Charli XCX opened for Taylor Swift on her Reputation Stadium Tour. But on Charli’s latest album, Brat, many fans interpreted the song “Sympathy is a knife” as a diss of Taylor, leading to rumors of a rift. But based on what Taylor says about Charli in a new interview, things seem all good.
Charli, who’s engaged to 1975 drummer George Daniel, shares that she feels intimidated by another woman in “Sympathy is a knife.” She sings, “Don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show/ Fingers crossed behind my back/ I hope they break up quick.” Taylor, of course, briefly dated The 1975’s singer, Matt Healy.
But in a new profile of Charli in New York Magazine, Taylor says, “I’ve been blown away by [her] melodic sensibilities since I first heard ‘Stay Away’ in 2011. 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.”
Charli tells New York Magazine, “People are gonna think what they want to think. That song is about … 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.”
In the same interview, Charli addresses her infamous “Kamala is brat” tweet.
“I’m happy to help to prevent democracy from failing forever,” she says. “I obviously knew what I was doing. Did I think me talking about being a messy b**** and, like, partying and needing a Bic lighter and a pack of Marlboro Lights would end up on CNN? No. … My music is not political.”
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