When a song has the word “romantic” in its title and spends a good third of its length repeating the mantra, “Fall in love again and again,” it’s fair to assume it’s about romance. But Charli xcx just revealed the true meaning of her song “Everything is romantic,” and it’s much gayer than meets the eye.

On first listen, many of Charli’s fans assumed the song, which comes from her critically acclaimed summer album BRAT, was about her fiancé George Daniel, the drummer for The 1975. But in a new video posted to her Instagram, Charli revealed the song’s inspiration was a group trip she and her friends took to Italy. “This is where I wrote it,” she wrote with a smiley face, sharing a montage of clips from her trip, including scenic views, nights out at the club, and above all, good times with good friends.

The song’s lyrics do reference Italy, name-dropping the cities of Capri and Pompeii (and implying the city of Sorrento, which sits between them). Meanwhile, its title and hook say that “everything” is romantic — including, it seems, her platonic relationships. When she falls in love “again and again,” it’s not just with her fiancé, but with each of her friends and the places they go, too.

Related
Charli XCX and Lorde worked it out on the remix, and the gays are meme-ing it up
Charli XCX’s pop star ranking is truly shocking

Fans are obsessed with the song’s real meaning. Some find it ironic that after thinking it was about Daniel, “it’s just her and her gay friends on vacation,” as one viral post put it.

That’s not to say Daniel isn’t included in Charli’s lovefest. Others pointed out that he was also on the trip, but likely spent most of his time behind the camera, rather than in front of it.

And plenty of folks were happy to see their initial impressions of the song were right on the money. “It’s so insane how well she conveyed the feeling of being there because this is almost exactly what I pictured when I first heard it,” one person wrote.

It’s just one more reason that we should all aspire to have a BRAT summer, and after her cryptic reveal of more to come via a message in the sky, Charli’s no doubt got plenty left to share.

Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...

We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock our articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?

Once Monthly Annually

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated