Content warning: mentions of body dysmorphia and disordered eating

Since its much anticipated release in June this year, Charli XCX’s BRAT has quickly become a cult classic. The initially dropped singles hyped up the record to be upbeat and full of charisma and attitude, with high-energy tracks like ‘Von Dutch’ and ‘Club Classics’. However, upon its release, BRAT proved to also be a transcending journey through the female experience, littered with internet and pop culture references. Simultaneously audacious and heartfelt, BRAT touches on a range of highly relatable themes encapsulating youth and womanhood, not shying away from the messy, complicated, and unflattering aspects of being a woman.

A track which particularly piqued listeners’ interest was the compelling ‘Girl, so confusing’. The internet was quick to link the track to fellow singer and icon, Lorde. The track is clearly aimed at another woman in the music industry, and it’s not hard to see how the connection was made, with lyrics such as “They say we’ve got the same hair” and “Think you should come to my party / And put your hands up” (a reference to Lorde’s lyrics in her track ‘Team’). The track itself is bittersweet and cerebral, detailing Charli’s relationship with her peer who could either be a friend or a fierce rival who wants to see her fail. Within this highly unrelatable context, Charli manages to express something profound about a certain kind of female friendship, which can at once be tender and understanding, but also awkward, insecure, and competitive. Charli expresses that complicated dynamic in a raw and powerful way, singing “Sometimes I think you might hate me / Sometimes I think I might hate you”. This complicated relationship is clearly situated in a broader social context. The lyrics speak to the expectation that they should compete with each other, because they are in the same field and somehow “similar”. The chorus brings back the relatability of the track with the lyrics “Girl, it's so confusing sometimes to be a girl” inviting us to relate to these complicated feelings. This is followed by “Girl, how do you feel being a girl?” encouraging the listener to ponder this question. 

Then, just two weeks after the release of the initial song on BRAT, Charli releases a remix of the track, featuring none other than Lorde herself. The first listen of this track is truly an emotional experience. Both Charli and Lorde are vulnerable, going into their struggles not only within their relationship, but also as women who are frequently compared and pitted against each other. Lorde’s lyricism is poetic, as she details her struggles with self-image, and feelings of jealousy towards Charli, who’s life “seemed so awesome”. She describes how the traumatic events of trying to “starve herself thinner” and being called a bitch at a young age then led her to project this unhappiness onto Charli—these struggles unfortunately speak to a common female experience. Ultimately, the two do, as Lorde sings, “work it out on the remix” where they humanise each other and find connection in the face of their shared experience of objectification and commodification by the music industry. Lorde ends her verse with “I’m glad I know how you feel / ‘Cause I ride for you Charli”, ultimately celebrating their newfound understanding and sisterhood.

The pair have been at the centre of their fair share of internet pop-culture moments over the past decade. In an interview from October 2014, Charli—being mistaken for Lorde—was asked about the meaning of ‘her’ song, ‘Royals’ (Lorde’s 2012 breakout hit). Rather than correcting the interviewer, Charli played along and provided an on-the-nose description of the song’s message. Then later, in 2020, Charli tweeted about finally watching The Hunger Games movie series. This immediately blew up on twitter, mostly because Charli actually made a song for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay (Part 1), which was released in 2014. When fans questioned how she’d never seen the movies before—despite her having literally made a song on the soundtrack—Charli’s blasé response was that Lorde “sent her an email with the plot summary and vibe” and Charli just “went with it”.

Given this history and the poignancy of the lyricism of both the original and remix tracks, it’s clear why the internet would completely “go crazy” about this collaboration. After only being released for less than 24 hours, the track quickly blew up online. Fellow it-girl and icon, Julia Fox, made a TikTok claiming that the song healed her “girl trauma”. In the TikTok, Julia, a certified girls-girl, reflected that women are “conditioned to see each other as competitors, when really [they] are teammates”. Lorde and Charli eloquently describe how society’s treatment of women can lead to disconnection and feelings of competition. They also show the power of communication in healing complicated and confusing relationships. The combined work of Lorde and Charli feels like the marker of a new wave of pop music; one which is self-aware, introspective, and culturally contextualised.