Sympathy Is A Knife Featuring Ariana Grande by Charli Xcx

“Sympathy is a knife” shows Charli’s self-doubts, and that, despite the album’s exterior theme of unashamed courage, Charli herself still suffers from the pressure of public opinion. Charli suggests that feigned sympathy from others cuts her like a knife. Though the pretense is that the ‘sympathy’ is meant to ‘save’ her ego, it actually makes it hard for her to understand whether someone is being real with her, or if they are behaving artificially in order to save their image. As a result she is ‘spiraling.’ .