Featured Photo by Olivia Rodrigo
Story by Maddy Williams
Olivia Rodrigo released a new album this month, and it’s all the rave. Her debut album came out in 2021, and both albums have reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts.
“GUTS” is a much more mature album, showing her progression as an artist. Similar to “SOUR,” the album cover has a purple background, Rodrigo’s signature color, and many of the songs are breakup related.
Two singles came out ahead of the album, starting with the song “vampire.” This song is about getting out of a toxic relationship. Rodrigo even writes, “I’ve made some real big mistakes, but you make the worst one look fine.”
She compares her ex to a bloodsucking vampire who made her feel drained and ashamed to have loved him. She even says that girls his age knew better than to date him, implying that she was taken advantage of since she was young.
This song immediately went viral, especially on TikTok. Her next single also went viral on TikTok. “Bad idea right?” was a trending audio for quite a while after it was released.
This song is much more upbeat and fits her pop genre to a tee. This track talks about going to your ex’s new place after a period of no contact. She writes about keeping it a secret from her friends and how despite it being a bad idea, she’s still in love with him.
The first track on the album is about how Rodrigo exemplifies all the qualities of an all-american girl. Despite the obvious irony of this song, Rodrigo mentions popular American symbols, such as the Kennedys and coca-cola.
Rodrigo critiques the societal standards for women and American ideals when she writes phrases such as, “perfect all-american lips and perfect all-american hips” and “I’m alright with the movies that make jokes ‘bout senseless cruelty.”
She finishes the song with an audio of her screaming, which also became a trending audio on TikTok.
After the two singles, the fourth track on the album is “lacy.” This is assumed to be written about one of Rodrigo’s best friends or idols. She refers to Lacy as an angel who is the “sweetest thing on this side of hell.”
Many fans speculate that this might be about Taylor Swift, Madison Beer or even Sabrina Carpenter. Rodrigo, however, said she’d never release who her songs were written about.
After “lacy” follows “ballad of a homeschool girl.” She sings about the awkwardness of growing up and living down awkward social situations. She describes these moments as “social suicide.”
Then comes the sweet but sad song “making the bed.” Many people speculate that this song relates back to the popular phrase, “you’ve made your bed, now lie in it.”
Rodrigo describes in her song that she’s the one who’s left making the bed. This to me sounds like Rodrigo feels alone and overwhelmed by her life at times, which is a popular feeling for everyone, making it an easy song to relate to.
She says “sometimes I feel like I don’t wanna be where I am,” which further solidifies the idea that in life, you’ll have regrets and question the way your life is turning out. While this song is sad, it’s deeply relatable for many people.
Next comes “logical.” This song is about losing your sense of logic when you fall in love with the wrong person. She talks about being manipulated and wanting to change the man she loves.
She sings, “two plus two equals five, and I’m the love of your life,” which reveals that she has to come to terms with the lies her ex told her. She mentions that her ex held arguments over her head and brought up girls he’d rather be dating.
She writes, “love is never logical,” and sings about regretting not ending the relationship sooner.
“Get him back!” is next, and this song is about the contradictions you feel when going through a breakup. Rodrigo describes this man as one she’d frequently party and travel with but who also flirted with her friends.
She sings, “I wanna key his car. I wanna make him lunch. I wanna break his heart then be the one to stitch it up.” This reveals many of the different, conflicting emotions most people have when going through heartbreak.
The ninth song on “GUTS” is “love is embarrassing.” This song is about Rodrigo falling for guys who don’t treat her fairly. She describes love as embarrassing because the guys aren’t worth the pain she experiences from falling for them.
She sings, “just watch as I crucify myself for some weird second-string loser who’s not worth mentioning.” This song is extremely relatable for many young women who’ve fallen for the wrong guys.
“The grudge” is the next track, and it’s another breakup song. She writes, “and I hear your voice every time that I think I’m not enough, and I try to be tough, but I wanna scream. How could anybody do the things you did so easily?”
Rodrigo sings about trying to let go of her ex, but she can’t escape the hurt she experienced from the relationship. This is another relatable breakup song for girls getting out of toxic relationships.
“Pretty isn’t pretty” is about feeling uncomfortable in your skin. Rodrigo talks about buying new makeup, skipping meals and sweets, and wanting to change her body. She sings, “when pretty isn’t pretty enough, what do you do?”
This song deals with many popular insecurities for young women that derive from social media, magazines, boys, etcetera, as mentioned in Rodrigo’s song.
“Teenage dream” is the final song on “GUTS.” This song talks about the anxiety that comes with growing up and leaving your teenage years behind.
She writes, “got your whole life ahead of you, you’re only nineteen.” She follows that with the fear that she’s already peaked.
My favorite line from the song is “they all say that it gets better, it gets better, but what if I don’t?” I think this is a popular fear for many people as they grow up, enter adulthood, and face the unknown of what their life will become.
Overall, “GUTS” was an incredible album and did not disappoint. “SOUR” is a hard album to live up to, but Rodrigo did just that.
