photo credit: the "sour" photoshoot
When we all heard Olivia Rodrigo, we honestly had no idea who she was or the big musician she was going to become in only 1 year. But here she is in January 2022, she’s a 7 time Grammy nominated artist, 3 time VMA winner and an AMA winner. She’s done this and so much more in the year she was 18. Keep reading for her critically acclaimed album SOUR and more things.
To be honest, her story starts when she’s born. There’s a story she told in an interview that her grandpa predicted her future. That she would be a star. Well honestly he held up his end of the bargain because she’s one of the biggest debut artists of 2021. She was born in Temecula, California to her father who is of Filipino-American descent and her mother who has German and Irish ancestry.Her dad works as a family therapist and her mom is a school teacher. Talk about being understood in her childhood. I don’t know where I heard this but apparently her paternal great-grandfather moved from the Philippines to the US as a teenager and her family follows Filipino traditions and cuisine.
She started taking vocal lessons in kindergarten and learned to play piano soon after which she said she actually hated the lessons and would ask her mom not to take her, but I mean they’re useful now. She started taking acting and singing classes at age six and did some theater productions at Lisa J. Mails Elementary School and Dorothy McElhinney Middle School. Rodrigo was playing guitar by age 12 because of a role she was cast in on a Disney show called Bizaardvark.
She grew up listening to her parents' favorite alternative rock music, such as the bands No Doubt, Pearl Jam, the White Stripes, and Green Day. Rodrigo became interested in songwriting at a young age and the first song she ever wrote was called Superman at 9. Some of the lyrics go,
“I don’t need no Superman to come and save me, cause I’m a human being who can clean up her own messes.”
She listened to a lot of country music, especially Taylor Swift which really explains her songwriting skills. She moved to LA after landing her role on Bizaardvark which was a Disney channel show. But real ones know her from her first role as Paige in an American Doll movie. Her acting career has only consisted of three roles but personally my favorite is High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. It’s Disney Plus’ way of carrying on the legacy that the original movie brought in 2007.
The story is set at the original high school where HSM was filmed at and Olivia and the cast play “real students who go there”. They put on a musical theater production of High School Musical and in turn, real life drama happens. That’s the first season and you should definitely watch it. The 3rd season is also filming right now. A part of the reason I loved her so much during this time was the music that came with it. She wrote lots of songs on her Instagram, and if you know, I ask for justice for Victim or Apocalyptic Crush! She has, since, deleted all her Instagram from before Drivers License except two songs, Gross and Pay Grade. I’m going to put a video down here of all her unreleased songs, which are put in a playlist on Youtube. Anyways, this show resulted in the opportunity to write not 1, but 2 songs for the show. The 1st one was called All I Want, and it’s quite a bop. The 2nd one was co-written by her and Joshua Bassett. It’s called Just for A Moment and I think it’s one of my favorites from the show. Both of these had something special because in January of 2020, Geffen Records of Interscope offered Olivia a record label deal as a solo artist. This is the beginning of history made.
The debut album SOUR is a work of art, in my opinion. It perfectly encapsulates heartbreak, emotional insecurity, contemplation, and the navigation of being a teenager from a teenager herself. The project consists of 11 songs, with the singles released being Drivers License, Deja Vu and Good 4 U. Below is the official information on the album and the track list.
ALBUM CHARTING AND NOMINATIONS
All of the three singles entered the top three of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The lead single, "Drivers License", topped the chart and established Olivia as a main pop girlie. It was followed by "Deja Vu", which peaked at number 3, and "Good 4 U", the album's second chart-topper. It made Olivia the first artist in history to debut their first three singles in the top 10 of the Hot 100, and Sour the first debut album in history to spawn two number-one debuts on the chart. The album broke the global Spotify record for the biggest opening week for an album by a female artist. It opened atop the US Billboard 200, and reached number one in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, and numerous other countries as well. "Traitor", prior to becoming the fourth single, landed at number nine on the Hot 100 as the fourth top-10 song from the album. Sour was one of the best-selling albums of 2021. To support this incredible album, in April 2022 is going to go on tour with musical guests Gracie Abrams and Holly Humberstone.
Billboard and Rolling Stone named Sour the best album of 2021. At the 64th Annual Grammy Awards for 2022, the album received nominations for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, while "Drivers License" contends for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance. Rodrigo is further nominated for Best New Artist. That in total equals to SEVEN Grammy nominations. At 18. At any age, if this has happened to you, you’ve made it.
