Taylor Swift Explains the Lyrics to Charli xcx-Inspired ‘Actually Romantic’

Taylor Swift is breaking down the meaning of one of her latest songs.

In the Amazon Music introduction for “Actually Romantic,” Swift explains the lyrics for the song, which fans are convinced is about Charli xcx. She released it as part of The Life of a Showgirl on Friday, Oct. 3.

She describes “Actually Romantic” as “a song about realizing that someone else has kind of had a one-sided, adversarial relationship with you that you didn’t know about.”

“And all of a sudden they start doing too much and they start letting you know that actually, you’ve been living in their head rent-free and you had no idea.”

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“It’s presenting itself as them sort of resenting you or having a problem with you but you take that and just accept it as love and you accept it as attention and affection, and how flattering that somebody has made you such a big part of their reality when you didn’t even think about this,” Swift, 35, continued.

“It’s actually pretty romantic if you really think about it.”

In the opening verse, Swift sings about a musician calling her “Boring Barbie” and their obsession.

“High-fived my ex and then said you’re glad he ghosted me / Wrote me a song sayin’ it makes you sick to see my face / Some people might be offended,” she opens the song.

“But it’s actually sweet / All the time you’ve spent on me,” Swift croons in the chorus. “It’s honestly wild / All the effort you’ve put in / It’s actually romantic / I really gotta hand it to you / No man has ever loved me like you do.”

Charli xcx, 33, opened for Swift during her Reputation Tour alongside Camila Cabello. Though through the years the musicians had praised each other in respective interviews, fans have speculated that there’s a feud beneath the surface.

Charli xcx’s “Sympathy Is a Knife,” which leads with “This one girl taps my insecurities / Don’t know if it’s real or if I’m spiraling” is believed to be about Swift.

“Don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show / Fingers crossed behind my back / I hope they break up quick,” she sings on the 2024 brat track, referring to her now-husband George Daniel and his 1975 bandmate, Swift’s ex Matty Healy.

In an August 2024 interview for New York magazine, the “Guess” singer said “People are gonna think what they want to think” when it came to who “Sympathy Is a Knife” could be about.

The Life of a Showgirl is available to stream.

For more on Taylor Swift, pick up PEOPLE’s newly updated special edition Taylor Swift A to Z: A Showgirl’s Life, out now.