"you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love" - Olivia Rodrigo
- Abigail Mornhinweg
- 13 minutes ago
- 8 min read
You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, the highly-anticipated third album from Olivia Rodrigo, has been released to mass praise and features many firsts for Rodrigo and fans. While the newest evolution of Rodrigo’s artistry may be here, it’s a natural level-up from Guts and Sour, both expanding Rodrigo’s discography and Rodrigo’s self-awareness. While some may have been expecting a full love album, Rodrigo continues to surprise each and every time she releases an album. While Girl So in Love may not be everyone's expectations, Rodrigo's versatility and her growth within her artistry are apparent throughout the album, both strengths that make her third record her best yet.
TRACKLIST
drop dead
stupid song
honeybee
maggots for brains
u + me = <3
my way
purple
the cure
begged
what's wrong with me
less
expectations
cigarette smoke
Throughout her career, Rodrigo has found herself at the focus of love speculation and relationship drama in the tabloids, as her debut single, “Driver’s License” focused on the fallout between her and Joshua Bassett, her co-star from High School Musical:The Musical: The Series and ex-partner. So when her private-but-known relationship with Louis Partridge had fans imagining what their marriage would be like, it was no shock that when the news of their breakup hit social media timelines that fans were speculating as to whether Rodrigo would push the album release back, as Girl So in Love was rumored to be full of love songs about Partridge. Fans thought wrong.
You Seem Pretty Sad for A Girl So in Love is Rodrigo’s first attempt at a conceptual album, following a relationship from the first date to the fallout of the breakup. Split into two parts, Girl So in Love and You Seem Pretty Sad, Rodrigo’s songwriting throughout the album tells a cohesive story, with foreshadowing, motifs, and feminine intuition that litter the songs within the release.
drop dead
The first single off of You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, the kick-off to the Girl So in Love section of the album, and the first track of the whole album, “drop dead” finds Rodrigo at the beginning of a relationship. The honeymoon phase, daydreaming about the future, whatever the listener's preference of name is, Rodrigo finds herself reliving a daydream within her new relationship and hoping the night she describes in the song never ends. When listening to “drop dead,” Rodrigo’s romanticization of her partner comes into full-force for the first time in the album, but it certainly won’t be the last. Encapsulating the excitement of a first date, “drop dead” is perfect to dance out jitters while getting ready for dinner with someone new.
stupid song
“Stupid song” is the newest single off of You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, and with it the escalation of feelings Rodrigo shares for her partner becomes apparent. Not being able to find the words she wants to express her feelings within any love song, Rodrigo decided to take matters into her own hands, writing “stupid song” to get her words right. Both an escalation of her feelings and an escalation of Dan Nigro’s production within the song, “stupid song” catches both adrenaline and Rodrigo’s point of view within her relationship. A declaration of love and feelings, “stupid song” is, at one point, going to end up within a romantic comedy.
honeybee
“Honeybee” has become one of my standouts from both the Girl So in Love section and the album as a whole. Initially hyped by Rodrigo as one of her favorite songs from the album, there’s a want to believe in love after listening to “honeybee.” Described by Rodrigo as a first dance song for newly-weds, there’s a captured naivety within “honeybee” that becomes apparent throughout the rest of the album, and while this naivety brings a linger of hurt on later listen-throughs; yet, at the same time, Rodrigo finds the balance within naivety and beauty of innocence—something that’s not yet ruined is something to be celebrated, not filled of fear.
maggots for brains
“Maggots for brains” is upbeat, synthy, and tells the beginning of an anxious-avoidant relationship. While Rodrigo goes throughout the Girl So in Love section retelling the best parts of the relationship, “maggots for brains” starts raising red flags that Rodrigo can’t find within her rose-tinted glasses. A “sad shell of a woman” without her partner, Rodrigo starts to feel incomplete without her person; however, when Rodrigo tells it, there’s a certain glow about the world when she and her partner are together. Without them, the world’s dull and everything’s boring and moldy. Getting to the point where Rodrigo is wishing for a tragedy so that she can see her partner, listeners can start to pick up both emotional dependence and Rodrigo’s lost sense of self that’ll continue throughout the album.
u + me = <3
While this may be my lowest-ranked song within the album, don’t let that distract you from how this song is still great. Rodrigo fills the song with different romantic gestures typically seen in movie montages that expand the relationship timeline, something that’s cheekily cliche and made me swoon while listening to You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love for the first time. While some may have questioned the title at first (me included), Rodrigo fits it seamlessly into the chorus, sounding like she’s narrating the doodles on the corner of her journal. Reminiscent of carving initials into a tree with a heart surrounding them (much like the album’s cover), Rodrigo finds herself both a romantic and a living movie-trope.
