Photo Credit: Geffen Records via The Hollywood Reporter
Pop artist Olivia Rodrigo released her third studio album on June 12 this year. The album, titled You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, and all 13 tracks on her album reached top 30 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The album itself is a blend of pop rock and dream pop genres, and the songs’ meanings reflect the album name well. The album combines two relatable themes: heartbreak and emotional pain (“You Seem Pretty Sad”), and the feeling of being infatuated and in love (“A Girl So in Love”). Rodrigo’s newest album reveals the tale of a relationship in chronological order.
The lead single of the album, Drop Dead, has amassed over 578 million streams on Spotify as of Oct. 22. The song starts the album off with a bang, describing the feeling of excitement in a new relationship, with Rodrigo’s lyric, “The most alive I’ve ever been, kiss me and I might drop dead.” The song is pop rock along with most of her album, including a mash of strings, guitar, drums, and upbeat synth.
The music video is colour-graded, and filmed and edited in a style that gives a 1990s or 2000s vibe. It was also filmed at the Palace of Versailles, making it stand out from other music videos.
Another popular single is The Cure. The way the music video was produced is quite unique, being a mix of real-time filming and stop motion. The song cleverly ties disease cures with heartbreak cures, with lyrics like, “I’ve got toxins in my bloodstream you tried so hard to suck out,” and “It don’t matter how your love feels anymore/it’ll never be the cure.”
Stupid Song is also one of the most listened-to songs of the album. It starts off quiet and somber, but gradually becomes louder. The music video features ballet dancers from the New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, who play important roles in controlling the aesthetic of the video.
In the album, Rodrigo makes multiple allusions to her own songs. For example, in U + Me = <3 when she says, “but I got a feeling wounds are healing, talking on the phone.” This line is an allusion to another song in the album, Honeybee, that goes, “Time can heal even the worst of wounds.”
A popular fan theory arose about U + Me = <3 as well. The theory suggests that the ‘u’ (you) in the title is referring to her ex, Louis Partridge, whose first initial is L. The ‘me’ would then be Rodrigo herself, whose initial is O, and <3 would translate to VE. Put together, the title would be L + O = VE, spelling out LOVE. However, there has been no confirmation that this is true.
Expectations is a very catchy song, and it gets better the longer you listen to it. At one point, Rodrigo sings, “I won’t settle for a guy with a fake job.” This refers to when she briefly tried a celebrity dating app called Raya.
“I didn’t even see anyone cool! I thought I would see, like, ooh, some really hot actor guy. I don’t even know any of these people… It’s [always] some weird ‘creative director,’” Rodrigo said during an interview with Vogue.
If you prefer melancholic or soft sad songs, you’d probably like Honeybee, Begged, or The Cure. If you like Rodrigo’s typical style, you’ll probably like Drop Dead, Stupid Song or Maggots for Brains.