The teenage girlness relatability of Olivia Rodrigo

by Simone Gonzalez

If you are not greatly anticipating the release of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Guts” this month, you will (at least) definitely hear about it. Without a doubt, fans will go crazy as the songs trend on TikTok and music icons (will most likely) praise her for her work yet again. As Olivia sings a song or two on the Tonight Show or perhaps another late-night show, she’ll announce a tour shortly after that everyone will hope to attend (she has hinted at a “Guts” tour in multiple interviews). As a mirror of Olivia’s success when she debuted as an artist for the first time, Olivia Rodrigo will have people feeling seen, nostalgic, and desperate for more.

Let’s start at the beginning, the very beginning. Olivia’s parents raised her on her parents' favorite alternative rock music as she was being homeschooled. Rodrigo often heard bands such as No Doubt, Pearl Jam, the White Stripes, and Green Day in her house. Additionally, her parents put her in piano lessons when she was little. Despite her hating it at first, Olivia started taking acting and vocal lessons when she was only in kindergarten.

Olivia Rodrigo has never been shy about the music she loves and expressing herself through music. The most loyal fans of hers can remember when she would write songs, take videos of her singing them, and post them on her Instagram. Songs like “Apocalyptic Crush” and “White Flowers” caught the eyes of her growing following as she was on the Disney Channel Series “High School Musical: The Musical The Series”. As Rodrigo was shamelessly posting songs about love, she was creating a foundational group of fans that related to her. This small group of foundational fans formed into a fandom for the first time when Olivia’s song “All I Want” (that she wrote by herself and revised many times) was used in “High School Musical: The Musical The Series”. “All I Want” has been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and is titled Olivia’s breakout hit and as the most successful song from “High School Musical: The Musical The Series”. When it comes to the relatability of this song, lines such as “All I want is a good guy are my expectations far too high?” and “All I have is myself at the end of the day”, definitely many young girls who were already watching “High School Musical: The Musical The Series” loved the song instantly. “All I Want” is also a powerful piano ballad that gravitationally pulled people into Olivia’s talent and soon enough, those people would hear her hit single “Driver’s License” and be sold for good.

Olivia’s relatability and authentic storytelling in her music come from the bluntness in her lyrics most of all. Even in one of Olivia’s latest interviews with Phoebe Bridgers, Olivia acknowledges her fan base is made up of young people by agreeing with Phoebe that she “takes them seriously”. As Phoebe is saying, young people felt seen with Olivia’s hit single “Driver’s License”.

We can all agree that “Driver’s License” is a good song. Driver’s license is catchy, well-written, and well-produced. Shortly after “Driver’s License” was called the breakout song of the year by many, Olivia spoke on writing “Drivers License”. After a good cry in her own car, not long after she got her actual license, she came up with the idea and began singing in her voice memos app. Olivia shared unheard voice memos and demo recordings from throughout the process and shared she brought a sketch of the piano ballad to her producer and co-writer Daniel Nigro. Soon after that, “Driver’s License” was on radios all over the country.

A big part of the teenage girl experience is heartbreak. A song about heartbreak and the more specific the better can help heal a girl’s broken heart. “Driver’s License” is the perfect song that can do it all. When angry, a girl can belt “And I know we weren’t perfect but I’ve never felt this way for no one”. When sad and devastated, a girl can scream-sing “And I just can't imagine how you could be so okay now that I'm gone. Guess you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me. Cause you said forever now I drive alone past your street”. Even when jealous or insecure, fans can lean into the lyric “And you're probably with that blonde girl who always made me doubt. She's so much older than me. She's everything I'm insecure about”. This lyric sparked made-up rumors that “Driver’s License” was about Joshua Basset and Sabrina Carpenter dating after she and Joshua Bassett allegedly had dated. When everyone asked Olivia for her opinion on the matter she didn’t say much except “I don’t really subscribe to hating other women because of boys. I think that’s so stupid, and I really resent that narrative that was being tossed around.” Nonetheless, thousands of Tik Tok videos were made supporting these rumors and people became obsessed with this drama over the course of the pandemic. Of course, this only made “Driver’s License” a bigger song than it already was.

