Sour Love and Sad Songs

In the dead of winter, over a year ago, I discovered Olivia Rodrigo. My first semester of college had just ended, so, naturally, I found new TV shows to indulge. Embarrassingly enough, I was attracted to High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. Olivia Rodrigo stars alongside Joshua Bassett in the show which expands the HSM universe created by Kenny Ortega. The music was most appealing to me, and I had “Wondering” and “All I Want” on repeat for months. Rodrigo’s voice was enchanting. She was what my sixteen-year-old self wanted to be. Without fail, her words translated into goosebumps on my arms. I was disappointed to learn she only had those couple of songs. So, I overplayed her songs from HSMTMTS until I knew them by heart.

Thus, Rodrigo’s announcement of her debut album, Sour, excited me. Sour consists of ten tracks that illustrate the gut-wrenching pain of teenage heartbreak. Prior to her album release, she dropped three singles from Sour, all of which currently sit on Billboard’s Hot 100 (along with every other song on her album). Sour finds its success with a variety of audiences, not just teenage girls.

Released four months after her hit single “drivers license,” Sour takes listeners on an all-too-familiar journey of love turning, well, sour. Each song assembles another piece of her broken love story, which is rumored to be about her break-up with HSMTMTS costar, Joshua Bassett. Bassett released three singles and an EP as well, which some fans believe tell his side of their love story. As a twenty-year-old, it is shameful to admit how invested I was in their drama, but can you blame me? They both are so young and were so in love, writing songs for each other as if their lives were romantic comedies.

I’ve never experienced the heartbreak Rodrigo sings about, but that does not make her any less relatable. Many of her fans have also likely not experienced heartbreak, as she tallies a fanbase with many young teenage girls. The power in Rodrigo’s words is not in its relatability but rather in its vulnerability.

“drivers license” is the simplest example, as it is the most well-known song from Sour. Immediately, the audience is drawn in by the familiar tone of a seatbelt warning, which metamorphoses into repeated piano chords. Rodrigo’s breathiness in her verses mimic the emotional strain of her lost love. But, the chorus expands on the true range of this power ballad. Her lyrics are not complicated, but I don’t think they are meant to be. They are meant to show her pain.

There are several lines in this song that strike me, but I’ll only select a few. “'Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street” is a simple but delicate line. It concludes the chorus in a heartbreaking, but powerful way. I can feel the hurt in her words as she sings “forever” and picture her loneliness as the melody fades out. This line repeats five times throughout the song, cementing strongly in the listener’s mind. The chorus builds with piano and more sound effects, but this line ends with almost no instruments in the background, focusing only on Rodrigo’s words. This breathy, melancholic resolution to the chorus strikes a deeper nerve, forcing listeners to sit with the words in near silence.

At the beginning of the second verse, Rodrigo also sings:

“And all my friends are tired

Of hearing how much I miss you, but

I kinda feel sorry for them

'Cause they'll never know you the way that I do, yeah.”

These lines are equally important because they demonstrate the multifaceted aspects of losing love. Friends are often involved, invested, and opinionated. Rodrigo outlines in many songs how her ex treated her poorly, a phenomenon likely observed by her friends. Rodrigo’s break-up may have been unsurprising for some friends, leading to a collective “tired” feeling.

The latter half of the second verse is more interesting to me, though. Friends and family members naturally have opinions about one’s partner. Assumptions are often formed about a relationship, but only the individuals in the relationship know how their dynamic works. Friends could have an idea. Family members could observe and see. But, they will never truly know the relationship at its core. I appreciated her wording in “drivers license” because I think it is not discussed enough for relationships.

Because of her enormous success with “drivers license”, I expected many of the songs on Sour to emulate the melancholic, ethereal production of this single. Yet, there was a great diversity to Sour. Some songs did indeed mirror the heartbreak sampled from “drivers license,” such as “traitor”, “enough for you”, and “favorite crime.” Of this trio, “traitor” was my favorite. Every line sat with me like a weight on my chest but, the ending of the chorus amplified the pain of every other lyric in this song:

“It took you two weeks

To go off and date her

Guess you didn’t cheat

But you're still a traitor”

It is such a gutting ending to a gutting song. After listening to this song for the first time, I sat with myself, replaying her words again in my head as if I experienced the same heartbreak she just detailed.

Other tracks are more upbeat, blending pop-punk and alternative rock. “brutal”, “good 4 u”, and “jealousy, jealousy” are the best examples. Although I loved all of these songs, I think “brutal” is especially interesting because it bridges the difficulties of the music industry and being a teenager. “brutal” begins with a soft, light violin, but transforms into a grunge rock masterpiece when the drums and guitars kick in. The turbulent struggles of being a teenager are outlined in this song. Rodrigo highlights this by saying she is “insecure” and “anxious,” plights many teenagers struggle with today. Her struggles, however, are exacerbated by the music industry, which is infamous for its exploitation of young stars, especially young girls. Growing up as a child on Disney Channel, she is well-aware of how the industry views her as a profiteering pawn. That doesn’t stop her from wanting to “quit [her] job” and “start a new life.”

All of these songs show how Rodrigo uses vulnerability to her greatest advantage. Being vulnerable is not an easy feat, but Rodrigo makes it look effortless. Sour digs up deep-rooted, messy, painful emotions that would be hard for anyone to digest. Emotions are even harder to translate into song, but that drives Rodrigo’s success. She writes emotions down on paper, some emotions I couldn’t even name. Her strength in songwriting is seemingly unmatched with other artists of her age which is why I was baffled when she received intense hate online.

I spend way too much time on Twitter (a fatal flaw, I know), and all too many people spoke negatively about Olivia Rodrigo. Critics are expected for anyone famous, and the diatribe only expands as fame grows. This trend is not unusual. However, as detailed in “brutal”, teen girls who rise to fame are often rapidly exploited by their industry. But, her hate seems wildly undeserved. Not only is she still a teenager (she’s eighteen!!!), but she can also write songs, sing in a variety of different genres, and has shattered records with her singles and debut album. After “drivers license”, Twitter buzzed with talk of Rodrigo becoming another teen “one-hit-wonder.” They could not have been more wrong.

I won’t compare her to other singers, say she is the next Taylor Swift, or call her a one-hit-wonder. She doesn’t have to be compared because she is paving her own future, her own path, and her own story. Olivia Rodrigo is a name we will not soon forget. With an album like Sour, her music will be one to remember.

By Anjali Chanda

Writer, dog lover, and hopeless romantic