Actually Romantic

Charli XCX had collaborated with Taylor Swift on her live shows and concert tours, including as an opening act on Swift's 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour. particularly the lyric, "Don't wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend's show", which also references Charli XCX's husband George Daniel, also from the 1975. Charli XCX later denied that any tracks on Brat were intended as diss tracks and said "Sympathy Is a Knife" was not about Swift. == Music and lyrics==

Swift wrote and produced "Actually Romantic" with Max Martin and Shellback. guitar pop, pop-punk, and power pop song, characterized by a grunge electric guitar. It follows the I–vi–III–IV chord progression. Some critics called it melodically reminiscent of the Pixies's "Where Is My Mind?" (1988). Pitchfork's Walden Green described the sound as "diet indie rock", Lyrically, "Actually Romantic" addresses an individual whose adversarial fixation on Swift is portrayed as a perverse declaration of love. Multiple critics interpreted the song as a diss track targeting Charli XCX, as the title is speculated to allude to Charli XCX's "Everything Is Romantic" (2024). Another line ("High-fived my ex and then you said you're glad he ghosted me") is believed to reference Healy. ==Critical reception==

Most criticisms of "Actually Romantic" dismissed its narrative as misguided and spiteful. Several commentators questioned whether it was necessary for Swift to convey such a message given her prominent status as a leading pop star; Citing the same reason, Snapes panned the lyrics as emotionally unsophisticated. In The Daily Telegraph, Neil McCormick selected "Actually Romantic" as one of the album's "interesting outliers" for its evocative content, while Poppie Platt considered it a standout because of its "echoes of vengeful bangers like 'Bad Blood' and 'Blank Space. On a negative side, Green criticized it as a "Kidz Bop version" of the Pixies's "Where Is My Mind?". == Personnel ==

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of The Life of a Showgirl. Studios • Produced at MXM Studios and Shellback Studios, Stockholm • Recorded at Shellback Studios, Stockholm • Mixed at MixStar Studios, Virginia Beach • Mastered at Sterling Sound, Edgewater, New Jersey Personnel • Taylor Swift – lead vocals, songwriting, production • Max Martin – production, songwriting, piano, keyboards, recording • Shellback – production, songwriting, programming, bass, drums, guitar, keyboards, piano, mandocello, percussion, recording • Lasse Mårtén – recording, engineering • Christopher Rowe – additional recording • Serban Ghenea – mixing • Bryce Bordone – assistant mixing • Randy Merrill – mastering == Charts ==