She’s an Actress: “Better Than Revenge” Meaning

The lyrics of Better Than Revenge paint a brutal picture of vengeance and karma. In this potent track, Taylor pulls no punches.

Like Mean and Dear John, Better than Revenge is another Speak Now diss track. Who is it about?

We can speculate, but it’s not really important. What is important is that we see Taylor’s motif of revenge running through this track, and it’s a potent look at how she handles disrespect and hurt feelings. 

Here’s my complete analysis of Taylor’s Better Than Revenge meaning, line by line.

Better Than Revenge (Taylor’s Version)

• Title: Better Than Revenge (Taylor’s Version) 
• Track: 10, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) 
• Written By: Taylor Swift 
• Pen: Glitter
• Hidden Message: “You thought I would forget.” 
• Lyrics via Genius

Lyrics of Better Than Revenge: Narrative Analysis

• Setting: In the present, enacting revenge on a past hurt.  
• Characters: Narrator (Taylor), “she” (the “actress”), “him” (the “stolen” boyfriend)
• Mood: Scornful, brutal, angry. 
• Conflict: Breakup, and the supposed reason why it happened (likely cheating).
• Inciting Incident: The “actress stole” her boyfriend. 
• Quest: Get revenge. 
• Symbols & Metaphors: playground/childhood/immaturity, “actress,” moths & flames, theft. 
• Theme: Diss track.  
• Lesson: Karma always comes back around. 

What was the Hidden Message in Better Than Revenge? 

“You thought I would forget.” This message is likely directed at the subject of the song, who her boyfriend either left her for, or cheated on her with. 

Who is Better Than Revenge About? 

The song is believed to be about Camilla Belle, who dated Joe Jonas around the same time as Taylor. 

Taylor said at the time of release, “The song Better Than Revenge is about a girl, who a few years ago, stole my boyfriend. I think she probably thought I forgot about it, but I didn’t.” 

I think it’s important to note that no woman can “steal” someone’s boyfriend – that’s the boy’s fault and not hers. Her revamp of the lyrics for the re-record shows that she’s grown and changed in the 13 years between albums, as I explore in the comparison of the Speak Now Prologues.

Better Than Revenge Meaning: Line by Line

“Now go stand in the corner and think about what you did,” she says in the intro, “Haha, time for a little revenge.” The intro is spoken word and not sung, which is significant: not a whole lot of Taylor’s songs start like this. 

Why is that important? It means it’s deeply personal. It’s not her singing voice that we hear – the commercial Taylor – it’s her speaking voice. It’s Taylor herself, laid bare. 

Immediately, she’s infantilizing the subject of the song, telling her to “go stand in the corner” like a child getting punished by a teacher. This theme will expand throughout the lyrics. 

“The story starts when it was hot and it was summer,” she sings in the first verse, setting up her allegorical narrative. Summer is usually a time of carefree happiness in Taylor’s songbook, but given the tone and the intro, we know that this particular summer won’t end happily. 

“I had it all, I had him right there where I wanted him,” she says of her boyfriend. To have someone “right where you want them” is to be able to easily manipulate them, or get them to do what you want them to do. She’s hinting at the manipulation that’s to come from the “actress,” while also portraying herself as a power player in love.  

“She came along, got him alone, and let’s hear the applause,” she says satirically, asking for the crowd to cheer for her nemesis, “She took him faster than you can say ‘Sabotage’.” Taylor believes that this woman came and sabotaged their relationship intentionally, “stealing” her boyfriend. 

It’s important to note that no one can “steal” your partner; both parties act willingly. But 19 year-old Taylor sees this as a personal attack, and doesn’t blame her ex-boyfriend; she blames the femme fatale that came along and took him away. 

“I never saw it coming, wouldn’t have suspected it,” she says, blindsided by this betrayal, “I underestimated just who I was dealing with.” She didn’t think the “actress” was capable of doing her so dirty, and we’ll learn more about this person’s two-faced nature later on. 

“She had to know the pain was beating on me like a drum,” she says, assuming that the actress knew how much she would hurt Taylor, but “She underestimated just who she was stealin’ from.” She’ll take this pain and turn it into revenge, never to be underestimated in her power.

The first verse has set up the plot, characters, and emotions of this allegorical tale, and we’ll find out in the chorus exactly what went down between Taylor’s ex and the “actress.” 

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Chorus: That Infamous Better Than Revenge Lyric Change 

Taylor exposes the subject: “she’s not a saint”, meaning she’s not the angelic persona everyone things she is. She’s also “not what you think,” which describes a two-faced character, similar to the Jekyll & Hyde-type characterizations in Dear John and Mr Perfectly Fine.

This person may look innocent, and have a pristine reputation, but Taylor hints that it’s all an act. 

It’s important to note that “actress” is a career – and likely the career of the woman who “stole” Taylor’s boyfriend – but it’s also a metaphor. An “actress” is someone who pretends, or isn’t genuine. 

“He was a moth to the flame,” she says, “She was holding the matches.” The moth to the flame metaphor means that her ex was irresistibly attracted to the actress. But the actress is “holding the matches,” meaning she lit the fire that would, undoubtedly, draw him near. She’s saying it was entirely intentional: she’s a temptress. 

“She’s better known for the things that she does on the mattress” was the brutal original lyric in the chorus, changed to the moth analogy in Taylor’s Version. 

Does it make the rest of the song any less brutal? No. Was it the right thing to do to change it on the re-record, like she changed the homophobic lyric of “Picture to Burn”? Yes. The mattress lyric is characteristic of an angry 19 year-old, but not of the 30-something feminist icon that Taylor is today. 

