Going into Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl , part of the thrill was that it seemed like we were going to get Reputation -style anthems. She’d reunited with Max Martin for the first time since that excellent 2017 LP — and the showgirl themes opened up plenty of possibilities. Thematically, a revenge-fueled song or two would make sense on a project centered on performance and public scrutiny — a “showgirl” is, after all, always on display. But did Swift need to punch down to fulfill the concept?

One of the album’s most talked-about songs is “Actually Romantic,” a clapback many people believe is about Charli XCX . Swift opens the track with an incisive line: “I heard you call me ‘Boring Barbie’ when the coke’s got you brave.” Many immediately assumed it was aimed at Charli —

See Full Page