As proven, “Driver’s License” is and was such a groundbreaking song because of it’s shocking and groundbreaking element of relatability (coming from her lyrics most of all as I stated). Especially for those who do not know of Olivia’s acting in the Disney Channel Show “Bizaardvark”, people listening for the first time found it easy to empathize with Olivia because they too have been in that place of true heartbreak. Plus, as much as it’s easy for teenage girls to relate to the song, Olivia has received the support of millennials and older generations. The following paragraph written by Natalie Gontcharova explains it best.

“While some millennials are embarrassed that they enjoy “Gen Z” music, it’s worth pointing out that many of us listened to the music of singer-songwriters who were much older than us when we were younger, without shame. Which leads me to a theory: Millennials are really turning to Olivia Rodrigo because many of us spent our middle and high school years listening to either male artists who didn’t fully speak to our experiences or women singer-songwriters who were considerably older than us. Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill came out when I was 10, and I remember opening the lyrics jacket on the cassette tape and asking my mom to read through it with me and explain what she was singing about. (“Well, it seems like she still loves her ex-boyfriend, but she also seems angry at him?”) I listened to Fiona Apple’s “Never Is A Promise” on repeat specifically because I knew she wrote it when she was just 16, even though Tidal came out a few years later. Tori Amos was in her late 30s by the time I wore out Little Earthquakes. These were women whose life experiences I was both in awe of and terrified by, who described worlds where I had never ventured and feelings I hadn’t yet fully tapped into.”

Olivia Rodrigo in her music video for “Driver’s License”.

As people everywhere doubted Olivia’s success rate, she came out with “deja vu”, song teenage girls immediately made tik toks to. In “deja vu”, Olivia mentions the hit show “Glee” which is already a fan favorite amongst millennials and Gen Z. This kind of simple lyric is why fans of all ages gravitate towards Rodrigo. Yet again, Olivia’s lyrics are the most unique part of the song. Blatantly, Olivia sings “I bet she's bragging, to all her friends, saying you're so unique, hmm”. Over an indie-inspired production and beat, Olivia belts:

“So when you gonna tell her

That we did that, too?

She thinks it's special

But it's all reused

That was our place, I found it first

I made the jokes you tell to her when she's with you

Do you get déjà vu when she's with you?”

Other than “deja vu” becoming Tik Tok viral, “deja vu” is proof that Olivia writes lyrics that effortlessly speak to specific moments and memories which is what makes her so relatable, her specific memories turned into well-written songs. I’m sure that Olivia will continue to do this throughout her entire career. In “deja vu” Olivia’s specific memory of watching an ex share what he shared with you to with someone new has happened to everyone in their life at some point. However, it’s about how Olivia writes about that universal experience that fans connect to the most.

Olivia Rodrigo in her music video for “deja vu”

Olivia’s creative self-expression was released to us in bursting neon colors matched with a solid purple (more of Olivia’s aesthetic here on her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oliviarodrigo/?hl=en). Along with butterflies symbolizing Olivia’s growth and stickers that represented just how young and youthful she is, fans gravitated toward her girliness and punk boldness that seamlessly complimented one another. Rodrigo only took things up a notch further by putting out “Sour Prom” and her documentary “driving home 2 u”. By asking one of her own fans to go to prom with her (after also never attending prom herself before Sour Prom), Olivia helped thousands of young people attend prom live on YouTube. In this way, Olivia tied herself to her fans in a extremely specific experience. Prom has always been the high school event we’re all excited about in senior year. Adding music that fans already adore to an event even Courtney Love gave her blessing for (after Courtney had called out Olivia for similarities in one of her pictures on Instagram being close to the image on one of her albums featuring her band “Hole)” Olivia gained the attention, love and support of young people all over the world who watched her prom livestream. A performance of a fan favorite “Jealousy Jealousy” went viral as Olivia sang other songs off of “Sour” while being surrounded by what you would expect at prom but all in the aesthetic Olivia Rodrigo already claimed for herself.

