The Renaissance of That Girl; She’s the Best by Troye Sivan

Words by Elisabeth Kay

The last time we saw Troye Sivan, he introduced a blonde wig into his wardrobe. This debut of his drag persona was stunningly shocking, and unforgettable as you listen to his dreamy single One of Your Girls. Two years later, the blonde wig is back, accompanied by Nicole Kidman and Sasha Colby in the music video for Sivan’s newest single, She’s the Best.

The track opens with a reminiscent 2000s beat so fierce it jolts your nervous system. Sivan zooms in on her, the dream-woven femme, in a blunt opening within the first fifteen seconds of the single:

“She’s walking down the street with her little thin cigarette
Great smile and a cum stain on her dress”

Her comfortability in her own skin intimidates most. She’s messy, knotted, chic, and she doesn’t screw around: “DJs from Wednesday to Monday / Don’t ask she’s not taking any fucking requests.” Rather than criticizing her headstrong determination, Sivan wrote this song to applaud this type of woman; he’s not making excuses for her, not defending her behavior, but rather holding it as the standard. To him, she is everything, with the repeating chorus being two awe-filled words: that girl, that girl.

But she’s more than just the human embodiment of hyper-pop mixed with indie-sleaze. Sivan slows down the second verse to make sure listeners don’t skim over the dreamer that lives inside of this hard shell of a girl: “She always knew she had something special in-inside.” As the beat grows quiet, this lyric comes out almost as a whisper; we finally have a moment alone with her, and she has a secret to tell us. On the inside, that girl has dreams of her own. A spark ignited as a little girl shines in the intimacy of the moment, and now we all relate to that girl a little bit more— it’s not corny to be a dreamer.

That girl isn’t exclusive to one type of womanhood. With lyrics such as: “Eyeliner in her waterline and some contour on her tits,” Sivan nods to drag queens and performers, as featured in the music video for the single. Though he’s never been one to shy away from inclusivity, trans icon and drag queen Sasha Colby accompanying other drag queens and performers [shows that] that girl is not one size fits all. Real women protect and celebrate other women, in all forms of womanhood

The track swells as the beat picks up the pace, accompanied by Charli XCX proclaiming: “She’s the heartbeat bumpin’ in my chest / She’s the best.” Charli, who claimed stardom after the high of Brat Summer, was revealed as the voice at the end in later conversations with Rolling Stones following the single’s release. He explains that Charli is important to him, a muse for the song, and she didn’t want to do the speaking for her– this added detail makes that girl all the more authentic, special, and real.

In a year where the most talked about book follows a trad-wife influencer, it’s undeniable a culture encouraging subservient women holds a tight grip on societal expectations. Maybe I’m just experiencing the phenomena of watching every high school acquaintance flaunt a shiny diamond ring, but my head can’t help but spin when I watch another woman miss out on her bar crawling, sequined, zebra-printed twenties— because of this, She’s the Best is a breath of fresh air.