By Scout Nicholson / The Jambar
Pop princess and singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo has topped the charts once again with her junior album, “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love” released in June, which showcases emotions she felt throughout the duration of a romantic relationship.
The album follows a timeline, starting with Rodrigo’s giddy, love-struck feelings, then transitioning into a more sorrowful tone towards the end of the relationship.
In an interview with Dazed, Rodrigo said the album details her first adult relationship and how it exposed things about herself she’s never seen before.
“I’ve been in relationships before that were really exciting and tumultuous in a teenage way, but this was my first time being in a real, ‘big girl,’ relationship,” Rodrigo said in the interview. “When you’re in an intimate relationship, it holds up a mirror and shows you parts of yourself that you would never normally see.”
What makes Rodrigo’s music so enticing is its relatability. Almost everyone has experienced the honeymoon stage of a relationship, which often turns sour and melancholic. It helps listeners realise this popstar experiences heartbreak just like everyone else.
The album begins with “drop dead,” Rodrigo’s first single released two months prior to the album’s release. The song features a synth-pop sound, with a catchy, breathy chorus. Rodrigo then switches into a fast-paced dialogue, showcasing her excitement during the early stages of her relationship.
Rodrigo slows down with the album’s second track, “stupid song,” making the song feel more intimate, before the latter half becomes more upbeat. In a podcast from The New York Times, Rodrigo said the song was inspired by how love can make someone insane.
“I was really inspired by all of the ways in which love makes you insane and miserable. I think that there’s a lot more to mine there than, ‘Yay, oh my God, he’s so hot, he loves me,’” Rodrigo said in the podcast.
The gentleness of the third track, “honeybee” showcases the tenderness of her love, while the fourth track, “maggots for brains,” flips 180 degrees back to Rodrigo’s pop sound, focusing on her overdependence in the relationship.
Rodrigo’s second single and eighth track titled “the cure” has reached over 500 million Spotify streams. The song details how Rodrigo thought the relationship would fix her problems, her partner being the “antidote.”
Lyrics such as, “My head is full of poison and my heart is full of doubt/I got toxins in my bloodstream you tried hard to suck them out,” details how this love of hers will never be the cure.
The latter half of the album reflects on Rodrigo’s self doubts in the relationship, with songs like “begged,” “less” and “what’s wrong with me,” which features Robert Smith, vocalist and guitarist for The Cure.
Rodrigo ends with an acoustic track titled “cigarette smoke,” a yearnful, melancholic song, that states she has regrets and is resentful of her ex.
Rodrigo is currently on the Unraveled Tour for the album, where she’ll be stopping in Columbus on Oct. 29-30, performing at Schottenstein Center.