Olivia in “Sour Prom”

Usually with pop albums, not all tracks are as loved as the hit singles. However Olivia’s “enough for you” is arguably the most heartbreaking (you could say gut-wrenching even) track on Sour (her debut album). In this song, Olivia is directly talking to the person she was once with through singing “All I ever wanted was to be enough for you”. I think many young people fall victim to trying to mold themselves a certain way for their partner at least once. In that kind of universal experience, where you change yourself more and more but it is not “enough” for the person, it definitely leaves you feeling heartbroken. This song is only one example of how Olivia yet again ties herself to her fans by sharing and writing about what she went through about something that is also a universal experience for so many young people.

Similarly, “1 step forward 3 steps back” is a light simple piano song where Olivia tells her fans she was in a relationship where she felt she did not know which side of her partner she would get with every new day that came (“I’m the love of your life till I make you mad” Olivia writes). Whenever they moved 1 step forward, they moved 3 steps back. In this song, Olivia connected herself to young people who held on to their first love by writing, “And I’d leave you but the rollercoaster’s all I’ve ever had”. A song on Sour that also took fans by surprise and is another fan favorite is “favorite crime”. This song is very unique because she blames herself as much as she blames her partner for what happened between them. After being heartbroken, it is usually one person hurting the other (cheating for example). Subsequently, many sad songs point at the one person in the relationship who did the most damage. Olivia is showing her fans how important is it to take accountability in a young, complicated and love-infested situation that can leave you heartbroken. In “favorite crime” Olivia writes “know that I loved you so bad I let you treat me like that I was your willing accomplice, honey”. Olivia further goes on in the song saying the things she did to call her partner hers weren’t enough. On the bridge, she reminisces on how it was bittersweet to think back on the relationship. In the line that breaks any listener’s heart she says “Cause I was going down, but I was doing it with you. Yeah, everything we broke, and all the trouble that we made. But I say that I hate you with a smile on my face”. I don’t know about you…but that it is a relatable but terribly sad line to have in a song.

Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour Promotional Pictures with Stickers

The moment that I felt most connected to Olivia Rodrigo was during her last performance in her Disney+ documentary “driving home 2 u”. Olivia ends her debut album with a message specifically for her fans within the lyrics of “hope ur ok” (the last track on Sour). As Olivia sings the song softly on the beach, towards the bridge, when she talks about accepting life as it is, she runs off into the ocean waves with her band. The song “hope ur ok” is already quite emotional as is. Olivia reminisces on old friends of hers that have gone through struggles she remembers vividly. She reminds them that nothing is as bad as it seems, wishes them well, and assures them of how proud she is of what they’ve become all in “hope ur ok”. Olivia mentions an old friend whom the only connection within the family was their shared genetics or blood. So, no emotional bonds were ever formed in her friend’s family. Additionally, a boy she once knew was prone to crying because he was self-harming as a result of abuse from his dad (the line is “He wore long sleeves ‘cause of his dad,”). Yet, when Olivia laughs happily and smiles genuinely at the camera at the end of her performance, tears were shed (to say the least).

You’re probably wondering what the specific message Olivia left for fans is in “hope ur ok”. In the outro, Olivia sings:

“Well, I hope you know how proud I am you were created

With the courage to unlearn all of their hatred

But, God, I hope that you're happier today

'Cause I love you

And I hope that you're okay”

Hearing “hope ur ok” on the release night was also a night where I shed many tears. As we already know, Olivia has established relatability with her fans numerous times. This time is different because she’s telling them directly in her music, on her debut album, that she loves them and is proud of them.

Olivia performing “hope ur ok” in “driving home 2 u”

