On September 8, Olivia Rodrigo followed her two teaser songs, “vampire” and “bad idea right”, with an album called GUTS. The songs in the album show a variety of emotions that pertain to love, not fitting in, and growing up. In an interview, Rodrigo explains that she has had the name in her head since SOUR as it’s also a four-letter word and it can mean bravery, intuition, pain, and more. I think it really captures all of the emotions throughout the songs in just one word.
all-american b**** – 8.5/10
“I forgive and I forget, I know my age and I act like it”
To me, this song represents living up to others expectations of what she’s supposed to be. Throughout the song, she lets go more and more until she breaks out into full-on screaming, showing the part of her she usually hides. The jarring ending is her reverting back to the image the media wants to see. This song is her fourth most listened to song on Spotify with over 50 million streams and one of my favorite songs from her new album. Not only is it fun to sing, but it has a deeper meaning beneath it. I think it’s a perfect song to start the album as she’s practically spilling her guts out screaming.
…bad idea right? – 7.4/10
“My brain goes, ‘ah’, can’t hear my thoughts”
This song is pretty straightforward — she knows going back to her ex is a bad idea (right?), but her brain is completely ignoring her logical thoughts and she goes to meet him. This is her second most listened to song with over 151 million streams and her second teaser song she released before GUTS. The song is catchy and is constantly playing in my head and deserves the hype it’s getting, however, I can’t say it’s my favorite.
vampire – 9.3/10
“The way you sold me for parts as you sunk your teeth into me”
This song is an emotional ballad about an ex who took everything she had to give and gave nothing in return, much like a vampire does. She talks about how she was naive and stupid for thinking he actually loved her, but when she was dating him, she truly believed that was true. This is her most listened to song with over 409 million streams and my favorite song in her new album. As a teaser to GUTS, this song really shows the variety of emotions and instruments in the rest of her songs.
lacy – 7/10
“Well, aren’t you the greatest thing to ever exist?”
Lacy is both hated and worshiped in this song with lyrics that often contradict. At the end, she talks about how she’s jealous of her, yet can’t help but love her at the same time. She’s seen as annoyingly perfect, but hard to hate. This song has really grown on me the more I’ve listened to it and really captures seeing someone you love as perfect.
ballad of a homeschool girl – 8.8/10
“I broke a glass, tripped and fell, told secrets I shouldn’t tell”
This song represents not fitting in or feeling like you’re not doing anything right. She talks about all her mistakes and how she knows she’s boring and ruining everything. I think this song can really resonate with people and their anxiety about messing up and I’m surprised this song wasn’t in her top five.
making the bed – 7.6/10
“I got the things I wanted, it’s just not what I imagined”
To me, this song is her saying she dug her grave or bed, and now she must lie in it. She’s constantly self-sabotaging and pushing away her good friends to hang out with friends who won’t support her when she needs it. One of my favorite lyrics is where she talks about a dream she had where she was driving and couldn’t stop, alluding to how out of control her life feels. I think this song is full of creative lyrics like this one.
logical – 9.1/10
“Master manipulator, god you’re so good at what you do”
This song is similar to ‘vampire’ as she couldn’t see how toxic the relationship was until she got out of it. He manipulated her into thinking all the bad things he did were just in her head. She truly believed that she could change him because ‘love is never logical’. The flow of the lyrics really shows the emotion behind them and this song has become one of my favorites.
get him back! – 7.3/10
“Do I love him? Do I hate him? I guess it’s up and down”
This song represents both meanings of ‘get him back’. She misses him and wants to be back with him but also wants revenge for everything he’s done to her. I think this is a clever way of showing both sides of her emotions. My favorite part is the beginning as it’s very catchy and fun to sing. This is her third most-played song with over 62 million streams.
love is embarrassing – 7/10
“I give up, give up, but I keep coming back for more”
This song expresses how embarrassing it is to put your heart on the line for love, but she does it anyway, over and over again. It’s also embarrassing to do this for someone who usually wouldn’t be worth all of the trouble. For me, this song is super fun to sing but doesn’t feel as special as her other songs.
the grudge – 8/10
“How could anybody do the things you did so easily?”
This song is her wanting to forgive him for what he’s done but she just can’t. She says it takes strength to forgive someone but she doesn’t feel strong enough to do so yet. My favorite lyric is her saying she knows hurt people and she tries to find an excuse for why he would hurt her so badly, finding reasons outside of her control to justify the things he did instead of accepting he’s not a good person. This is her fifth most listened to song with over 42 million streams.
pretty isn’t pretty – 8.6/10
“But I’d always feel the same ‘cause pretty isn’t pretty enough anyway”
This song is about never feeling pretty enough and the high expectations we set for ourselves. She says that no matter what she does, she will always find something wrong in the mirror. I think a lot of people can relate to this, especially with the unrealistic expectations that come with social media. To me, this song feels a lot like “love is embarrassing” but with a deeper meaning behind it, which makes it higher on my list.
teenage dream – 7.4/10
“Will I spend all the rest of my years wishin’ I could go back?”
I think this song is the perfect ending to her album. Throughout it, she talks about not feeling enough, not fitting in, and making mistakes, and in this song, she combines all of these and talks about the fears of growing up. She’s only nineteen but she already feels like she peaked, despite other people saying things will get better. I think this song encapsulates the fears most teenagers have, which makes it resonate with a lot of them.
