Songfacts®:

• This is one of Taylor's vengeance songs in the tradition of "Picture To Burn," but this time it's aimed at a woman. It is rumored that the song is directed at the young actress Joe Jonas pursued after he and Swift broke up.
• The first line of this song goes: "The story starts when it was hot and it was summer." Taylor Swift and Joe Jonas dated in the summer of 2008, then Joe met 10,000 BC actress Camilla Belle on the set of the Jonas Brothers' "Lovebug" video, where Taylor was nowhere to be found. This song appears to be the Queen of Tween's melodic stab at Belle for stealing her boyfriend:
  
  She came along, got him alone, and let's hear the applause
  She took him faster than you could say sabotage
• The line, "Come on, show me how much better you are," provides further evidence that Taylor is addressing Belle in this song. The lyric is most likely a reference to the Jonas Brothers' 2009 number "Much Better." That tune was felt by many to be an unkind remark at how superior Belle was in comparison to Swift:
  
  Now I'm done with superstars
  And all the teardrops on her guitar
  I'm not bitter
  Now I see everything I need
  Is the girl in front of me
  She's much better
• Taylor Swift redid "Better Than Revenge" in 2023 for Speak Now (Taylor's Version), her re-recording of the original album. Swift decided to revise the opening of the chorus, as it came across as "slut-shaming" to many listeners. The lyric previously read:
  
  She's an actress, woah
  But she's better known for the things that she does
  On the mattress
  
  The tweaked lyric goes:
  
  She's an actress, whoa
  He was a moth to the flame
  She was holding the matches