ALBUM TRACKLIST AND CREATIVE CREDIT
Brutal
Writers: Olivia Rodrigo, Daniel Nigro
Traitor
Writers: Olivia Rodrigo, Daniel Nigro
Drivers License
Writers: Olivia Rodrigo, Daniel Nigro
1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back
Writers: Olivia Rodrigo, Daniel Nigro, Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, St.Vincent
Deja Vu
Writers: Olivia Rodrigo, Daniel Nigro, Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, Annie Clark
6.Good 4 U
Writers: Olivia Rodrigo, Daniel Nigro, Hayley Williams, Josh Farro
7.Enough for You
Writers: Olivia Rodrigo, Daniel Nigro
8.Happier
Writer: Olivia Rodrigo
9.Jealousy, Jealousy
Writers: Olivia Rodrigo, Daniel Nigro, Casey Smith, Jam City
10.Favorite Crime
Writers: Olivia Rodrigo, Daniel Nigro
11.Hope Ur OK
Writers: Olivia Rodrigo, Daniel Nigro
SOUR- PRODUCERS, ENGINEERS, MIXERS
Olivia Rodrigo – lead and backing vocals (all tracks), piano, acoustic guitar, vocal arrangement
Daniel Nigro – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drum programming, synthesizer, backing vocals, piano, Juno 60, B3 organ, bass, percussion, organ, Wurlitzer, guitar, vocal arrangement
Erick Serna – bass, electric guitar
Ryan Linvill – Wurlitzer, additional drum programming ; drum programming, synthesizer ; bass guitar, flute, saxophone, additional programming , acoustic guitar
Paul Cartwright – violin, viola
Jam City – organ, guitar; drum programming, synthesizer
Alexander 23 – electric guitar, bass, drum programming, backing vocals
Kathleen – backing vocals, vocal arrangement
Sterling Laws – drums
Sam Stewart – guitars
Randy Merrill – mastering
Mitch McCarthy – mixing
Daniel Nigro – recording, mixing
Ryan Linvill – engineering , assistant engineering
Chris Kasych – drum engineering
Jasmine Chen – drum engineering
Dan Viafore – assistant engineering
SOUR ALBUM BREAKDOWN
Let’s get into the album. I’ll be putting some of my opinions about the songs, things she said about them, my favorite lyrics from them and a backstory if there is one. Let’s do this.
Track 1: Brutal
I think this song really took us by surprise when we first reacted to it. Especially the Youtubers I saw do a reaction were stunned. Like the woman was too stunned to speak. The song is a very crunchy, alternative, rock sound while also including the pop sound. I think it’s a good blend of different genres and it touches on those feelings we have as adolescents. “They say these are the golden years, but I wish I could disappear” hits close to home because we’ve all been told that these years are where we have energy, we have the body and the means to have a perfect life and most people that tell us that have no regard for mental health and the depression that teenagers can sometimes can have. They tell us that there’s no reason to be sad about life because we’re being dramatic. I think that lyric among the ENTIRE song perfectly sums up our adolescence.
Fav Lyric: “They say these are the golden years but I wish I could disappear”
Track 2: Traitor
This song is very much the song that wasn’t a lead single but became a fan favorite when it was listened to. It starts off with very tight angelic harmonies from Olivia to form a choir-sound. The first lyrics start with “Brown guilty eyes and little white lies, yeah I played dumb but I always knew”. A very emotional start. The premise of the song is this guy who isn’t cheating on his girlfriend but is talking to another girl and making her feel insecure. IN the end, when the two break up, just two weeks after, the ex-boyfriend ends up with that girl he was talking to while in the relationship. THe entire song is just realizing that the guy was probably lying to her about the girl he was talking to. Honestly what a coincidence that the girl he told her not to worry about ends up being his next girlfriend!!
Fav Lyric: “Remember I brought her up and you told me I was paranoid”
Track 3: Drivers License
I heard this song in summer 2020 on her Instagram when she had just gotten her driver’s license and even then I knew the song was something unique. The original lyrics oozed emotion and rawness even the studio version doesn't have. “I couldn’t fathom loving anyone else” just something else. And then when she says, “And I don’t believe you when you say I did nothing wrong” I think that lyric represents the insecurity we face as teenagers in a breakup. We think there's something wrong with us. But I am glad to see that in the studio version she changes it to “Guess you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me” because that shows a sign of growth from the time she wrote the song to when she recorded it in the studio. Overall, the song truly shows Olivia’s capabilities as a vocalist and composer of music. You can hear it in her interviews how passionate she is about music and in this song, her talent shines through. I think there’s something about the way she used the chords as well. For the verses she uses a repeated note to symbolize that nagging feeling of heartbreak and then after in the chorus she uses more broken notes but still somehow connected together and it forms this messed up composition. The bridge is perhaps my favorite part of the song because here she releases herself and completely breaks free of the structure of the song she had so far. The chords are well connected, no nagging sound and everything sounds like freedom and driving down a highway at 3 am. She then ends the song bringing everything back to a whisper in her head voice. She’s got some high notes in her voice. She definitely has to be a soprano. This song is my favorite off the album apart from Happier.
'Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street”
Track 4: 1 step forward, 3 steps back
Now, this song has a backstory and I’m going to share it with you guys. The melody you hear is very similar to another song you know by the icon herself, Taylor Swift. Basically what happened is that Olivia went through a process called interpolation. Interpolation is in layman’s terms the process of using a melody from an already existing song and using it in your own way, like if you were asked to summarize a book in English class. Stating the main idea in your own words. The music she used was from Taylor Swift’s song on her album Reputation called New Years Day. ANd what’s even more interesting to hear is the way she used the music. If you don’t know why Taylor is re-recording her albums, you’ve been living under a rock. Just kidding. But in all seriousness, there’s a man who owns Big Machine Records and in turn owns the masters to Taylor’s discography. That man is Scooter Braun. When someone listens to Taylor’s first six albums, they give royalties to Scooter because she was signed to that label for those albums. I’m not going to go too much into detail but what Olivia did was use that music but not the exact version that Scooter owns. She played the melody on her own with her piao in order to give credit and royalties to the original and deserving songwriters Taylor and her producer Jack Antonoff. That honestly made me so glad because you do what’s right all the time. It’s our job to be kind and considerate and give credit where credit is due.
Let’s get to the actual production point of the song. It’s very simplistic production wise with just Taylor’s piano melody in the verses and what I found really cool was that in the chorus Olivia completely changed the melody and turned it into something back and forth if that makes sense. She starts off the song with the lyrics, “called you on the phone today, just to ask you how you were”. She does this thing I really like where she talks and sings it’s very much a storytelling vibe where you don’t get the rigid lyric being sung and it’s got this emotion and passion that makes you feel like you’re the boyfriend and she’s talking to you specifically. It’s something I really admire about all her songs. She makes them feel personal while we know absolutely nothing about the story. Overall, the song talks about a back and forth relationship, where you don’t know exactly where you stand and it sucks. You don’t know if it’s you or them that’s creating that barrier but you know it’s not good and you want to leave but it’s the only thing you’ve ever known so why on Earth would you leave?
Fav Lyric: “And maybe in some masochistic way, I kind of find it all exciting
Like which lover will I get today, will you walk me to the door or send me home crying”
Track 5: Deja Vu
I don’t know if it’s just me, but when this song came out I feel like not everyone liked it as well as Drivers License, but I’m not sure. Why don’t you let me know? Deja Vu was the 2nd single to be released after DL and is a bop. I think this song was that time where people judged what came after DL and tried to discredit Olivia saying she could only make one good song, a one hit wonder if you will. I’ve noticed that people like to do that to a lot of artists who breakout with one song. They have a tendency to not recognize the other projects the artist has put out and instead associate them with the one song that made them popular. Personally, I think those people are missing out.
This song starts out very slow with a mixture of a Wurlitzer and toy piano and goes back and forth between two notes. It’s almost psychedelic because of how magical and slow it is. The song is obviously about the concept of deja vu and I think it was a great way to talk about a breakup and the feelings you have when you see your ex do the same thing with their new partner they did with you. It honestly kind of sucks seeing that happen right in front of your eyes. The pre chorus of the song that just explains deja vu to us listeners goes like: “That was the show we talked about, played you the song she’s singing now when she’s with you, do you get deja vu” That honestly just hits differently. The chorus took me by surprise though. Listening to it the first time, I thought it was a different song. It sounds very crunchy like distortion on a guitar but it’s a Mellotron. I remember watching Olivia and her producer break down the song on Rolling Stone’s Youtube channel and that was a really rad video, maybe check it out after this. And in all honesty, I really must commend the producer. He’s out here doing the damn thing and has only worked with a couple artists after his own band. He really is so very talented and I can’t wait to see his future projects. By the way, he works with Conan Gray so if you listen to him, make sure to listen to Conan’s newest song Jigsaw. It just came out and it is so good.
