Annabelle Ross
Olivia Rodrigo, You Look Sad For A Girl So In Love
★★★★
Olivia Rodrigo’s origin story is familiar: Disney’s child star spins easily to become a hit, while the modern addition of the TikTok hit helps her talent reach the top of the charts. Three albums in, Rodrigo is the only star in history to top the Billboard charts with three consecutive No. 1 singles, a staggering feat for a 23-year-old.
It’s a testament to the quality of her work so far – love/friendship/eternal identity captured through Swiftian lyrical specificity, a persuasive look, expertly crafted pop, and a rebellious streak that comes with an impressive set of contradictions.
His dark horse qualities are recognizable to mature fans who relate, but he’s hidden enough to travel over the heads of his average fans. When some try to describe his pop as punky, they are met with ridicule from those who see Rodrigo as a manufactured star, a product of the machine. But as one of the world’s most high-profile entertainers speaking out on everything from reproductive rights to Gaza, Rodrigo is no one’s puppet.
On albums one and two, Rodrigo hit the pin and dried with equal force. His main crushes had included all but on songs like Traitor, All American Bitch and Vampirehe was out for blood. Like Sour and Intestines described the situation in one word, You Look Sad For A Girl So In Love indicates a more complex emotional environment.
The story of her first “big girl relationship”, her intense beginnings and revelations were written in real time. Featuring less angst and angst, the songs were rendered “more honest and sad and scary” with the help of longtime producer Dan Nigro, a favorite of stormtroopers from Sky Ferreira to Caroline Polachek to Chappell Roan.
Early in his career, Rodrigo was surprisingly attracted to Taylor Swift, who similarly championed the young singer – until Rodrigo’s openness about his inspiration saw Swift, Jack Antonoff and Annie Clark add songwriting credits (and subsequent royalty checks). Sour. By all accounts, Rodrigo and Swift have not been on friendly terms since then. The incident traumatized Rodrigo but has made him more aware, not less, of what is in his musical DNA.
In a series of tribute and awe-inspiring performances, he has shared the stage with icons including Jack White, David Byrne, and at last year’s Glastonbury, The Cure’s Robert Smith. Turn on You Look Sad For A Girl So In Lovechecks the name Like Heaven in a dream Drop Deaddescribing the dizzying experience of a crush finally discovered – at a bar.
Terrible starting lines Teach for Brains owes a clear debt to The Cure’s Forestbut the lyrics of the song are weaker, minus the ones that are honest, “I’m a sad woman and I’ve got worms in my mind/But that’s what happens when my baby’s gone.”
Like What Is My Problem? it seems the song is aptly named for emo icon Smith’s appearance, his vocal turn is a pleasant surprise. Accompanied by Rodrigo on a calculated chorus, his line turns decades of longing to a new, equally sad conclusion: “What if this isn’t what I want?”
Rodrigo’s words are interesting; sometimes they are banal but often their ordinary life serves an excellent line that corresponds to the hours – or days – later, or is elevated by the delivery of fire and smart and intelligent settings enough to give detail or wonder. A low and dirty bass line flows into the last third of the Silly song as pleasant gossip; up Expectationswhere Rodrigo demands new heights following the break-up of his relationship, the surround sound suggests a chorus of male robots on the bridge and evokes Devo’s intense emotions.
There is no hiding Rodrigo’s grandiose tendencies. Turn on Drop Deadis a starry-eyed fantasy sequence modeled after Wolf Alice Don’t Wipe Kisses. Alanis Morissette’s spare, tortured voice inside Your house (hidden track is on Little Jagged Pill) may have encouraged the delivery of Rodrigo in He prayedwhen The Smashing Pumpkins’ Disarm can be heard in the opening chords of Cure. It’s the most lyrical and poignant song on the album, a realization that even love won’t end his jealousy of “all the beautiful girls in front of my mind”.
Rodrigo says the song isn’t an ode to Smith’s band, but it’s kind of cool to think otherwise. Her opening line works as a double entendre befitting one of pop’s greatest artists: “No matter how much your love feels/it’ll never be a cure,” she sings. Love may fade, but the best pop songs are forever.
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