By: Selena C. Thao
I went through Olivia Rodrigo’s new album and tried to describe her songs and what they thought they meant. I have included parts where she has said certain things about the songs themselves.
- Drop Dead
The song “Drop Dead” sounds like it’s about a girl who falls head over heels about another person in the early honeymoon phase. She expresses how she feels about the person by asking multiple questions and how she always pictured them standing together. She even mentions how she “stalked” them on the internet and made them up in her head, as if she was being delusional and again, head over heels.
- Stupid Song
The song “Stupid Song” sounds like she expresses her overwhelmed feelings for someone new. Perhaps she hasn’t felt like this in so long and now she’s finally unraveling into someone new. In her lyrics she says, “You should feel how I feel when somebody says your name.” Meaning she most likely wants this person to feel how she feels and reciprocate their feelings back. She even says, “And I want you more than any stupid song could ever say.” Which definitely means that her feeling for this person are so big that it’s indescribable, which is a very overwhelming feeling. It’s like saying, “I like/love you so much, that words can’t even describe my feelings for you.”
- Honeybee
The song “Honeybee” is about how a girl feels so deeply for someone that you overthink the fear of losing them. In her lyrics she sings, “And I hope I never see what your face looks like going.” And even says, “I love you, baby, I promise.” The lyrics have such underlying fear and attachment. She even “cheers” and hoping, hoping that this specific person will stay with her forever.
- Maggots For Brains
This song is quite different from the others. Instead of feeling an overwhelming feeling of losing, she feels overwhelmed by being far from her loved one. She mentions how she tried to write but her mind was blank. It’s a song of feeling bored when your partner isn’t around and they’re the only thing you’re thinking about. She even uses metaphors like, “I’m a zombie in my body.” And “I’m a train off of the track.” Which probably means that when her partner is away, she’s feeling like the boredom is eating her slowly; and that’s when the title steps in, ‘Maggots For Brains’ because they eat your insides.
- U + Me = ❤
“U + Me = <3” is about the relationship between two best friends who treat each other as if they were in a relationship. To me it sounds like this song is a “friends with benefits” trope. There’s not much to this song other than a fun relationship between two people.
- My Way
“My Way” is about confronting another female acquaintance, or ex-flame, who is crossing relationship boundaries and lingering around her partner. She mentioned how this person continuously contacts her partner and sends them love letters, love text and tries to shoot their shot. In her song, she uses words like “take a hint” and says, “You’re posting another pic, and closing a note of his,” which shows her possession over her partner. “And some girl stepped over and the girl is you, yeah. You are in my way now.” which probably means that this person has stepped over boundaries and is trying to get in the way of her relationship.
- Purple
“Purple” is about the loss of individuality, codependency, and the hurtful unraveling of an all consuming relationship. Olivia uses words like “red” meaning passion and “love”, and “blue” meaning sadness and longing. She mentions how she drives or walks past his town and feels like a tourist. The familiarity and recognition only hurts her from past experiences and moments.
- The Cure
This song has quite a heavy meaning. It’s about the realization that falling in love cannot cure your internal insecurities or mental health issues. Olivia, herself explains that this song is mainly targeted towards younger adults that struggle with their own personal problems but block it off with love and even lust. Most young adults think that falling in love with the ‘right’ person will magically cure all of their personal problems and self-doubt, when really that isn’t the case. There’s this saying, “You can’t love others until you love yourself.” And that’s when half of the first verse comes up, “All the pretty girls in the foreground of my mind. I thought I’d be enough, but they keep moving the line.” It seems as if she’s so insecure and overthinking the fact that these other girls are so attractive, which only brings down her confidence but increases her self-doubt. In the chorus she sings, “But my head is full of poison and my heart is full of doubt. I got toxins in my bloodstream. You tried hard to suck out. And it feels like medication and it’s good for me I’m sure but it don’t matter how your love feels anymore; it’ll never be the cure.” She realizes that the love she is receiving cannot be reciprocated due to her self-doubt and low self-esteem.
- Begged
The song “Begged” is about how you could want someone so deeply, yet beg for the bare minimum. She mentions how she’s patiently waiting for this person to step up and show her the love she wants, yet they make no move. Olivia explains that fancy trips or big romantic efforts don’t really matter if you have to ask for it. It’s the art of ‘noticing’ that makes it so special and romantic. “So I’m cool and forgiving, I’ll take what you’re giving.” It looks like this person continuously makes mistakes and doesn’t even try to show her love and passion but she just takes it anyway because she genuinely likes this person.
- What’s Wrong With Me
“What’s Wrong With Me” is about how she realizes that she’s miserable because of her romantic relationship and causes them to blame one another and distress between two people. She mentions how she always has a headache and says that she’s ’in love’ but for some reason she just can’t admit it and to follow up she sings, “I think you’re what’s wrong with me.” Which most definitely means that this person doesn’t do anything that benefits her; yet she just cannot bring herself to leave them.
- Less
The song “Less” is about a painful, failing relationship and its sorrowful end. She mentions many times how she wished the person would’ve loved her less and didn’t let her in so easily. When she sings, “You say you can’t stand to watch me cry a minute more. So you do the noble thing and open up the door.” It sounds like this specific person was willing to listen to her and give her the love and affection she wanted but due to her low self-esteem, the person probably gave up in a bitter way. But she also mentions she would try convincing them that her overwhelming thoughts are just her “intrusive thoughts” but in the end of her song she sings “If loving me means saying ‘Babe, I think this is the end.’ Well I guess; I wish, I wish, I wish you loved me less.” As if she was praying and wishing things didn’t turn out the way they did.
- Expectations
“Expectations” is about self-mockery and poking at her own dating patterns after splitting from her ex. The song gives off vibes like self-awareness and comedy where she pokes fun at claiming to have high standards while frequently ending up with men who fall short. She mentions how this guy claims that he has a perfect life and that he buys things for himself, but after a few months, she realizes that he’s nothing but a fake. She says that she’s secure, but because of her past relationships being so ‘low quality’ she makes jokes off of it. Saying, “These days I’ve got expectations. So I hit the new year like a single girl out of a Vegas bar.” She also mentions that she will be adored by whoever, which just shows her cockiness and confidence.
- Cigarette Smoke
“Cigarette Smoke” is about the lingering heartbreak and regret after losing someone that was so special to you. It’s almost as if she feels their presence like a lingering smoke or smell from a cigarette. The bitter realization that a relationship was nothing but a performance that one person suddenly stopped playing along with. “I thought that we played the perfect couple till you didn’t want the part,” is one of the most famous lyrics from this album and from this song. Because of these lyrics people say that person treated their relationship like a play where both people acted out and shared a script until the partner abruptly checked out. She mentioned the song about how much she regrets staying so long with that person and resenting her ex for lacking bravery and taking someone else’s side— “I resent you for not being brave. I resent you for taking her side,” which probably means that during this relationship, the person had another partner or friendship that obviously meant more to them other than his actual partner. “Cigarette Smoke” represents thoughts, memories, and emotional residue that linger in the air after our relationship has ended.