my way
A complete turn-around of subjects, Rodrigo changes the subject of the song to someone other than her partner. “My way” turns out to be about a girl who seems to be romantically interested in her partner. The dreaded girl best friend is a stereotype within relationship drama, yet, Rodrigo finds herself dealing with one herself. “My way” finds its way into a genre of songs that tells other girls to buzz off, much like Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend” and Paramore’s “Misery Business,” but Rodrigo’s entry into this subject is all her own. Rodrigo's versatility throughout her last eras follows her into Girl So in Love, a trait not to be overlooked.
purple
The transitional piece from the Girl So in Love section to the You Seem Pretty Sad section of the album, Rodrigo not only addresses the growth within her relationship but also references her own past, where her last two eras were centered around the color purple. While centering on how much the relationship has grown from "drop dead," from Rodrigo having a favorite florist and grocery store in her partner's town to coats and toothbrushes now coming in doubles, Rodrigo goes throughout the song infected by the way her partner sees the world, combining their red to his blue to make purple; however, Rodrigo starts to mention the color black in the outro of the song, questioning if she were too attached and if the relationship feels flat. This transitory track not only shows the cracks of the relationship through the lyrics, but also throughout the production of the track, setting listeners on edge as the enter into the second half of the album and the relationship.
the cure
The start of the You Seem Pretty Sad section of the album, the second single released off of the album, and one of my top songs from the album, "the cure" hurts in a way that shouldn't be possible. Rodrigo's self-awareness becomes the crutch of "the cure," centering in on her own problems that was thought to be solved by the right kind of love within a relationship, but coming to the realization that she needs to be the one to stitch herself up rather than her partner. A progression of power mirroring overthinking and the spirals one may face within a relationship if not secure, "the cure" serves as the albums emotional thesis and serves as the perfect anthem for those fighting against anxious-attachment styles to become more secure within their relationships.
begged
"Begged," premiered at The Echo during a secret show and debuted to the public on Saturday Night Live on May 2nd, captures the feeling of trying to be patient while struggling when a partner tries to learn. A heart stopper on the tracklist, "begged" creates an all-too-familiar feeling of running the risk of waiting for someone to be better while you suffer. While Rodrigo holds onto hope throughout the relationship, her partner's carelessness starts dwindling it away. While that this may be a good relationship, Rodrigo is left unsatisfied when she has to beg for the good experiences within her relationship to happen.
what's wrong with me
My personal favorite song off of the album, "what's wrong with me" centers on the feeling of guilt for being depressed while being in a happy relationship. Not only does Rodrigo captures complexity of "needing" to be happy within the song beautifully, this song also has her first feature within any of her discography. Who is this feature? Well, it's simply Robert Smith, co-founder and lead vocalist of The Cure, a band that's mentioned throughout the rest of the album. The guilt and depression captured through different snapshots in the lyrics hit close to home, as Rodrigo puts her vulnerability first throughout the album, hoping that her partner isn't what's wrong, but it's looking like it is.
less
"Less" comes in at the relationships end, trying to recreate the moments in which they were happy, only to be confirmed that the relationship is taking away from the couple's happiness rather than adding to it. Armed with the knowledge that the relationship is ending soon, Rodrigo wishes that her partner loved her less so that it would hurt less than it did. The peak of You Seem Pretty Sad, Rodrigo acknowledges the end of the relationship and her partner's actions throughout it, actions Rodrigo acknowledges as noble throughout the song. The fallout of the relationship falling apart is something that I wish no one experiences, but there's a beauty in the way Rodrigo captures it, with the hope that the problems will be fixed on their own and the relationship will fluctuate back to happiness again.
expectations
While "less" may have been the end of the relationship, "expectations" has listeners meeting Rodrigo prioritizing herself after the relationship. While it may have taken a couple of months, Rodrigo finally feels secure within herself and prioritizes her own sense of self over any guy. A jumpscare of happiness within the You Seem Pretty Sad sections of the album, listeners should be warned of the whiplash of going from "less" and immediately into "expectations." Listeners should also be warned that they may be helpless to jump around and find "expectations" to be the self-help anthem of the summer.
cigarette smoke
While "expectations" may have lead listeners to believe Rodrigo was completely over her ex-partner, the hurt still remains. "Cigarette smoke" finds Rodrigo struggling to find herself not hurting from the relationship she shared throughout the album. With callbacks to both "begged" and "honeybee," Rodrigo finds herself both blaming her ex-partner for their actions and herself for letting it happen. Begging for her time back, Rodrigo finds herself suffering through reliving the emotional intensity of the relationship, knowing that her ex-partner will never see her sorrow. A painful closer for You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, the memories shared between Rodrigo and the listener throughout the album grow dark with each new song listened to, not only bringing together the full album, but tainting the Girl So in Love section of the album with the knowledge of what's to come for Rodrigo's relationship.
While Rodrigo may have found herself within a relationship that looked perfect on paper and within the tabloids, what the general public didn't know was Rodrigo's loss of self and the journey to get herself back would be the emotional centerpiece of this album. Both an album about romanticizing a relationship during the honeymoon phase and the loss of happiness when anxious-avoidant tendencies start to come into play, Rodrigo has created her best album to date.
Written By Abby Mornhinweg
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