On last friday (8), Olivia Rodrigo released her second album, GUTS. The public expectation was so high since herannouncement, on June 26th, that its first single, “vampire”, broke a BIllboard Hot 100 record, debuting 1# on the chart.
The singer is a success since her debut with SOUR (2021) and the singles “drivers license”, “good 4 u” and “deja vu”. The record reached the top of the Billboard 200 upon its release and left Olivia’s name marked in the music industry.
Now, on her new album, she wants to consolidate herself in the artistic world and show that she can continue making successful songs! But will she be able to make everyone feel her GUTS? Well, I tried to…
all-american girl
Olivia initiates the first track with a calm tone, which leaves the listener with slightly low expectations as her previous album began with a strong rock melody on “brutal”. “all-american girl” straight away tells us the path the album will soon take: personal lyrics, criticism about how people perceive her and, of course, a little presumption shown in the lyrics “I’m sexy and I’m kind, I’m pretty when I cry.”
The track is making a fuss on social media because internet users noticed a similarity between the GUTS song and an old one by Miley Cyrus, “Start All Over”. Until now, none of the singers have commented on the matter, but it is important to highlight that using a sample from another song is very common in the artistic world. However, Olivia no longer has a great reputation when it comes to the topic. Thus because something similar happened with “deja vu” and the accusation of having copied a track by Taylor Swift.
bad idea right?
The album’s second single was previously released at the beginning of August and was a huge hit among fans, and with good reason! “bad idea right?” was made to be commercial, truthly. Anyone who has ever had any kind of “situationship” can relate and, of course, listen to it A LOT! It gets even more fun when you associate the song with the singer’s most known ex, Joshua Bassett, since Olivia tells us she wants to have some kind of “remember” with an ex.
vampire
Unlike “bad idea right”, the first released-single from GUTS shows Olivia tired of an old relationship as well as demarks the realization that, in fact, her ex wasn’t exactly a good person – as she states in “you can’t love anyone, ‘cause that would mean you had a heart”.
However, due to the controversy surrounding our beloved blondie (a.k.a. Taylor Swift), people on the internet claimed that Olivia actually wrote this song for her “old muse”. The track was released at the end of June, debuting at the top of Spotify’s global chart.
Just like “all-american girl”, “vampire” starts very slowly and grows as it reaches the chorus, something that I already consider a strong characteristic of the album!
lacy
I believe that she truly showed that she is a singer made for slower songs in this one! Full of metaphors and poetry, “lacy” has a melody almost entirely guided by guitar chords that only grows near the song’s bridge, impacting the listener with the surprise of a drum beat. The lyrics are very strong, they talk about someone who is still present in her daily life, but not as close as before. “Oh, Lacy, it’s like you’re out to get me. You poison every little thing that I do”.
ballad of a homeschooled girl
Being the most different melodically and lyrically, the fifth track features that 2000s rock beat, something very teenagery, and even refers to “good 4 u” and “brutal”. The lyrics don’t talk about romantic love at all, but rather a criticism of herself in how she feels that nothing she does is right in any way and that, even though she tries to do it right again, nothing happens as she hopes. “Every guy I like is gay” was the phrase that had the most impact on social media because who hasn’t done that, right?
making the bed
“Another day pretending I’m older than I am”. Olivia delivers a very strong phrase for us – young women – already in the song’s initial verse. It’s a very powerful track that speaks a lot about her inner self. It’s like a continuation of the previous one, in terms of “not doing anything right”, but with a very slow and heavy melody, which turns it into one of the saddest on the album.
The singer is only 19 years old and is at that stage of life – like most of us university students – where everything seems very confusing and where adult life, hand in hand with the world, scares us a little – a lot, to be honest. Thanks, Olivia, this was just added to my cry-it-out playlist!
logical
She definitely did this for her most recent ex-boyfriend: Adam Faze. And this is confirmed in the excerpt: “Brought up the girls you could have instead, said I was too young, I was too soft”. When they were together, Adam was 25 while Olivia was only 18, and, apparently, age was something that caused a lot of arguments between the two.
Still in the lyrics, the artist shows how toxic this relationship was and how he manipulated her: “and now you got me thinking two plus two equals five, and I’m the love of your life”. Glad she managed to get out of it!
get him back!
“Wait, is this the song with the drums?”. I’m not sure, but is that my favorite on the album? Yes it is! I love it when Olivia enables our craziness, and rightly so. In this one, it’s when she says she wants her ex back just to have a “sweet revenge” and make him suffer.
But besides the very-Olivia-Rodrigo lyrics, the song has an incredible construction with the combination of drums and other instruments as well as a choir with the singer’s own voice, which transforms the song into something very good to listen to. It’s the kind of anthem you should definitely add to your feel-powerful playlist!
love is embarrassing
…as hell, Olivia! This track sums up the cliché of getting involved with someone who hasn’t gotten over their ex: you swear that everything is great and that they like you, but they tell you that they “need some space” and disappear! The funny thing is that it’s always a “weird second string” and that they don’t ever deserve even a bit of what we have to give. She delivered everything in this one!
the grudge
When I heard the album for the first time, I promised I would never listen to this song again, because it was extremely heavy and reminded me of traumas that I didn’t want to remember. I believe that was Olivia’s exact intention – to cause discomfort and agony to whoever heard it. The song has lyrics that can be interpreted in different ways, according to what each person has experienced, a toxic relationship, an ex-friend or even mommy or daddy issues. “And I know, in my heart, hurt people hurt people”.
pretty isn’t pretty
This one is GUTS “jealousy, jealousy” moment, only much heavier. She also portrayed insecurities about herself, anxiety and eating disorders, which makes the song very sad for anyone who listens and has experienced something like that. I even recommend to anyone who has been through this to avoid listening to it to prevent triggers.
teenage dream
“They all say that it gets better, it gets better the more you grow”. Olivia is definitely not well! Hahaha, I’m just kidding. But wow, four songs that talk about not feeling good about yourself is something to worry about! In reality, that is exactly what we hoped for – it’s a way to make our feelings valid and to know we are not alone.
It can be bigger than SOUR?
I think that, with this album, Olivia really showed that she is “growing up” and doesn’t just write about teenage loves. In fact, she announced that the deluxe album has four additional songs: “obsessed”, “scared of my guitar”, “stranger’’ and “girl i’ve always been”. So there is still a lot to explore within this work . I really liked GUTS, overall, but I feel like it’s going to be very difficult to surpass the greatness of SOUR.