the magic of: Olivia Rodrigo
in celebration of who I believe is the best pop artist of the 2020s
In early 2021, I started noticing something while scrolling social media: there was a song called drivers license going incredibly viral online, by an artist I’d never heard of. I went quite a long time without listening to it, not on purpose, but it just didn’t interest me enough. However, one day, I finally decided to cave and check it out. That was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made as a music listener, and introduced me to who would end up becoming one of my favorite artists.
CHAPTER 1: SOUR
It quickly became apparent to me that drivers license was very special. It was the latest entry into the timeless genre of breakup songs - which made it extremely difficult to do something exciting with it. However, a super important element that drivers license gets right from a songwriting perspective is attaching itself to vivid imagery.
Things you talk about in a song become so much more real if you attach them to a common activity, or an everyday situation, or something that makes the events grounded and relatable. That is exactly what the song achieved with centering the narrative around driving - it’s not just something that comes in on the first verse and then doesn’t reappear, it’s a consistent theme that keeps coming back.
The first verse sets up the track so well, establishing both this imagery and the central topical matter:
I got my driver's license last week
Just like we always talked about
'Cause you were so excited for me
To finally drive up to your house
But today, I drove through the suburbs
Crying 'cause you weren't around
- Olivia Rodrigo, drivers license
Of course, the real-life drama aspect also helped popularize the song, with the second verse making allusions which people quickly made connections around:
And you're probably with that blonde girl
Who always made me doubt
She's so much older than me
She's everything I'm insecure about
- Olivia Rodrigo, drivers license
But even still, the imagery and the general level of songwriting is one of the main strengths of this track; musically, it’s also fantastic, with Olivia delivering a brilliant, deeply heartfelt vocal performance, and Dan Nigro putting the icing on the cake with a fantastic production job. The production particularly shines through on the bridge, giving it a massively important feel and making it really emotionally resonant. In my opinion, it’s one of the best bridges in modern pop history.
I also really enjoyed the next two singles, deja vu and good 4 u; though they weren’t quite as special as drivers license, they still had their great moments, once again providing some vivid imagery. They each also provided a take on a classic structure for a breakup song - the “everything you’re doing in your new relationship isn’t as special cause you already did it all with me”, and, of course, the classic bitter “you’re doing great, aren’t you? well I’m not”. The thing that makes me really admire the songwriting is neither of them just blend in as “another” of those songs. They do lean on tropes somewhat, but Olivia makes the scenarios her own. Also, deja vu provides another brilliant bridge, just as a cherry on top.
When SOUR arrived, I would lie if I said I was instantly sold - I found it to not be as interesting as I’d hoped for. I believe now that it was due to a couple of reasons: for one thing, lack of certain life experiences, which made the record not as relatable as it could’ve been; and for another thing, I just think I generally lacked sufficient experience with pop music at the time. Looking back at it now, I see a cohesive, strong, consistent debut record, with some absolute gems sprinkled in throughout the tracklist. Its imperfections, in retrospect, only go to service its overall picture: the chaotic, angsty, multicolored mess of thoughts of a teenage girl. In that sense, the cover is also absolutely perfect for the record - all the different stickers all over her face, the facial expression, all of it.
This is also the moment where another brilliant thing about Olivia Rodrigo as a show business entity comes in - the color coding. A phenomenon that some people have pointed out recently is that, when someone gets big and sticks around, a lot of the time, they make themselves synonymous with a certain color. Arguably the most prominent example of this happens to be Olivia Rodrigo with purple. Both her album covers are purple, plus there’s a lot more that also fits in. It gives her catalog a unique visual appearance, and I kind of hope she continues to stick to it in the future.
Additionally, I think the title is similarly perfect. I believe “sour” is exactly the right adjective for how heartbreak mixed with teenage angst and anxiety is. It’s not bitterness, it’s softer and more vulnerable than that. Anyway, back to the music.
SOUR kicks off with a bang - the opener, brutal, waists no time in laying out that chaotic picture I talked about earlier right in front of you. A lot is said about teenage years, mostly by adults blinded by nostalgia; however, Olivia doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to describing the oftentimes frustrating and exasperating nature of this period of your life. I imagine it will have been particularly weird for her, what with how young she was when she first started acting.
