"Sympathy is a knife is a Taylor diss track" - Fans theorize Charli XCX's new song from Brat album is about Taylor Swift 

Charli XCX dropped her new album, Brat, on June 7, 2024, comprising 15 tracks. However, one song titled Sympathy is a Knife caught the attention of the Swifties as many netizens alleged that it seemingly references Taylor Swift. As the song went viral online, fans began talking about the lyrics of a certain part of the song, which reads:

“This one girl taps my insecurities. Don't know if it's real or if I'm spiraling. One voice tells me that they laugh. George says I'm just paranoid. Says he just don't see it, he's so naive. I'm embarrassed to have it, but need the sympathy. 'Cause I couldn't even be her if I tried. I'm the opposite, I'm on the other side. I feel all these feelings I can't control. Oh no, don't know why. All this sympathy is just a knife.”

Even though the two singers have never had any feud publicly, fans decoded the lyrics, stating that the song mentions "George," the drummer of a band called The 1975 who was Charli's fiancé in 2022. The same band features Matty Healy as the frontman. Many netizens commented that Charli was dating George at the same time when Taylor and Matty were together briefly.

From calling Charli XCX’s song “a Taylor diss track,” to addressing the singer as a “Taytrier,” several social media users reacted to the song by saying:

“Gurl she said opening her was like performing for 5-year-olds and Sympathy is a Knife is a Taylor diss track shes a Taytrier"

“Wait is sympathy is a knife about Taylor - her boyfriend is in 1975… and Taylor was with Matt Healy for that blip,” a netizen theorized.

“Sympathy is a knife on Charli XCX’s new album is 1000000% about Taylor,” another X user wrote.

Other X users posted screenshots of the lyrics and brought Matt Healy into the conversation to establish the connection between the singers.

“The girls and I in the group chat determining if sympathy is a knife is about Taylor or not,” one more netizen commented.

“how could sympathy is a knife not be abt Taylor when she sings “don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend's show” bc that’s not abt Gabbriette and none of his other exes were musicians and it abt being insecure about someone in the music industry,” another fan commented.

"The swifties still not catching on that "Sympathy is a knife" is about Taylor and fighting over some listening party instead," an X user wrote.

While Charli XCX has not confirmed if her song, Sympathy is a Knife, is really about the Love Story singer, many X users reminisced about the time the two made an appearance together on Taylor Swift’s Tour in 2014.

---

Brat is Charli XCX’s sixth studio album

Born in 1992, Charli XCX aka Charlotte Emma Aitchison began her musical journey in 2008 when she started posting songs on Myspace. As she rose to fame, she released many albums, Brat, being her sixth and most recent one. The singer announced the arrival of the album in February 2024 and dropped 15 songs for the same.

The album consists of songs like 360, Club Classics, Sympathy is a Knife, I Might Say Something Stupid, Talk Talk, Von Dutch, Everything is Romantic, Rewind, So I, Girl, So Confusion, B2B, Mean Girls and even I Think About It All The Time.

For the album, Charli worked with many writers and producers including Alexander Guy Cook, Henry Walter, Cirkut, A.G. Cook, Blake Slatkin, Christopher Shave, Mike Lévy, Pablo Díax-Reixa, and even Linus Wiklund.

While the netizens still can't stop talking about their speculation about Sympathy is a Knife being a diss track, Charli XCX has not confirmed or declined the rumor. At the same time, Taylor Swift has also not addressed the matter yet.