Let it be known it’s not that millennials do not have artists to lean on during heartbreak. The fact is Olivia reminds them of artists like Paramore and Lorde that they did lean on when they were younger. This makes sense considering Olivia is open about her love for Lorde. Olivia has also told The Guardian that Lorde’s “artful writing about life in the North Shore suburbs” inspired her to turn her teenage experiences into art. Now, Olivia Rodrigo has been a victim of being accused of stealing ideas as much as other female artists have been accused of. Although Olivia received approval from Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff for singing her song “1 step forward 3 steps” back on the same chords as “New Year’s Day” (off of Taylor’s Reputation album) Olivia continues to be placed in scandals over the intentions of her songwriting. Regardless, even these scandals tie Olivia into the young women who adore artists such as Taylor Swift because it can be easy to associate the two artists together. Especially since Rodrigo and her friend Conan Gray showcase their love for Taylor by making tiktoks together using her music. While it ended up being harmful to both of them (people made up too many assumptions about Olivia and Conan’s intentions when undoubtedly their love for Taylor came from a pure place), Olivia Rodrigo and Conan Gray caught the attention of the entire Taylor Swift fanbase (swifties as I myself am one). Another example of Olivia’s songwriting skills being questioned was when fans considered “good 4 u” and “misery business” to be too similar after they created mashups of the songs and posted them online. Olivia ended up adding two members of Paramore to the writing credits of her hit single “good 4 u”. Despite the fact that this would be Olivia’s second time doing this to a song off her debut album, over 20 million Paramore fans now the name Olivia Rodrigo.

Another time this happened to Olivia (that I hadn’t heard till I wrote this article) was when an artist declined to pursue a claim against Rodrigo, Elvis Costello. After Olivia was accused of co-opting a guitar riff from his 1978 song “Pump It Up” on, “Brutal,” Costello shrugged it off in a Twitter post. “ This is fine by me,” he wrote on Twitter, “It’s how rock & roll works. You take the broken pieces of another thrill and make a brand new toy. That’s what I did.”

Lastly, Olivia’s “deja vu” has been compared to Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer”. Despite the defense of some fans of Olivia’s who do not hear the similarity between the songs, Taylor Swift now has writing credits on “deja vu”. They received credit on the track because of the interpolation of "Cruel Summer" on "Deja Vu." This means that parts of "Cruel Summer" had been rerecorded and incorporated into Oliva's "Deja Vu." Interpolation is less of a direct copy-paste of a song and more the borrowing of melodies and lyrics to create a new tune that sounds familiar to the song being interpolated. Taylor and Jack also became entitled to a 50 percent stake in the song's royalties. This amounted to $325,678 in publishing royalties for Taylor, $260,542 for Jack, and $65,135 for St. Vincent.

I assume that many people thought that this would be bad for Olivia’s career. Regardless, Olivia Rodrigo has yet again associated herself with Taylor Swift and caught the attention of swifties. Just recently, Olivia was asked if “Vampire” was about Taylor Swift. Her response "I was very surprised when people thought that." implies that it’s not as big a deal as fans and haters of hers make it out to be. It seems that with no bad blood between the two, the speculation of bad blood can stop.

Throughout “Guts”, Rodrigo will be leaning more towards a rock kind of sound. After hearing “Brutal” (off of Olivia’s first album Sour) many fans voiced how they would want to see how Olivia would handle herself in a pure rock and roll track. Olivia claims fans get exactly what they asked for on the first track of “Guts” and it is Olivia’s favorite track. Olivia’s youthly aesthetic which I’ve talked so much about is now more mature with red added to her color palette. Another thing that fans love about Rodrigo is she did not lean into an entirely different aesthetic this time. In a short promotional video for Guts on her Instagram (in which she surprised fans by revealing the entire Guts tracklist), Olivia can be found writing in a room with a purple bed and a red piano. This small detail in her video tells fans that “Guts” perhaps is Sour’s mature older sister and the two go hand in hand in some way. Without “Sour”, there would be no “Guts”. Similarly, fans can expect the angst, honesty, and power that “Sour” has but in a whole new gut-wrenching way (I can not help myself with these puns).

Perhaps even in “ballad of a homeschool girl”, Olivia can relate to her fans in a a new way. In a recent article with the Guardian, Olivia says “I worked my whole childhood and I’m never going to get it back. I didn’t go to football games, I didn’t have a group of girlfriends that I hung out with after school”.

In summary, she spells out the teenage girl feelings we as women felt but did not know how to deal with. Every artist uses their own life experience to write so you could say I shouldn’t praise Olivia for that. However, Olivia’s brutal honesty matched with a producer as talented as Daniel Nigro puts her in an entirely different place than other artists. Without meaning to, just by being herself, Olivia has associated herself and placed her name alongside legends in the music industry. Yet, the direct cause of Olivia’s success is how she’s a voice for everyone who has had a broken heart but grows up despite it.