After two years of waiting for a new album, singer Olivia Rodrigo finally released her sophomore album, GUTS, on September 8th. Fans were ecstatic for the release, since Rodrigo’s first album was a hit. Rodrigo rose to fame after releasing a breakup song called drivers license. From there, her fame continued to grow. Break up songs became the new make-up. And let me just say, GUTS was filled with breakup songs.
all-american b****
Kicking off GUTS with a nice pop song that’s giving 2000s, “all-american b—-” talks about feeling as if you are misplaced in American society. Rodrigo is trying hard to fit in American culture. Later, she realizes that she is perfect the way she is stating, “I’m grateful all the time; I’m sexy, and I’m kind.” You can truly feel her emotions being conveyed in the lyrics. Her struggle with identity may resonate with many high school students as they don’t know where to fit in.
bad idea right?
The second track of the album is giving “brutal” vibes and I’m here for it. “bad idea right?” is expressing the struggle of still having feelings for an ex lover. It takes you through the story of trying to cover up feelings for your ex. Rodrigo lies to her friends about seeing her ex saying that she “only [sees] him as a friend” and that was the “biggest lie [she’s] ever said”.
vampire
Released on June 30th, a couple months before GUTS, was Rodrigo’s top song on Spotify, “vampire”. “vampire” is speculated to be about Rodrigo’s former relationship with American DJ, Zack Bia. The song consists of so much emotion, especially the bridge of the song. It is one to scream at the top of your lungs. Rodrigo sings about how she was so misled about who her partner really was. It is honestly such a beautiful song and her voice is absolutely amazing in this style. She even speeds it up when she questions how he called what they had true love if he didn’t have a heart, and that line is so real. It can apply to friends or high school romance.
lacy
“lacy”, being my personal favorite of the album, is basically “jealousy, jealousy’s” softer twin sister. It deals with the comparisons Rodrigo makes when she sees other women, this woman being Lacy. The obsession with comparison became so grand that it seemed like the plot of a toxic romance movie. Rodrigo calls her mind “rotten” for despising Lacy. I feel as if comparison and jealousy are common feelings amongst high schoolers. Insecurities get the best of us and comparing ourselves is what society has taught us to do.
ballad of a homeschooled girl
Two words for you: social anxiety. “ballad of a homeschooled girl” is all about not being able to fit in after being homeschooled, and even if you haven’t been homeschooled, it’s still easy to empathize with this song. Rodrigo sings about sitting with “the wrong crowd” and laughing at “the wrong time”. She refers to those mistakes as “social suicide”. She talks about all the things that made other’s wince at her actions. It resonated with me a lot knowing how it is to feel awkward around people, and not knowing how to fit in.
making the bed
Another artist opens up on how fame can really change your reality. “making the bed” is one of the most raw and real songs Rodrigo has written. Her fame has come to a point where she’s pushed people away, and doesn’t want to feel anymore. Her anxiety leads to recurring dreams. She describes the love she gets as a “tourist attraction”. She expresses how at the end of the day, these are all consequences for her actions, which is why the title is inspired by the saying, “you’ve made your bed, now lie in it”.
logical
“logical” is a soft ballad discussing topics of manipulation and vulnerability in a relationship. Rodrigo talks about how she always felt as if their relationship was never logical, hence the song title. She talks about how her ex was manipulative and had her thinking things that weren’t true. Rodrigo expresses how she felt “stupid” believing his lies. It is yet again another song that could be interpreted for ex-friends or just ex’s. They say one thing and make you believe it even if it’s not true.
get him back!
New breakup revenge anthem is here! “get him back!” is a description of Rodrigo’s plan to make her ex jealous. Her lyrics state “I wanna make him really jealous, wanna make him feel bad”. The bridge of the song talks about her plan to make his life miserable and play him. Before hearing the song, I would’ve thought it would’ve been a soft song of her begging him to come back, but it is so much better than that!
love is embarrassing
“love is embarrassing” goes through the emotional rollercoaster of a teenage romance. It honestly has you on the edge of your seats listening to a romance unfold. Rodrigo sings about how she did so much for him, even going as far as giving him space and waiting for him after he kissed another girl. She expresses how the love she felt for him is meaningless now, and it’s not worth loving a “weird, second string loser”. At the end of the song, Rodrigo realizes that he wasn’t worth anything.
the grudge
“the grudge” is –in my opinion– the saddest song of the whole album. Rodrigo sings about how worthless she felt during and after the relationship. She expresses that the number one feeling she has is confusion. She doesn’t understand how “anybody could do the things [he] did so easily”? She talks about how she wants to forgive but it takes so much energy, and she doesn’t feel ready yet. This one hit me like a truck. It was so raw and real. It left me in awe.
pretty isn’t pretty
The second to last track on GUTS, is probably the one that resonated the most to me, and I’m sure many others can relate to it. “pretty isn’t pretty” discusses insecurities and following beauty standards will never make you feel enough. It’s saying that no matter how much you change, society will never see you as enough. The bridge is so accurate as it says, “I chased some dumb ideal my whole f—ing life And none of it matters, and none of it ends.You just feel like s— over and over again”, which is so true! No matter what you do society and standards keep changing but you’re enough, no matter what.
teenage dream
“teenage dream” is Rodrigo’s raw feelings and emotions on growing up under a spotlight. She mentions how she feels as if society already “got all the best parts of [her]”. She apologies for not being able to live up to the standard. Her chorus also kind of alludes to one of the songs on her SOUR album, brutal. The line in “brutal” says “I’m so sick of seventeen/where’s my f—ing teenage dream”, and “teenage dream” says “Got your whole life ahead of you, you’re only nineteen/I’m sorry that I couldn’t always be your teenage dream”. I find the allusion to her previous song so meaningful since it shows how much her and her music have grown.
Overall, I think GUTS was a hit. It takes you through the story of Rodrigo’s previous relationships. She mixes up the style of her music, incorporating more pop-rock songs. It has a beautiful variety of songs that will constantly be stuck in your head. It starts with a perfect song to lead you into the rollercoaster of emotions, and ends on a perfect note with a more personal, soft song.
