Five years after pop superstar Olivia Rodrigo’s debut single “drivers license” took the world by storm, it’s hard to imagine the young artist could outdo her already anguished and prolific catalogue. But the June 12 release of her third studio album “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love” stunningly encapsulates the universal rise and fall of love.
Announced on April 2, the album narrates the course of a relationship from the first date to separation in just 51 minutes. In a Pitchfork cover story, Rodrigo shared, “The first half of the album, your hopes are just so high, and you’re dreaming about the future and dreaming about who you could be in this different environment.”
The album’s lead single, “drop dead,” reflects this jubilation. The track’s bubbly buildup and explosive chorus is earnest and youthful. Lyrics like “You’re lookin’ like an angel on the walls of Versailles / The most alive I’ve ever been / But kiss me and I might drop dead” are sung with a touching sincerity that reflects the exciting frenzy of a first date. The accompanying music video depicts Rodrigo prancing through a deserted Palace of Versailles, the artistic equivalent to the joy of receiving a text back.
On the album, romance never emerges as picturesque. Obsession quickly begins to bleed through the cracks of “stupid song,” one of the album’s strongest points. The track opens as a mournful ballad before erupting into a desperate, rock-adjacent plea for reprieve. While the song describes how falling headfirst in love feels, Rodrigo also narrates the lows that accompany this euphoria with lyrics like “Seven nights alone and a skipped meal / I’m sleeping in my dress and my high heels.” Crashing percussion plays against the song’s final pre-chorus, heightening the out-of-control nature Rodrigo ascribes to her desire.
Unlike its predecessor “stupid song,” “honeybee” remains a true ballad. Devotion seeps through the track’s symphonic sound and Rodrigo’s soft vocals. While it’s not the most exciting song on the record, “honeybee” reflects the honeymoon stage of a relationship: perfect bliss that will certainly run out.
Codependency begins to rear its head on “maggots for brains.” The punk sound hammers away as Rodrigo laments her sense of helplessness. Lyrics like “I’m a sad shell of a woman and I’ve got maggots for brains / But that’s just the thing that happens when my / When my baby goes away” are astonishingly self-aware.
While “u + me = <3” conjures the sweetness of an early-2000s rom-com with its saccharine lyrics and shining pop tune, the following track “my way” is far more biting. The song’s snarky spoken-word verses are reminiscent of Rodrigo’s sophomore album “GUTS,” and highlight her talent for incorporating rock elements into pop-forward records. In “my way,” Rodrigo narrates an ugly case of jealousy, and her inflection is caustic in lyrics like “So, where’d you get that confidence from? / Last time that I checked, I won / Let me be direct: just stop! / You’re being f—ing weird.”
The song “purple” is a standout on the album. The track marks the beginning of the end for the relationship traced on the record, and the grief is palpable. Revelations burst like lightning against a steady and unassuming beat: “And it’s crazy / I had big dreams ’til I tied myself to you / Now I’m all-consumed” demonstrates how much people can lose in the tumult of early love.
The album’s B-side starts with “the cure,” which is dedicated to the rapid demise of the relationship. The track is frenzied and devastating — Rodrigo’s powerful vocals shine alongside the insistent strumming of guitar. Her question is simple enough: Why can’t romance heal us the way it’s supposed to?
The following tracks reveal some answers to this question. The song “begged” is ethereal in its simplicity. Airy and melancholic, Rodrigo’s layered vocals amplify her desolation and reveal her desperation to maintain an unsustainable connection. Later, “what’s wrong with me” continues this thread of introspection, tracing the out-of-body nature of heartbreak. The song features Robert Smith of the iconic English punk band The Cure, and the two dive headfirst into a clinical analysis of post-breakup blues.
Rodrigo showcases her diaristic writing style in “less,” questioning how much pain she can handle in pursuit of love. As Rodrigo sorrowfully sings “If loving me means crying on the curb at LAX / Well, then I guess / I wish, I wish, I wish you loved me less,” listeners can clearly picture the mental anguish that accompanies a relationship’s end.
While “expectations” may appear to be out of place on the record, it reflects the brief bursts of manic energy that arise in the midst of grief. The song’s heavy synth usage creates a sexy, fun atmosphere that bolsters Rodrigo’s empowered lyrics. Listeners are ushered into a disco club as she proudly declares, “I’m not kissing any boy that is passive / Their indecision is painfully unattractive / Past mistakes are just new information / These days, I’ve got expectations.”
Reality comes crashing down quickly on the record’s final, most crushing song, “cigarette smoke.” Rodrigo does what the best writers do: She begins with an image. With the familiar ephemerality of cigarette smoke, listeners are tortured by her pained autopsy of a failed relationship. Against the backdrop of a forlorn soundscape, lyrics like “Give me back my time and I will give you back your heart” build to a catastrophic bridge enveloped by Rodrigo’s frenetic vocals. The track is an explosive yet fitting ending for an album characterized by a rollercoaster of emotions.
Few pop artists capture the complexity of love in the manner that Rodrigo does on her third album. Her passionate vocals weave themselves against a flawless production by Daniel Nigro, Rodrigo’s longtime collaborator, creating one of the most sonically cohesive albums of the year. By the end of the album, listeners are left wondering: Is all this even worth it? Perhaps not, but the replay button seems to think otherwise.
Alyssia Ouhocine is a Senior Staff Writer covering Arts & Culture. Hailing from Bayonne, New Jersey, she is concentrating in English and History with a particular interest in Algerian history and literature. When she’s not writing, she can be found listening to music and sending Google Calendar invites.
