Hello and welcome back to another blog post! This past weekend was the 64th Grammy Awards, and Olivia Rodrigo won three awards: New Artist, Pop Vocal Album, and Pop Solo Performance with Driver's License. Olivia is only nineteen and clearly on her way to great things. First, I would like to dedicate this post to my sister-in-law. Without her, I would have never checked out Olivia's music.
Olivia was born in Murrieta, California, and lived in a nearby town Temecula, California. Olivia grew up with her Filipino-American father, a family therapist, and her mom, a school teacher. Her parents have had an enormous part in Olivia's musical influences, listening to alternative rock such as No Doubt, Pearl Jam, The White Stripes, and Green Day. Music has been a part of Olivia's life from the beginning. She received vocal lessons and learned piano when she was young. By six, she was singing and acting in her elementary and middle school theater productions. When Olivia was twelve, she started to learn guitar and became interested in songwriting. She listened to country music and was very inspired by Taylor Swift.
***Side note: I was also inspired by Taylor Swift to start writing songs, and I think it's so cool to see a new wave of artists that stems from Taylor.***
Olivia had many acting gigs like An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success and Disney Channel shows like Bizaardvark and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. Olivia was able to show off her songwriting skills in these shows, which led her to a record deal with Interscope Records and Geffen Records, in which she negotiated that she would own all of her music. (YES, GIRL!) Luckily, she was able to sign right before the pandemic in 2020 and spent most of the lockdown writing songs in her garage. On January 8, 2021, Olivia released her single, Driver's License, and shocked the world with her songwriting. A week after it was released, she broke Spotify records twice for most daily streams. She was able to get 80 million streams in just seven days! I recently watched Olivia's documentary on Disney+ called Driving home 2 u. In the film, she talks about how crazy her life became once she got tons of attention for her music. She was excited, but it also made her anxious, worried that she wouldn't be able to exceed expectations. She talked to her record label and insisted on releasing an album even though the label was hesitant to release something so soon. Still, in May, she released her first studio album Sour and received outstanding reviews. Olivia has definitely proven that she means business in the music industry, and I look forward to seeing what more she has in store for us.
I could write about any one of Olivia's songs. They are all so different from each other but show off her astonishing talent as a songwriter. Even though Olivia just won the best pop vocal performance for Driver's License, I will be discussing her song Traitor. This is definitely one of my favorite songs on the album. Olivia's voice sounds so beautiful, and the emotion she gives off is heartbreaking. The song begins with Olivia's angelic background vocals and the keyboard, which sounds so wonderful. In the first verse, Olivia explains how she always knew her lover wasn't entirely truthful to her but thought that if she said something, she would lose him altogether. When you are young and in your first relationship, I understand how the pressure would feel. You are just starting to figure out what you want in a relationship but don't want to seem like a nuisance. In the pre-chorus, Olivia sings, "And ain't it funny, how you ran to her the second that we called it quits. And ain't it funny, how you said you were just friends? Now it sure as hell don't look like it." To Olivia, the issue wasn't the fact that they broke up but that he was able to move on so quickly. Were the feelings she thought they had even real? Or was he pretending? Entering the chorus, I love how Olivia belts out her lyrics, "You betrayed me, and I know that you'll never feel sorry for the way I hurt. Yeah, you talked to her when we were together. Loved you at your worst, but that didn't matter. It took you two weeks to go off and date her. Guess you didn't cheat, but you're still a traitor." This chorus is so powerful with the combination of lyrics, Olivia's background vocals, and instrumentation. It brings me back to high school when my ex went off and hooked up with another girl as soon as we were over. So I get it, Olivia. Looking back, it now seems so silly to get upset about, but when you are in those teenage moments it feels like the end of the world. Also, I think the line, "Guess you didn't cheat, but you're still a traitor" is genius because even though he didn't see someone while they were dating, he still broke Olivia's heart. I think that Olivia's transition from the final choruses is the song's climax. She builds all this tension up in the bridge and lets it go. And if your past teenage self isn't balling, I don't know what will.
I know that Olivia is a young artist, and many of my readers might not be interested in her music, but I urge you to give her a try. If her pop sound is not for you, focus on how beautiful her lyrics are.
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