If someone tells me one more time
"Enjoy your youth," I'm gonna cry
And I don't stick up for myself
I'm anxious, and nothing can help
<…>
They say these are the golden years
But I wish I could disappear
Ego crush is so severe
God, it's brutal out here
- Olivia Rodrigo, brutal
And while the lyricism isn’t particularly complex - it doesn’t need to be. Some sentiments are best expressed without going around in circles, in a direct, grounded way - and that’s exactly what this album is strongest in. At the same time, there’s still no shortage of the occasional cutting line with vivid visuals here and there, like this one from traitor:
Brown guilty eyes and little white lies
- Olivia Rodrigo, traitor
this one from happier:
And now I'm pickin' her apart, like cuttin' her down will make you miss my wretched heart
- Olivia Rodrigo, happier
or these lines from favorite crime:
And I watched as you fled the scene
Doe-eyed as you buried me
One heart broke, four hands bloody
- Olivia Rodrigo, favorite crime
It’s not all breakup songs, though, contrary to what a lot of people think. Aside from the aforementioned brutal, there’s also the fantastic jealousy, jealousy, which takes on social media and unrealistic standards set particularly for young women. I’ve found that a lot of tracks which talk about these things end up sounding shallow, hollow or disconnected; however, because this one is from a very unfiltered, grounded perspective, it hits the spot in terms of feeling authentic and real.
I kinda wanna throw my phone across the room
'Cause all I see are girls too good to be true
With paper-white teeth and perfect bodies
Wish I didn't care
I know their beauty's not my lack
But it feels like that weight is on my back
And I can't let it go
- Olivia Rodrigo, jealousy, jealousy
My favorite SOUR track, though, is the closer, hope ur ok. It talks about a less personal, but much more sensitive topic, being about parental neglect or abuse and presumed to be about members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Olivia tackles this with a shocking degree of maturity and care, which makes it a fantastic closer for the album, and, as I mentioned, the best song on the record in my opinion. There’s some lines on this track in particular that bring me to the verge of tears every time I listen to it:
His parents cared more about the Bible
Than being good to their own child
<…>
Her parents hated who she loved
<…>
She was tired 'cause she was brought into a world
Where family was merely blood
<…>
Well, I hope you know how proud I am you were created
With the courage to unlearn all of their hatred
But, God, I hope that you're happier today
'Cause I love you
And I hope that you're okay
- Olivia Rodrigo, hope ur ok
Additionally, the bridge is just so beautiful, both due to the airy production and the poetic imagery:
Address the letters to the holes in my butterfly wings
Nothing's forever, nothing is as good as it seems
And when the clouds won't iron out
And the monsters creep into your house
And every door is hard to close
- Olivia Rodrigo, hope ur ok
In conclusion, SOUR is a great project to introduce yourself to the industry with; it has continued to do deservedly massive numbers since its release. However, of course, even better things were yet to come.
CHAPTER 2: GUTS
Two years after SOUR, on June 13th, 2023, Olivia Rodrigo announced her comeback, and what would the lead single for her new album, vampire. The album, GUTS, would be confirmed thirteen days later, and the song would come out not long after, on June 30th. Up to this point, I still hadn’t been a huge fan. However, vampire was a turning point. It made me really excited for where this new album cycle would go.
I’m not as crazy about the track now as I was upon release, but that doesn’t at all mean I don’t still absolutely love it - it’s got a lot to enjoy. First off, the vocal performance is great - especially the high part on the chorus, that never fails to give me chills. I also love the way it’s structured - the slow, gradual buildup, with each chorus having a few more layers to it than the last. I love the bridge, and how smoothly it runs into the final chorus. And, of course, there’s some really biting (pun intended) lyrical moments on the track too:
How's the castle built off people you pretend to care about?
<…>
I used to think I was smart
But you made me look so naive
The way you sold me for parts
As you sunk your teeth into me
<…>
I tried to help you out, now I know that I can't
'Cause how you think's the kind of thing I'll never understand
- Olivia Rodrigo, vampire
The lyrics are, of course, given significantly more impact by Olivia’s earnest, emotional vocal delivery.
Also, before I go any further, I want to shout out this album title too. I think it’s another great choice, because on one hand, of course, it plays into the expression “spill your guts”, invoking an image of raw honesty - something which, in my opinion, the subsequent album more than delivers on - but on the other hand, just generally delivers pretty visceral verbal imagery - the word “guts” oftentimes feels gross and unpleasant, but here, it’s something you can’t look away from. Again, though, back to the music.
One of the many things that I love about Olivia Rodrigo’s music is that the songs that didn’t click for me right away ended up being ones I love now. A prime example of this phenomenon is the second GUTS single, the cheeky, snappy bad idea, right?
Something about it just didn’t hit right for me at first, but, as time has passed, I’ve loved it more and more; it’s just so fun, and I love the energy on the chorus. Also, the bridge and outro are phenomenal, with the wild solo fitting right in over the rhythm guitars playing the riff, and the fast-paced drums. It’s not a miracle of songwriting or anything, but it’s intended to be more playful, so I wasn’t expecting profound lyricism anyway. And, as a playful banger, it more than fulfills its intended purpose. It’s incredibly catchy, and electrically infectious, to the point where it’s pretty much impossible not to dance or bob your head.
