Explaining the Full Story Behind the Viral Track "Girl, so Confusing" by Charli XCX and Lorde

All Tumblr girls rise, Charli xcx, and Lorde have worked it out on the remix! And yes, the internet did go crazy. With the release of Charli xcx's critically acclaimed BRAT, Charli had many wondering who the track "Girl, so confusing" was about. Luckily for us, Charli answered that question in the form of a remix.

Yep, "Girl, so confusing" is about "Royals" singer Lorde. But many can't help but wonder, what exactly was going on with Charli and Lorde? Let's take a deep dive into the story behind Charli xcx and Lorde's history, as well as the meaning behind the track.

Image: Stuart Sevastos from Wikimedia Commons

Charli Was Jealous of Lorde

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Charli xcx revealed that she was most jealous of Lorde, especially at the height of the success of "Royals":

"When 'Royals' came out, I was super jealous of the success that that song got, and that [Lorde] got. [...] She had big hair; I had big hair. She wore black lipstick; I once wore black lipstick.' You create these parallels and think, 'Well, that could have been me.' But it couldn't have because we're completely different people. I wasn't making music that sounded anything like 'Royals'. I think you just read what you want into it because you're feeling insecure about your own work."

Charli xcx and Lorde have long been compared to each other, to the point where the former was mistaken for Lorde in an interview. Since then, it has been a big, long-lasting inside joke amongst fans that Charli xcx is in fact Lorde.

Though it's true that Charli xcx and Lorde have very different sounds, when you're constantly being compared to someone else, it's difficult not to get a little jealous of them at times.

Looking into the Lyrics

Charli's Verses

Before getting into the remix, let's take a look at the original song first. When you read the lyrics, there is a lot to unpack. For starters, Charli xcx reveals in the song that she had mixed feelings towards Lorde (though at the time, the song's muse was unknown.):

"Yeah, I don't know if you like me / Sometimes I think you might hate me / Sometimes I think I might hate you / Maybe you just wanna be me."

"Can't tell if you wanna see me / Falling over and failing / And you can't tell what you're feeling / I think I know how you feel."

Don't get it twisted, though; there's no animosity from Charli xcx towards Lorde. On TikTok, Charli xcx has made it clear that there is only one diss track on BRAT, that being "Von Dutch." She says that "[there are] some people [online who] think there are diss tracks on BRAT. I just want to come on here and clarify that there aren't, apart from "Von Dutch,"which kind of is."

In the second verse of the original track, Charli xcx goes on to point out the differences between her and Lorde's personality:

"You're all about writing poems / But I'm about throwing parties / Think you should come to my party /And put your hands up / I think we're totally different / But opposites do attract / Maybe we're so meant to be / Just you and me."

Charli xcx isn't wrong either – as mentioned before, her and Lorde's music sounds completely different. While Charli xcx's music leans more into the dance-pop and hyper-pop genres, Lorde's leans more into alternative and, at times, more melancholic sounds. Like Charli xcx said, they're totally different.

Lorde's Verse

Image: Raph_PH from Wikimedia Commons

In the remix, Lorde is brought into the song during the second verse. Right off the bat, Lorde says that they're going to"work it out on the remix." Previously, Lorde praised Charli xcx and BRAT, saying that the album is the only one she's ever pre-saved.

Throughout the verse, Lorde describes how she's struggled with body image, to the point where she's purposefully canceled on Charli xcx in order to avoid being seen in her pictures:

"You'd always say, "Let's go out" / But then I'd cancel last minute / I was so lost in my head / And scared to be in your pictures / 'Cause for the last couple years / I've been at war in my body / I tried to starve myself thinner / And then I gained all the weight back."

She goes on to say that she was jealous of Charli xcx, saying that Charli's life "[…] seemed so awesome" and that "[she] never thought for a second [her] voice was in [her] head." Soon after, she says that she tends to forget that underneath Charli xcx's icon status, she's the same young girl she was in Essex: "Forgot that inside that icon / there's still that young girl from Essex."

What Now?

Now that Charli xcx and Lorde have put their drama to bed, what's next for the singers? With Charli xcx having just kicked off her BRAT era and Lorde teasing a new album, we can only hope to see more of the two icons together. Charli xcx on L4, maybe?