Taylor Swift praised Charli XCX in a new interview despite one of her recent songs leading fans to believe there might be bad blood between the two pop stars.
On “Sympathy Is a Knife,” the third song on Charli’s most recent album, BRAT, the singer describes feeling anxiety about another woman, singing, “I couldn’t even be her if I tried.”
The lyrics also say: “I don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show / Fingers crossed behind my back / I hope they break up quick,” implying that a woman was lurking backstage at the 1975 shows, alongside Charli’s now-fiancé George Daniel, who plays drums in the band.
Although the song doesn’t diss anyone, fans began to speculate that the song was about Taylor, as she briefly dated lead singer Matty Healy when Charli likely wrote the lyrics.
In a new article in New York Magazine, the Cruel Summer singer was asked about Charli and said she is “blown away” by her music.
Taylor Swift has praised Charli XCX in a new interview despite one of her recent songs leading fans to believe there could be bad blood between the two pop stars.
On Sympathy Is a Knife, the third song on Charli’s most recent album BRAT, the singer describes feeling anxiety over another woman, singing, “I couldn’t even be her if I tried.”
The Fearless singer said: “I’ve been in awe of Charli’s melodic sensibilities ever since I first heard ‘Stay Away’ in 2011. Her writing is surreal and inventive, always. She 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 seeing that hard work pay off.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Charli declined to elaborate on the song, but said it was about herself.
She said: ‘People are going to think what they want to think. That song is about me, my feelings, 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 physical situations when I’m feeling self-doubt.’
During Taylor’s 2018 Reputation stadium tour, Charlie opened for the 14-time Grammy winner on over 50 nights.
However, in 2019, while speaking with GallowsCharli said: ‘As an artist, I felt like I was walking up on stage and saying hello to five-year-olds.
She went on to say that after the tour she decided not to open her concerts for anyone again.
Charli added: ‘I’ve done a lot of that, and it’s really cemented my status as this underdog character, I need to finally take charge of my own fucking shit.’
She later took to social media to say her comments had been taken out of context, insisting: “As I say in the article and have said many times before, I am extremely grateful to Taylor for inviting me to open her concert.
The lyrics also say: “I don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show / I hope they break up quick,” implying that a woman was lurking backstage at the 1975 shows, alongside Charli’s now-fiancé George Daniel (pictured), who plays drums in the band.
Although the song doesn’t diss anyone, fans began to speculate that the song was about Taylor, as she briefly dated lead singer Matty Healy when Charli likely wrote the lyrics; Taylor and Matty pictured in 2023
Taylor said: “I’ve been amazed by Charli’s melodic sensibilities ever 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.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Charli said: “People are going to think what they want. That song is about me, my feelings, my anxiety and the way my brain creates narratives and stories in my head when I feel unsafe.”
‘She’s one of the biggest artists of my generation and the Reputation tour was one of the biggest tours ever.’
Earlier this year, Charli demanded an immediate end to alleged “Taylor is dead!” chants at her concerts, calling them “disturbing.”
The singer took to her Instagram Stories to respond after being informed that some of her fans had been shouting the hateful message about fellow pop star Taylor Swift during her concerts.
In calling for it to stop, he said it was “the opposite of what I want” and warned that he “will not tolerate it.”
After a concert in São Paulo, Brazil, in June, someone shared several videos of attendees appearing to sing “A Taylor Morreu,” which translates to “Taylor is dead.”
The fan addressed Charli and said: ‘Hey @charli_xcx, your Brazilian fans have been displaying toxic behaviour by chanting “Taylor is dead!” at your concerts and events related to you.
“Could you do something about it? We don’t think music should be about that.”
Sharing a screenshot of the tweet, Charli responded on her Instagram, writing: “People doing this can you please stop? Whether it’s online or at my shows.”
“It’s the opposite of what I want and it bothers me that anyone would think there’s a place for this in this community. I won’t tolerate it.”
Fans have long speculated that Charli and Taylor have a bad relationship, with the two singers’ recent albums struggling on the charts.
During Taylor’s 2018 Reputation stadium tour (pictured), Charlie opened her concerts for more than 50 nights, however in 2019, Charli said: “As an artist, I felt like I was walking up on stage and saying hello to five-year-olds.”
This comes after Charli demanded an immediate end to alleged “Taylor is dead!” chants at her concerts, calling them “disturbing” in June.
Sharing a screenshot of a fan informing her about the chants, she called for them to stop, saying it is “the opposite of what I want” and that she “would not tolerate it.”
Fans have long speculated that Charli and Taylor have a bad relationship, with the two singers’ recent albums competing on the charts (pictured, performing together in 2015).
Charli’s sixth studio album has received rave reviews, debuting as the “most critically acclaimed album of the year” above Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter and Taylor’s latest album, The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD).
Ranking number one in MetacriticBRAT It received “universal acclaim” based on a score of 92 out of 100 from 11 critics.
But the hyper-pop-electronic record failed to debut at number one in the UK charts, after Taylor overtook it with the release of a new limited edition of TTPD with some additional tracks.
Many fans believe the release is a strategic move by the Blank Space hitmaker to prevent Charli from taking the top spot, a tactic Taylor has been accused of several times before.
Commenting on the controversy, The Guardian saying: ‘The fact that she appears to be re-releasing TTPD specifically to reward smaller artists (and, in particular, smaller female artists) creates the image of Swift as Goliath trying to crush Charli’s goth, hedonistic David.
Charli’s sixth studio album has received rave reviews, debuting as the “most critically acclaimed album of the year” above Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter and Taylor’s latest album, The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD).
But the hyper-pop-electronic record failed to debut at number one in the UK charts, after being overtaken by Taylor with the release of a new limited edition of TTPD with some additional tracks.
Many fans believe the release is a strategic move by the Blank Space hitmaker to prevent Charli from taking the top spot, a tactic Taylor has been accused of several times before.