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Olivia Rodrigo chronicles her first \u201cbig girl relationship\u201d on You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love. <\/p>\n
Olivia Rodrigo, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love<\/p>\n
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Olivia Rodrigo\u2019s origin story is familiar: child Disney star pivots effortlessly to pop, with the modern addendum of a TikTok hit helping her ricochet to the top of the charts. Three albums in, Rodrigo is the only star in history to top the Billboard charts with three consecutive lead singles, an outrageous accomplishment for a 23-year-old.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a testament to the uniform quality of her work so far \u2013 evergreen love\/friendship\/identity angst made compelling through Swiftian lyrical specificity, influence-checking, superbly crafted pop and a rebellious streak that comes with a fascinating set of contradictions.<\/p>\n
Her dark horse qualities are recognisable to mature fans who relate, but well-disguised enough to sail over the heads of her tween admirers. When some try to describe her pop as punky, they\u2019re met with sneers from those who view Rodrigo as a manufactured star, a product of the machine. But as one of the highest profile entertainers in the world to speak out on everything from reproductive rights to Gaza, Rodrigo is nobody\u2019s puppet.<\/p>\n
On albums one and two, Rodrigo pined and seethed with equal intensity. Her heady crushes were all-encompassing, but on tracks such as Traitor, All-American Bitch and Vampire, she was out for blood. If Sour and Guts spelled out a mood with a single word, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love reflects a more complicated emotional landscape.<\/p>\n
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The 23-year-old singer is less rageful and more wistful on her new album. <\/p>\n
The story of her first \u201cbig girl relationship\u201d, its bright beginnings and unravelling, were chronicled in real time. Set to melodies less rageful and more wistful, the songs were rendered \u201ca little more honest and sad and creepy\u201d with the help of longtime producer Dan Nigro, a favourite among stormy chanteuses from Sky Ferreira to Caroline Polachek and Chappell Roan.<\/p>\n
Early in her career, Rodrigo was effusive in her admiration of Taylor Swift, who likewise championed the younger singer \u2013 until Rodrigo\u2019s frankness about her inspirations saw Swift, Jack Antonoff and Annie Clark added to songwriting credits (and future royalty cheques) on Sour. By all accounts, Rodrigo and Swift have not been on friendly terms since. The experience clearly wounded Rodrigo but has made her more, not less, forthcoming about what\u2019s in her musical DNA.<\/p>\n
In a series of respectful, mutually admiring appearances, she\u2019s shared stages with idols including Jack White, David Byrne, and at last year\u2019s Glastonbury, The Cure\u2019s Robert Smith. On You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, she name-checks Just Like Heaven in the dreamy Drop Dead, describing the dizzying experience of a crush finally realised \u2013 at the bar.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The spooky bass line that kicks off Maggots for Brains owes a clear debt to The Cure\u2019s A Forest, but the lyrics are considerably weaker, barring the wincingly honest, \u201cI\u2019m a sad shell of a woman and I\u2019ve got maggots for brains\/But that\u2019s just a thing that happens when my baby goes away.\u201d<\/p>\n
If What\u2019s Wrong with Me seems a fittingly titled track for emo icon Smith to appear on, his vocal turn is a charming surprise. Harmonising with Rodrigo on the countrified chorus, his verse inverts decades of yearning to reach a new, equally miserable conclusion: \u201cWhat if this isn\u2019t what I want?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Rodrigo\u2019s lyrics are intriguing; sometimes banal, but often their mundanity serves a standout line that echoes hours \u2013 or days \u2013 later, or is elevated by a searing delivery and arrangements nimble and wily enough to bestow profundity or wonder. A low, dirty bass line wriggles into the final third of Stupid Song like a delicious rumour; on Expectations, where Rodrigo asserts new standards following her relationship\u2019s demise, whirling synths foreshadow a chorus of masculine robots in the bridge evoking the deadpan whimsy of Devo.<\/p>\n
Related Article There\u2019s no hiding Rodrigo\u2019s magpie tendencies. On Drop Dead, it\u2019s a spoken word starry-eyed fantasy sequence modelled after Wolf Alice\u2019s Don\u2019t Delete the Kisses. Alanis Morissette\u2019s spare, tortured vocal in Your House (the hidden track on Jagged Little Pill) might have inspired Rodrigo\u2019s delivery in Begged, while The Smashing Pumpkins\u2019 Disarm can be heard in the opening chords of The Cure. It\u2019s a spellbinding song and the album\u2019s most devastating, a realisation that not even love will quell her jealousy of \u201call the pretty girls in the foreground of my mind\u201d.<\/p>\n Rodrigo says the track is not an ode to Smith\u2019s band, but it\u2019s kind of nice to think otherwise. Its defining line functions as a double entendre befitting one of pop\u2019s biggest fangirls: \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter how your love feels any more\/it will never be the cure,\u201d she sings. Romance might fade, but perfect pop songs are eternal.<\/p>\n To read more from Spectrum, visit our page here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"\u201cI\u2019ve](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1781346981_369_eefbd00d833f32e356aece8f64cedb468d2ec279.jpeg\")
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