Another track that grew on me was one of the big hits from the album, which would arrive on September 8th - get him back! I didn’t buy it at first, but then one day, I didn’t skip it, and the chorus just connected in all the right ways. It’s so huge and anthemic, and just does not leave your head once it gets in. Also, something that’s really clever about the track is the double meaning of the title - “get him back” as in “get revenge” versus “get him back” as in “get back together with him”. It’s a fairly simple play on words, but it’s executed so effectively, particularly on the aforementioned chorus:
I wanna get him back
I wanna make him really jealous, wanna make him feel bad
Oh, I wanna get him back
'Cause then again, I really miss him, and it makes me real sad
Oh, I want sweet revenge, and I want him again
I want to get him back, back, back
- Olivia Rodrigo, get him back!
The rest of the track similarly plays off of juxtapositions, once again delivered in a mostly playful tone. However, get him back! is track 8 on the record. Let’s rewind a little and talk about the first one, because I believe it to be one of Olivia’s best in terms of songwriting.
That, of course, is all-american bitch. To me, this track accomplishes several things. Firstly, it serves as the perfect opener, because it introduces all the things that are new about GUTS Olivia Rodrigo: the rock elements that were present on certain SOUR tracks, like good 4 u, brutal and jealousy, jealousy, are here to stay, and more prominent than ever; she’s a more sincere and engaging narrator than ever; and the songwriting has taken a definite step up. Secondly, if you look beyond the surface, you’ll find what I think is a genuinely brilliant satirical portrayal of a character who is comprised of an amalgamation of stereotypes and societal expectations that women have to battle against. (Fun fact, by the way: the track was inspired by Olivia reading the phrase “All-American bitch” in The White Album by Joan Didion).
The writing is so intentional, it feels so carefully thought out, but never forced; it, again, does really well at playing juxtapositions among other things. Also, it’s absolutely made by Olivia’s delivery, which is just exaggerated enough in certain places to really put the message of the song across. The details of the mask slipping, like in the scream on the bridge, or the scornful “I’m grateful all the fucking time” in the background of the outro, also add so much flavor to it.
And I am built like a mother and a total machine
I feel for your every little issue, I know just what you mean
<…>
I got class and integrity
Just like a goddamn Kennedy, I swear
With love to spare, I
<…>
Forgive and I forget
I know my age and I act like it
Got what you can't resist
I'm a perfect all-American bitch
<…>
I know my place and this is it
I don't get angry when I'm pissed
I'm the eternal optimist
I scream inside to deal with it
<…>
All the time
I'm grateful all the time
I'm sexy and I'm kind
I'm pretty when I cry
- Olivia Rodrigo, all-american bitch
For my money, it’s probably the second or third-best written song on the album. What comes after is a record which is nothing if not consistent.
Right from the cover, it’s consistent with the aforementioned purple color scheme. It’s consistent with the all-caps, four-word title theme from the previous album. Then, within the music, it’s consistent in terms of its general quality - there isn’t a single track I’d call a weak point. It’s consistent in its songwriting - every song is written really well. It’s consistent musically - the production and Olivia’s vocals remain at an extremely high level throughout. Also, it’s consistent thematically - it’s more varied than SOUR, but keeps the theme of breakups/heartbreak on tracks like vampire, logical, the grudge and others; at the same time, there’s much more focus on personal things like insecurity, envy (lacy), self-esteem issues, comparing yourself with others, and more. Something I really love about the way a lot of the lyrics on this album are put together is the fact it feels like she takes a lot of accountability. This is particularly evident on making the bed, which I believe is also in that top-3 of the best-written songs on the record.
Another day pretendin' I'm older than I am
Another perfect moment that doesn't feel like mine
Another thing I forced to be a sign
<…>
I'm so tired of bein' the girl that I am
Every good thing has turned into somethin' I dread
And I'm playin' the victim so well in my head
But it's me who's been makin' the bed
<…>
And every night, I wake up from this one recurrin' dream
Where I'm drivin' through the city and the brakes go out on me
I can't stop at the red light, I can't swerve off the road
I read somewhere it's 'cause my life feels so out of control
<…>
They're changin' my machinery, and I just let it happen
I got the things I wanted, it's just not what I imagined
- Olivia Rodrigo, making the bed
But other tracks like love is embarrassing and especially ballad of a homeschooled girl also have some great moments of “okay, maybe I’m the problem actually” lyrics.
