Apparently, Tate McRae’s new song is a response to her ex, The Kid Laroi: let’s study the lyrics of TIT FOR TAT.
A surprise song, released on Friday, which is not usually common for major musical releases. It’s as if Tate McRae acted on impulse, sharing with the world a message she feels strongly about at this moment, and making sure it reached everyone as quickly as possible. And the meaning of the lyrics in TIT FOR TAT now seems clear: the message has to do with another song, recently released by her ex-boyfriend, The Kid Laroi, which appears to point the finger at her.
So this story begins some weeks earlier, when The Kid Laroi released A Cold Play on September 5, 2025. The official video comes up on September 27, you can find it below:
The two had been dating since early 2024, but something broke in the summer of 2025 and they split up. ‘On good terms,’ they said. However, the lyrics written by The Kid Laroi in A Cold Play don’t sound so peaceful: the Australian rapper says he has a broken heart. According to his words, Tate McRae never really put in full effort, and many people told him the relationship would only be temporary. He wished it wasn’t, but apparently, he couldn’t ‘fix her’ in that regard.
I tried not to listen when they all would say, “Ayy
This was temporary and you’d walk away”
It’ll always be easy to blame you
But it’s my fault for thinking I could
Fix you, fix you, fix you, fix you
So, on Wednesday, September 27, the official video for A Cold Play is released, and Tate McRae feels an absolute urgency to officially share her response, which had already been ready for some time. The song lands two days after The Kid Laroi’s official video, and it’s easy to see it as a response to him. ‘Tit for Tat’: if you go so far as to release a diss track against me, I can only pay you back in kind.
Curiously, the song begins with a point of view similar to The Kid Laroi’s: I had thought about getting closer again, it could have been possible, but now that I’ve seen what you’ve done, I won’t even consider it.
Thought I might love you again, I’ll see how I feel
Now that you’re acting like that, boy, I never will
Tate McRae challenges The Kid Laroi to tell the whole story, and of course we don’t know for sure what it’s about. Could it have to do with the ‘she’ mentioned by Tate McRae in the lyrics of TIT FOR TAT? Is there a third person who revealed something decisive, not shared publicly?
Last night, she answered my call, it sealed the deal
What is certain is that now the doors are closed, and all that’s left for Tate McRae is to answer a diss track with another diss track.
Let’s go song for song, let’s go back to back
Let’s go tit for tat, boy, you asked for that
Tate McRae thus leaves The Kid Laroi with a painful piece of information, and this becomes the main meaning behind the lyrics of TIT FOR TAT: you would have had a chance to get back together, I had never really been that far away; but now, that chance is lost. And the world wonders if The Kid Laroi will respond again, adding new elements for everyone to talk about. If that happens, you know, you’ll find everything on our pages.
Read other popular song lyrics and their meaning on Auralcrave
TIT FOR TAT: the complete lyrics
Thought I might love you again, I’ll see how I feel
Now that you’re acting like that, boy, I never will
Last night, she answered my call, it sealed the deal
Right now, I’m not even about you
The day I met you, boy, I thought it was a blessing
In the heat of it, I always took your side
It’s a shame you out here tryna make it messy
Wow, you’re messy, damn
We were good, I thought we made it through the ending
I was hearing shit I never thought you’d say
Could have picked it up exactly where we left it
Took our future off your plate
Let’s go song for song, let’s go back to back
Let’s go tit for tat, boy, you asked for that
That’s the best you got, where’s the good one at?
I was never as far away as you thought
Thought I might love you again, see how I feel
Now that you’re acting like that, I never will
Last night, she answered my call, it sealed the deal
Right now, I’m not even about you
Thought I might love you again, see how I feel
Now that you’re acting like that, I never will
Last night, she answered my call, it sealed the deal
Right now, I’m not even about you
I was nothing but respectful, and you know that
Why you changing up the narrative to write?
No, I can’t do this, you’re making me do this
If you want to fight
Let’s go song for song, let’s go back to back
Fix your fucking self, kiss my ass for that
That’s the best you got, where’s the good one at?
Should’ve known you’d be the type to change
Thought I might love you again, see how I feel
Now that you’re acting like that, I never will
Last night, she answered my call, it sealed the deal
Right now, I’m not even about you
Thought I might love you again, see how I feel
Now that you’re acting like that, I never will
Last night, she answered my call, it sealed the deal
Right now, I’m not even about you
That looks like it really hurts
That bruise on your ego
I know that it makes it worse
It had to be me, though
Thought I might love you again, see how I feel
Now that you’re acting like that, I never will
Last night, she answered my call, it sealed the deal
Right now, I’m—
Thought I might love you again, see how I feel
Now that you’re acting like that, I never will
Last night, she answered my call, it sealed the deal
Right now, I’m partying without you
Thought I might love you again
Now that you’re acting like that (I’m partying without you)
Last night, she answered my call
I’m partying without you
