Charli XCX’s Most Romantic Lyrics Prove She’s Always Been A Lover Girl

You might know her as a brat, but Charli XCX will always be a romantic. Day-one Angels know she was wearing her heart on her sleeve long before her recent wedding — when she’s not boasting about lavender Lamborghinis and raging in the club with her clique, she’s singing about the euphoric highs and destructive lows of love. And now that she’s finally Mrs. George Daniel, we can only imagine there’s even more tender-hearted balladry to come.

Still, Charli’s softer side often gets eclipsed by her party-girl persona, so to set the record straight, we’re spotlighting the singer’s most romantic lyrics. Knowing Charli, these tracks probably didn’t make it onto the playlist for her Hackney ceremony (most of them were written before she met her husband, after all), but that doesn’t mean they weren’t deserving of a spot.

1. First kiss just like a drug / Under your influence / You take me over, you're the magic in my veins / This must be love — “Boom Clap”

No one captures the rush of a budding relationship quite like Charli, and while “Boom Clap” wasn’t the first song written through her signature puppy-love-like lens, it’s safe to say it’s her most “heart eyes emoji if it were a song” song.

2. Maybe the sky might not always be blue / All of my wishes will never come true / It doesn't matter 'cause I’m here with you — “Official”

While this is not an endorsement to abandon all your hopes and dreams to chase a relationship, the fact that Charli would even consider doing so proves just how invested she gets in her dalliances.

3. Electrified with love on the line / So different, every touch, every time / Connected by invisible wires / Don't you cut me out — “Lightning”

The invisible string theory, but make it an active electrical wire.

4. Baby, I love you bad / 'Cause lately, I finally understand / That maybe this feeling that I've found / Might kill me, put me in the ground — “I Finally Understand”

How I’m Feeling Now is by far Charli’s most romantic album. Half the songs are love letters to her then-boyfriend, including this track wherein she practically likens her feelings to a death sentence.

5. Three years before, I was feeling so heartless / But your burn shined through / Now I'm drinking love potion when I lay next to you — “You’re The One”

Sure, the concept of being drunk on your partner is a little played out, but the switch from jaded, disillusioned pessimist to full-on devotee is an experience that only true romantics can relate to.

6. We’re gonna melt down / Gonna disappear into the sun, into the sun / Gonna burn down together like fire / We can’t get enough / We’re tied like white roses / You know we’re never coming undone, coming undone — “White Roses”

If you haven’t noticed by now, Charli loves a cliché. But what makes these platitudes work is when they’re in service of a larger analogy that’s more unique to Charli’s POV. Case in point: likening her love to a burning fire (tired) verses comparing her relationship to a bundle of tied roses (wired).

7. Nothing says tomorrow is a guarantee / There's no way of knowing that you'll be with me / As I walk upon the edge of no escape / In a world so flat / And then it hits me like a bolt of faith — “Lock You Up”

It’s easy to feel hopeless when the world around you is falling apart, but if there’s one thing romantics believe, it’s that love will conquer all, thoughts of doubt and despair included.

8. You know it's so hard to admit it / But the only good inside of me is you — “White Mercedes”

Literally the definition of a “better half.”

9. I know that look inside my eyes means always / Even if we fall apart, split two ways — “7 Years”

You know it’s real when you vow to love someone even after the relationship has gone sideways.

10. Hope when we're old, we'll be friends, reminisce / Hope we'll be there, be there, be there, us two / All the memories, all the photos we took — “Forever”

In hindsight, perhaps Charli knew deep down her last relationship was doomed when she wrote two songs promising to love her ex even after they split, but it’s a sweet sentiment nonetheless. Unless you identify as a lover girl, you wouldn’t understand.