Going back to the tracks about personal issues, there’s two I want to focus on. The first of these goes back to something explored on SOUR - unrealistic beauty standards, but does it on a bigger scale and with a greater degree of maturity. That track is pretty isn’t pretty. It’s almost tough to listen to some of these lines, because they clearly come from a place of authentic struggle and pain. Olivia’s delivery isn’t dramatic or over-the-top, though - it’s fairly subtle and understated, which ends up making the emotion come across far more genuinely and more impactfully. And, of course, the writing is straight to the point, and really well thought-out.
Bought a bunch of makeup, tryna cover up my face
I started to skip lunch, stopped eatin' cake on birthdays
<…>
When pretty isn't pretty enough, what do you do?
And everybody's keepin' it up, so you think it's you
I could change up my body and change up my face
I could try every lipstick in every shade
But I'd always feel the same
'Cause pretty isn't pretty enough anyway
<…>
And I try to ignore it, but it's everythin' I see
It's on the poster on the wall, it's in the shitty magazines
<…>
And none of it matters, and none of it ends
You just feel like shit over and over again
- Olivia Rodrigo, pretty isn’t pretty
The second track I want to talk about is my favorite song on the album, and the one I believe is the best written - teenage dream. This track has brought me to tears more times that I will ever care to admit, especially since I turned 19 last year - the final year of my own “teenage dream”. I already talked about my second-favorite lyrical moment on this song, which is the subtle substitution between “stop being wise beyond my years and just start being wise” to “stop being great for my age, and just start being good” in this article - in short, it’s about the huge emotional impact that the subversion of the expected “great” in favor of the less ambitious “good” has and how good a piece of songwriting that really is. However, my favorite lyrical moment on the song is much more straightforward. The reason I love it so much is just because of how hard it hits.
They all say that it gets better
It gets better the more you grow
Yeah, they all say that it gets better
It gets better, but what if I don't?
- Olivia Rodrigo, teenage dream
Yeah, maybe it does get better. But what if I don’t get better as things around me do? What if I’m never able to appreciate the life around me? What if things become okay, but they don’t make me okay with them? That sentiment is one that I’ve had to deal with internally a great deal over the past few years of my life. Generally, this track has a lot of moments that hit hard for me specifically, as someone balancing right on the edge of my twenties, with my teenage years being very, very close to ending.
When am I gonna stop being great for my age and just start being good?
When will it stop being cool to be quietly misunderstood?
<…>
Got your whole life ahead of you, you're only nineteen
But I fear that they already got all the best parts of me
And I'm sorry that I couldn't always be your teenage dream
<…>
And when are all my excuses of learning my lessons gonna start to feel sad?
Will I spend all the rest of my years wishing I could go back?
- Olivia Rodrigo, teenage dream
It’s another perfect album closer, just like hope ur ok before it. I really liked GUTS when it first came out. It seriously impressed me, and sold me on Olivia way more than I had been before. But, little did I know, I was only at the very beginning of my adoration for this album.
CHAPTER 3: “Can’t Catch Me Now” and GUTS (spilled)
So, in between the release of GUTS and its eventual deluxe edition, Olivia Rodrigo was tapped for the soundtrack of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, releasing the track Can’t Catch Me Now in November of 2023. In my opinion, this is one of the more underappreciated songs in her discography up to this point, and deserves way more credit than it gets. It’s beautifully cinematic in all the right ways, and also significantly more poetic than a lot of her other music, fitting in with the vibe of the movie super well. There’s a lot of lines on it that I really, really love:
But I'm in the trees, I'm in the breeze, my footsteps on the ground
<…>
Through wading grass, the months will pass, you'll feel it all around
<…>
There's blood on the side of the mountain
It's turning a new shade of red
Yeah, sometimes the fire you founded
Don't burn the way you'd expect
Yeah, you thought that this was the end
- Olivia Rodrigo, Can’t Catch Me Now
The production on this one is also somewhat different, opting for a wispier sound which gives it this feel of running barefoot through a beautiful forest, particularly on the chorus and the bridge.
A few months went by. Many fans really wanted to have the secret bonus tracks from the four different variants of the record out on streaming services. I, as someone who doesn’t buy vinyl records, was one of those people. Then, finally, on March 22nd, 2024, Olivia Rodrigo released GUTS (spilled), which included five new tracks. And one of them ended up being my favorite song she’s made to date, my second favorite song of all-time, and the main catalyst for this album becoming my fourth favorite album of all-time.