“Soon, she’s gonna find stealing other people’s toys on the playground won’t make you many friends,” she continues. On the “playground” of life and love, you shouldn’t take what isn’t yours. 

This is the first instance of two metaphors in Taylor’s songbook that will come back around again and again: boys as toys (which will resurface in My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys, Cruel Summer, Don’t Blame Me, et al), and life/love as a playground (like in Glitch, So High School,  I Forgot That You Existed, et al). 

“She should keep in mind, she should keep in mind,” she warns, “There is nothing I do better than revenge.” This is her ironic threat: this song is her revenge, and it will hit her target precisely and brutally. 

Verse 2: “Cause I Like to Rhyme Her Name With Things”

The second verse gives more characterization to the actress, and it’s not flattering. 

“She looks at life like it’s a party and she’s on the list,” she says in the second verse, “She looks at me like I’m a trend and she’s so over it.” The actress views life like it’s her privileged playground, but views Taylor as a passing fad. 

“I think her ever-present frown is a little troubling,” she says of the actress’ “resting bitch face.” “A little troubling” is heavily sarcastic: she’s saying that this person is hiding so much, and not even beneath a smile. 

“She thinks I’m psycho ’cause I like to rhyme her name with things,” she says ironically. Though Taylor doesn’t name this person in the lyrics, the entire song is a diss track against her. Taylor assumes the actress thinks she’s “psycho” for writing this song about her, but she doesn’t really care. This is her revenge, served cold. 

“But sophistication isn’t what you wear or who you know,” she says in another bit of irony. This diss track isn’t exactly “sophisticated” behavior, but it hints that the actress has done much worse things to Taylor. 

It’s also not sophisticated, she says, “pushing people down to get you where you wanna go.” This hints that the actress is using her, or using her ex, to claim social status. 

“They didn’t teach you that in prep school so it’s up to me,” she says, further portraying the actress as a spoiled, rich brat, “That no amount of vintage dresses gives you dignity.” 

The actress is all about image, and Taylor portrays her as someone who is only skin-deep. But your image doesn’t give you dignity; the contents of your character does. And the actress doesn’t seem to have any. 

Bridge: “Just Another Thing for You to Roll Your Eyes at, Honey”

The bridge is the first point in the song where Taylor addresses the actress directly. Previously, it was in third person (“she”), but now it changes to “you.” 

“I’m just another thing for you to roll your eyes at, honey,” she says sarcastically in the bridge. The actress is a frequent eye-roller, meaning she’s easily annoyed and judgmental. Taylor is okay with being yet another thing that bothers her – that’s the point. She wants to annoy her.  

“You might have him, but haven’t you heard?” she asks with another bit of irony. She’ll hear soon enough, because this song is playing in her ear. 

“You might have him, but I always get the last word,” she says, closing the bridge with yet another hint of irony. This song is the last word, and it’ll be permanently stamped on popular culture, synonymous with the actress’ name, forever.

“Come on, can you take it back?” echoes in the background, wishing that all this pain could be reversed. But it can’t, and neither can this permanent act of revenge. 

Outro: “Show Me How Much Better You Are”

The outro continues to address the actress directly. 

“Do you still feel like you know what you’re doin’?” she asks rhetorically and sarcastically, ”’Cause I don’t think you do.” She messed with the wrong person, and now come the repercussions: this song, forever existing in the universe. 

“Let’s hear the applause,” Taylor says satirically, “Come on, show me how much better you are.” The lyrics portrayed the actress as full of herself and morally superior, but now that this song has taken her down a notch, she won’t be able to keep up the facade. 

But this is also ironic, because Taylor has sunken to her level in the writing of this very song. Neither of them are exactly behaving well, and no one wins in this situation. 

“She took him faster than you could say ‘Sabotage’,” she says, closing the song by switching back to third person. Her allegorical tale has come to an end, and she’s taught some lessons to everyone involved. 

But – in her final moment of irony, in a song full of irony – she has successfully sabotaged the actress. It’s an eye for an eye, but has justice really been served? 

Better Than Revenge Meaning: Final Thoughts 

Taylor has said that her most scathing song is Dear John, but this song is just as scathing. I think Better Than Revenge – though much more petty and vindictive – is an absolute volcano of rage and revenge. 

What makes it a little less effective within her diss track catalog is that her rage and revenge is misdirected. No one can “steal” your boyfriend: that’s the boyfriend’s choice. Were this song directed at her ex, and not the woman he cheated with, it would be right up there with Dear John. 

But what’s most interesting is that on this relatively early diss track, Taylor is laying it all out for us. She’s saying she’s good at revenge – it’s the thing she does best – and we will see that she is indeed telling the truth. 

As she told us in the album’s prologue, she will always veer toward “enacting my own form of rebellion when I feel broken,” and that’s exactly what she has done in Better Than Revenge. In the future, her revenge will be aimed more precisely and effectively, and will become less petty and more calculated.

Taylor will get the ultimate revenge in so many ways throughout her career, and the fact that she told us this from the beginning is poetic, and prophetic. 

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More Songs From Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)

• Speak Now Album Prologues Compared 
• Mine 
• Sparks Fly 
• Back to December
• Speak Now
• Dear John
• Mean
• The Story of Us
• Never Grow Up
• Enchanted
• Innocent
• Haunted
• Last Kiss
• Long Live
• Ours
• Superman
• Electric Touch (ft Fall Out Boy) [From the Vault]
• When Emma Falls in Love [From the Vault]
• I Can See You [From the Vault]
• Castles Crumbling (ft. Hayley Williams) [From the Vault]
• Foolish One [From the Vault]
• Timeless [From the Vault]