The bridge is perhaps the one who stole the show, not just because of how good it is, but because of the drama that was created. Personally, I hate drama, I don’t think it adds something positive to anything, but it exists and there will always be people who detest someone who has talent. Basically, what was going around was that the bridge of Deja Vu was very similar to the bridge of Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift. If you don’t know, Taylor is one of Olivia’s main inspirations for music as she is to a whole lot of us. While the bridge may have a similar feel, that doesn’t give anyone the right to say that Olivia has no talent when clearly she does. You can’t say she copies anyone because that’s what music is about. We’re all reusing ideas and the real talent is being able to mold it into something unique that belongs to you and that’s exactly what Olivia did. So, to any hater out there, your points are proven irrelevant because any REAL musician will know that what I’m saying and countless others are saying is right.
Fav Lyric: “That was our place, I found it first, I made the jokes, you tell to her, when she’s with you ”
Track 6: Good 4 U
‘Good 4 U, I guess you moved on really easily’ are the opening lyrics of this pop punk song that was the third released single for SOUR and it came with a banger music video, in it had nods to The Princess Diaries and Jennifer’s Body all directed by Petra Collins, an incredible director. It’s clear that Olivia has a range with her music and that was flawlessly demonstrated with these three singles she put out.
The verses of the song are very fast paced, kind of leaning into talking. The instrumental is so simple, which really showcases her vocals. It’s a very nice sounding electric guitar that is accompanied by drums in the last part leading up to the chorus exploding into a full 2000s pop grunge sound that sounds like it belongs in 10 things I hate about you. I think this song really gave off nostalgia from the early 2000s and late 90s. It’s something that I really appreciate about the song. Vocally, I think this is the hardest song to sing on the album and because of that, I also really love her live performances of this song. It just furthermore demonstrates her vocal capabilities.
The bridge of the song is a slow stop to the very fast paced song with the lyrics, ‘maybe i’m too emotional, but your apathy’s like a wound in salt, maybe i’m too emotional or maybe you never cared at all’. Wth these lyrics, it’s a way to slow down and reveal some amazing lyrics before getting to the final chorus. Overall, the song doesn’t have much to it and that’s good. It’s got live instruments, good lyrics and it’s catchy. It’s one of my favorites off the album, which I’ve probably said about every song.
Fav Lyric: “Maybe I’m too emotional but your apathy’s like a wound in salt”
Track 7: Enough of You
This song was perhaps the most emotionally draining song to sing and listen to just because it perfectly represents the feelings both teenagers and adults have. Feelings of insecurity, hope, and sadness are all packed into this guitar ballad. Production wise, it is VERY laid back. It’s played on an acoustic guitar with only three chords and the same pattern throughout the whole song with no extra effects on the instruments or her voice. It’s just her raw voice and that to me is just incredible. If you didn’t know by the name of the title, the premise of the song is not feeling like you’re enough for somebody, It doesn't even have to be about a lover and that’s what great about it. So many people can relate to this with a parent or friend or a lover or themselves honestly. You give so much and all you get back is rejection. Feeling like you’re not enough can be mentally draining and when she says, ‘I’d say you broke my heart, but you broke much more than that, Now I don’t want your sympathy I just want myself back’ that hits.You’re tired of feeling this way and at this point you just want to go back to yourself when you were confident and didn’t try to get validation from anyone. I honestly love this song because of the lyrics. That’s what makes me cry. The complete and total honesty of opening yourself up to the public. That’s what everyone wants. To know a songwriter’s being honest and brave enough to share something about themselves.
Fav Lyric: “Don’t you think I loved you too much to be used and discarded? Don’t you think I loved you too much to think I deserve nothing?”
Track 8: Happier
I remember listening to the 1 minute version of Happier on Olivia’s instagram in 2019, when she was only 16. I was just in awe at how a 16 year old could show emotions so well and bring out some amazing lyrics that could make a grown man cry. Those lyrics were still put in the studio version as the second verse and I’m so glad she decided to do that. Good choice. The song starts out with this lovely piano and with chords that sound so magical and then her voice comes up and just adds like the cherry on top. Her first lyrics are, ‘We broke up a month ago, your friends are mine, you know I know you’ve moved on, found someone new, one more girl who brings out the better in you’. Right from the beginning we get a sense of their relationship. Obviously, they’ve broken up but they have those common friends that makes them continue to know about each other and because of this, she knows he’s found a new girl to be with through the grapevine. But then we get that feeling of insecurity again when she says, ‘One more girl who brings out the better in you’. We see that this character in the songs feels like she couldn’t bring out a good side in her ex and that’s why he left her. It’s her fault. This is the recurring theme in this project along with a few others, but basically doubting yourself and your abilities when you’re insecure about anything. The entire verse had this beautiful melody that I could listen to for hours and the chorus was just everything I would want it to be. It included the original lyrics from her little 1 minute song and that just made me so happy, so nostalgic. The bridge was a nice little vocal break filled with ooh’s. It sounds like it belongs at the gates of heaven. Overall, the song has a very simple idea to it, but if you dig deeper you’ll find different problems this character is going through, it’s not just a breakup. It’s her grappling with herself and the aftermath she’s left with.