It’s not the one you might think it would be, either (well, you might know if you read my best songs of 2024 list, but pretend you don’t for the sake of this essay). The obvious hit from the deluxe is obsessed, which is a really effective portrayal of an insecure girl who is unable to stop thinking about, and comparing herself to, her boyfriend’s ex; the dirtier, punkish sound of that track is amazing, and I love it dearly, but that’s not the track I’m talking about. It’s not so american, either, even though that track is incredibly wholesome and sweet, and I have a lot of affection for it in my heart, and I love how happy Olivia and Louis seem together and I wish them nothing but many, many years of love and happiness. It’s not girl i’ve always been or scared of my guitar, though those tracks also absolutely have their moments; the former is a really interesting attempt at a new sound from Olivia, and I wouldn’t hate her refining and exploring that again in the future; the former, another really great example of songwriting about inner conflict, being the problem, and more. But no, the track that stole my heart and finally made me the huge fan of Olivia Rodrigo that I am today was stranger.
It didn’t happen immediately, either; it took until around October for it to connect to the degree that it does now. But when it did, my God, everything about it felt perfect.
To be honest, it’s down to relatability again; there was also a day for me when I woke up, and suddenly I felt differently than I had before; and that allowed this song to seep right into the most profound corners of my soul and fill any remaining cracks that may have still been there.
stranger is a little different sonically than a lot of Olivia’s other music; it’s a soft, gentle acoustic guitar folk-pop song, with the fairly minimal instrumentation allowing the vocals to take center stage. The vocals themselves are fairly subtle too, but my god are they pretty; the layered harmonies on the chorus in particular are absolutely gorgeous. This sound works so well for her that it genuinely left me torn as to whether I want her to make more rock songs or more things that sound like stranger, which says a lot, because the rock elements are one of the things I love most about Olivia’s music. The songwriting is really gold-standard singer-songwriter stuff, with trademark vivid imagery of simple situations all throughout, mixed in with the narrative of the song:
I woke up this mornin' and I sat up straight in bed
I had the strangest feeling of this weight off of my chest
I hadn't felt that hopeful since the day that you left
And it felt nice, so nice
<…>
Made a pot of coffee and I poured myself a cup
I thought of all the things I did to try and win your love
- Olivia Rodrigo, stranger
Plus, of course, there’s a lot of lines that have stuck in my heart permanently. The big, memorable line of the song hits very hard, again playing on a juxtaposition incredibly well:
You're just a stranger I know everything about
- Olivia Rodrigo, stranger
But there’s many more, too:
And everybody told me it would happen in time
The fire would burn out and all the storm clouds'd subside
And I always believed that it was some comforting lie
<…>
I was half myself without you and now I feel so complete
And I can't even remember what made me lose all that sleep
<…>
You are the best thing that I'll ever keep so far out of my life
<…>
There's nothin' left for me to know
I had to stay, you had to go
And it was mean, but it doesn't matter anymore, though
- Olivia Rodrigo, stranger
Another of my favorite things about this song, though, is how amicable and at peace it is. There’s no ill will, no bitterness, no spite - just measured, mature acceptance. It’s not even fully moving on - she recognizes she still has affection for this person who is no longer in her life; but at the same time, she also recognizes that it’s not going to work out, and that’s fine - it’s best for both of them for them to be apart. It feels like such a full-circle moment on a lot of the things she wrote on SOUR, and like such a satisfying sign of artistic and personal evolution.
CONCLUSION
Olivia Rodrigo is one of the most distinctive and special artists to enter the pop music landscape in recent years. Her at times raw and confessional, and always engaging and sincere songwriting style, unapologetic lean into rock elements inspired largely by the 2000s, and captivating personality make her a unique presence in the music industry, and, in my personal (extremely biased) opinion, the best pop artist of the 2020s so far. Plus, as snobbish as a lot of people in the pop-punk and general rock scene tend to be, I believe she’s played a huge part in reviving certain musical elements that many of us considered to be long-gone, which, as a musician in that genre myself, I am extremely grateful to her for.
On a personal level, her songs have offered me a great deal of comfort in good and bad moments alike. She’s a big inspiration to me, both as a performer and songwriter, and as a public figure, due to the ways she’s regularly used her platform for good. Today is also her 22nd birthday. So, this is all to say, happy birthday, Olivia. And thank you.
That’s a wrap on part 3 of “the magic of”. This one turned out significantly longer, because I did a semi-deep dive and didn’t just cover a single album. If you’ve read this far, thank you so much for indulging my impassioned raving about music I love. I don’t think I’m gonna post again this week, because this post has taken a lot of my time and effort, but I’ll be back next week for sure. Not sure what it’ll be with, but time will tell. Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend, and stream all the music mentioned in this essay!
celebration of pop is what i want to see!!! thank youuu
She’s my favorite artist ever