With her debut album, Sour, Olivia Rodrigo emerged into fame, and with it, showed the world how melancholy the world of a teenager can be. Her songs ‘drivers license’, ‘traitor’, ‘deja vu’, and ‘jealousy, jealousy’ were all about break ups, and the aftermath. Being sad, being frustrated – Olivia didn’t shy away from these topics that many people are unwilling to talk about. For her and many teens and young adults, these emotions were – and are – commonplace.
But now, Olivia has released her second album, Guts. This album is more raw, a little more angry at the world, but it’s also an acceptance of it, and an acceptance of how nothing can really be perfect – and that’s okay. Guts displays the difficult emotions of adulthood and failed relationships, and it doesn’t hold back on commenting on the difficult life of being a young woman. Overall, this album is a letter to the world from Olivia and all young women – we can be our own person, feel how we want to, and we don’t want anyone holding us back from doing what we want.
In the song ‘Vampire’, Olivia sings about being taken advantage of by someone close to her- someone she loved. She is angry and upset that she let herself be taken advantage of, and knows that she was foolish to not see through the person’s guise of kindness. In contrast, her song ‘bad idea right?’ is all about going back to an ex- perhaps the one she talks about in ‘Vampire’. These songs are two sides of the same coin on relationships and love as a young woman, and clearly distinguish an almost struggling relationship with love and figuring out what you want and who you are.
All in all, Olivia has put out another great album describing the life of a young woman in songs that describe even the most complicated of emotions. As a young woman myself, I find myself listening to the songs and somehow, one way or another, relating to the lyrics of the songs on a deeper level. Olivia Rodrigo has perfectly pieced together another album describing the ordinary life of a young woman, and has presented it to the world with unapologetic honesty.