Fav Lyric: “And do you tell her she’s the most beautiful girl you've ever seen, an eternal love bullshit you know you’ll never mean, remember when I believed, you meant it when you said it first to me?”
Track 9: Jealousy, Jealousy
Have you ever watched a TV show or movie or even been to high school or walked down the street, or used social media? I’m guessing you have. It’s all around us. We have been so wired to care about what other girls do. We see the girls who are blonde, skinny, have money, privilege and we wonder why can’t we be like them? I know for a fact when I was younger and sometimes now, I dealt with that. I’m Hispanic, with tan skin and not a lot of money, so it didn’t make sense for me to think I was going to be successful, but that was just me undermining my talent. But to me, I was never going to be like those girls, so I was never going to be successful. But then one day, I decided to write my own success story. One that girls like me would read and have hope for their own future. That’s what I aspire to do. I aspire to inspire.
That’s what the whole song is about. Jealousy of these Instagram “worthy” girls with ‘paper white teeth and perfect bodies’ and their ‘cool vintage clothes and vacation photos’. It’s funny. I’ve realized that no matter what, there will always be jealousy behind looks and material things as long as we don’t break the cycle. Because just like Olivia is jealous of these girls, someone out there is jealous of Olivia. It’s all connected so my question is why can’t we just redefine what success looks like and how people become successful? I personally don’t think it’s fair that there’s a certain type of person that can be considered to be successful and when someone doesn’t fit into that category, their hard work is undermined and not taken seriously. And this is in every field of work. It doesn’t matter where. There is discrimination in the workplace and it’s our job as the kids of the future to help make this problem disappear. All we’re asking is to be treated as equals. To not feel like success means you’re only a certain skin color, with certain body silhouettes and only with a boyfriend just because of what’s portrayed in front of us everyday. I opt to make social media a place to communicate and help each other rather than turn it into a competition for the most likes on a single post or the most followers on each platform. Social media is toxic and we are the ones who can fix the problem.
Fav Lyric: “All your friends are so cool, you go out every night, in your daddy’s nice car, yeah you’re living the life, got a pretty face pretty boyfriend too, I wanna be you so bad and I don’t even know you”
Track 10: Favorite Crime
It’s interesting to think about. When you’re in a bad relationship, and you know it, you want to get rid of it, but there’s something that’s got a hold on you emotionally. And when it ends in the worst way, you feel like there’s no one to blame but yourself because ‘ I was your willing accomplice, honey’. This song shows just that. A relationship where the girl feels like it was her fault for letting things get to the way they were. She says, ‘Know that I loved you so bad, I let you treat me like that’. Favorite Crime is the tragic love story we never wanted but we got it anyway. Overall, production wise the song is simple as well, like lots of the ballads on the album but again the lyrics are what you should pay attention to. I think when there’s a good story you forget there’s not alot of instrumentation going on and you get lost in the story you’re being told.
Fav Lyric: “Everything we broke and all the trouble that we made, but I say that I hate you with a smile on my face”
Track 11: Hope Ur Ok
When I first heard about this song, everybody was saying it was the most emotional, the hardest to listen to, and after the first listen they were right. The song had me balling and I still cry everytime I listen to it. It focuses in the verses on two past friends that were going through some struggles and she’s encouraging them to continue living because she’s proud they were created. She just sings the lyrics like words of encouragement and it can make you sob uncontrollably the way she cares about these friends. The bridge however just hits you like a hurricane. It’s just her voice amplified and it’s a bit of a break with some amazing lyrics.
Fav Lyric: “Address the letters to the holes in my butterfly wings”
The song ends on a completely different note than the first song(Brutal). It’s melancholic and a feeling of hope and sadness for yourself and your loved ones. You’ve been through alot and you just hope that they're ok, hanging in there. I think it’s a great closer to an album and only further proves how this album is one of the best of 2021. I’m gonna say, 2021 was Olivia’s year. She’s come so far and done so much as a debut artist and the progress she’s had shows the huge future she has coming.
Comments