aren't diss tracks," she said.
Charli XCX further described what the songs were about in the video, which she posted in May, days before the album came out.
"They're really just about how it's so complicated being an artist, especially a female artist, where you are pitted against your peers, but also expected to be best friends with every single person constantly, and if you're not, you're like, deemed a bad feminist," she said. "And that, to me, is just like, such an unrealistic expectation."
"These songs are kind of about how as a woman, as an artist, some days you can feel on top of the world. Some days you can feel unbelievably insecure. Other days, you can feel highly competitive, sometimes you can feel like literal trash," she continued. "And it's really emotional. And it's complicated to deal with. And we're not supposed to talk about it. But these songs do talk about it, and I'll probably be chastised for it, but whatever, it's reality."
Still, fans have used the yearslong beef as proof the song is about Swift, as the two began battling it out on the charts this year.
After the release of "Brat," the record appeared to be heading for the No. 1 position on the U.K. charts, though Swift dropped a surprise "UK-exclusive digital format" of "The Tortured Poets Department," which was originally released in April, that week, taking the No. 1 spot, NME reported.
Months later in June, Charli XCX played a DJ set in São Paulo, Brazil, where fans appeared to chant "Taylor is dead!" in Portuguese.
After the show, Charli XCX denounced the behavior in an Instagram story.
"can the people who do this please stop. online or at my shows," she said.
"it is the opposite of what I want and it disturbs me that anyone would think there is room for this in this community," she continued. "i will not tolerate it."
Representatives for Swift and Charli XCX did not respond to a request for comment at the time from TODAY.com on the situation.
Charli XCX did reveal to New York magazine she was working on a remix of "Sympathy is a knife."
“I wrote this three or four weeks ago, about this idea of, like, you have to fall — if you’re deemed to be even in the slightest way on top, you have to fall,” she says. “I’m not a f------ idiot. I know how s--- works.”
The magazine reported lyrics in a new verse of the song say: “It’s a knife when you’re finally on top … / They want to see you fall.”
