Lorde, Charli XCX address past feud and 'hatred' in 'Girl, So Confusing' remix: 'I was trapped'

Charli XCX and Lorde have both fueled and doused flames surrounding their past feud after the latter lent new vocals to a remix of the former's Brat diss track about a complex relationship with another female artist.

Lorde appeared on a surprise edition of the British pop's Brat album cut "Girl, So Confusing," which initially debuted on June 7 as a chronicle of Charli's turbulent entanglement in an emotional web alongside another singer. In the original tune, Charli sings about the other woman's desire to see her peer "falling over" and "failing," as well as an instance where the musicians made halfhearted plans to record music together during "awkward" meetings. After Brat's release, internet rumors swirled that the track was about Lorde, especially after many interpreted Charli singing "[I] think you should come to my party and put your hands up" to her unnamed female counterpart as a light nod to Lorde's "Team" lyrics, in which the New Zealand-born performer laments "getting told to throw my hands up in the air."

The "Girl, So Confusing" remix sees Charli and Lorde trading verses about their respective insecurities and how they projected them onto each other, with Lorde even admitting at one point that she was "speechless" to wake up to a raw voice note from Charli, in which she told her how she felt about their relationship. Lorde then vows to "work it out on the remix" of the song.

"You always say, 'let's go out,' but then I cancel last minute. I was so lost in my head and scared to be in your pictures, because for the last couple years I've been at war with my body. I tried to starve myself thinner, then I gained all the weight back," Lorde admits in the song. "I was trapped in a hatred and your life seemed so awesome. I never thought for a second my voice was in your head."

Lorde later comes to terms with Charli's feelings, as she reworks a verse from the first iteration of the song that includes Charli's projection that, if the two were to make music, "the internet would go crazy" as a result.

"People say we're alike, they say we've got the same hair. It's you and me on a coin the industry loves to spend," Lorde sings. "When we put this to bed, the internet will go crazy. I'm glad I know how you feel, because I ride for you, Charli."

Before Lorde joined the song's remix, listeners further pointed out that the "Royals" singer was the likely subject after Charli included a bit in "Girl, So Confusing" that highlighted their similar appearances — namely, their hair.

Charli openly spoke about such similarities in an interview with Rolling Stone that published in May, and included context about a 2014 on-camera moment (below) that saw a video host mistake Charli for Lorde.

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“When ‘Royals’ came out, I was super jealous of the success that that song got, and that [Lorde] got. You piece all this stuff together in your brain, like: ‘She was into my music. 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," Charli said at the time, referencing Lorde's breakout 2013 hit. "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 also told the publication that the two were on good terms at the time of the interview, and Lorde even showed up to one of Charli's New York City performances on June 11, days after the release of Brat.

Listen to Charli and Lorde on the "Girl, So Confusing" remix above. Brat is out now.