Taylor Swift’s Controversial “Better Than Revenge” Lyrics, Explained

There is nothing Taylor Swift does better than revenge — but it looks a little different on Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). Ahead of Swift’s newest “Taylor’s Version” album, one of Swifties’ most pressing questions was whether she would rewrite somewhat controversial lyrics on her beloved deep cut “Better Than Revenge.” When the re-recording was released on July 7, Swifties found out that she did indeed change the lyric in question.

“Better Than Revenge” sees a teenage Swift call out her ex’s new girlfriend for taking him “faster than you can say sabotage” and criticizing her snobbery and red carpet demeanor, with cutting lyrics like “No amount of vintage dresses gives you dignity” making it Swift’s most biting revenge anthem to date (even over “Vigilante Sh*t”). The second line of the chorus, “She’s better known for the things that she does on the mattress,” is what some critics have called out as misogynistic. But as heard in “Taylor’s Version,” Swift now sings, “He was a moth to the flame, she was holding the matches.”

Most fans believe the song was written about actor Camilla Belle, who started dating Swift’s ex-boyfriend Joe Jonas in October 2008, almost immediately after they split in an infamous 27-second phone call. The most obvious clue is a reference to her profession in the chorus, which begins with Swift singing, “She’s not a saint and she’s not what you think, she’s an actress.”

Swift previously expressed regret for writing those lyrics, previously attributing it to her age. “I was 18 when I wrote that,” she told The Guardian in 2014. “That’s the age you are when you think someone can actually take your boyfriend. Then you grow up and realize no one take someone from you if they don’t want to leave.” The singer now has an opportunity to change the lyric on “Better Than Revenge (Taylor’s Version)” to reflect her new mindset, but it’s not known whether she’ll actually rewrite lyrical history, and Swifties are split on whether she should do so.

Before “Better Than Revenge (Taylor’s Version),” there was precedent for Swift amending her songs. The original version of her 2006 breakup anthem “Picture to Burn” contained the line, “That’s fine; I’ll tell mine you’re gay,” but before it was released as a single, she changed it to “That's fine; You won't mind if I say.” This lyric now appears on all versions of her self-titled debut album, and will likely stay that way when she re-records it for the future “Taylor’s Version” re-recording. Swift also completely changed the production of her Red bonus track “Girl At Home” for Red (Taylor’s Version), giving the country tune an electro-pop makeover.