On Sept. 8, 2023, 20-year-old pop star Olivia Rodrigo released her sophomore album GUTS.
Her debut album SOUR, which dropped in May 2021, skyrocketed Rodrigo’s fame and has amassed over 10 billion streams on Spotify alone. It also led Rodrigo to win two Grammys: Best Pop Vocal Album and Best New Artist.
Where SOUR displays the sadness and heartbreak of a teenage girl, GUTS focuses on a young woman’s anger and transition into adulthood. Although there remain some sad, heartbreak songs on GUTS, it moves away from the ballad-heavy songs found on SOUR and instead centres around a pop-punk sound.
Longing and womanhood
Throughout GUTS, Rodrigo underlines the mental and physical struggles she experiences. Starting from track one, “all-american bitch” discusses Rodrigo’s battle of being in the spotlight. She sings about how she holds in her personality and emotions in order to be seen as an ideal woman. A clear example comes in the outro of the song, where she repeats, “I’m grateful all the time, I’m sexy and I’m kind.”
The theme continues in “pretty isn’t pretty,” which highlights her struggle with beauty and self-esteem, a theme that many young adults may relate to. Rodrigo examines the lengths she goes to in order to feel better about how she looks, but how at the end of the day, nothing ever works.
Drum-heavy “ballad of a homeschooled girl” also touches on some of Rodrigo’s insecurities, revealing her struggles with social anxiety. Throughout the song, she lists all the wrong things she does at a party and her inability to find love. In “lacy,” instead of self-esteem issues, Rodrigo comments on her jealousy of and obsession with girls she wishes she was.
Failing at love
GUTS holds many songs on the subject of Rodrigo’s failing love life. This includes two of the most notable songs on the album, “get him back!” and “bad idea right?”
“get him back!”, an upbeat pop-punk song, plays on the title of the song: Rodrigo wants to get revenge on her former lover, whilst also wanting to get back together with him.
Similarly, “bad idea right?” centres around getting back with an ex, an experience many know all too well. Rodrigo battles with two opposing reactions: the understanding that she should not be rekindling the flame with this ex, and the overwhelming feelings overtaking her common sense and preventing her from cutting him off. She repeats in the chorus, “Seeing you tonight, is a bad idea right?” but concludes, “Fuck it, it’s fine.”
As the title suggests, “love is embarrassing” also discusses Rodrigo’s floundering love life. Similar in sound to “get him back!” and “bad idea right?” Rodrigo relives the many times she stupidly fell for someone who didn’t like her back.
While the fast-paced songs make light of her flawed love life, slower songs “logical,” “vampire” and “the grudge” dive deep into true heartbreak. With lyrics like “and I know in my heart, hurt people hurt people, and we both drew blood but man, those cuts were never equal,” Rodrigo is sure to tug at listeners’ heartstrings.
Toxic relationships
For those who love screaming along to songs on SOUR, “vampire” is the song for you. Initially appearing as a slow piano ballad, it soon builds to a fast-tempoed pop song. Rodrigo seems to open up about a toxic relationship, singing, “Bloodsucker, famefucker. Bleedin’ me dry like a goddamn vampire.” She discusses the harsh details of dating someone older, singing, “went for me and not her, cause girls your age know better.”
“logical” also appears to reveal the toxicity Rodrigo faced when dating an older man, and how this love made her delusional and illogical. “the grudge” speaks about Rodrigo’s inability to move on after said relationship.
Favourites and endings
My personal favourite, “making the bed,” is a slow piano ballad centering around Rodrigo not feeling happy with where she is at in life. She plays on the saying “you made your bed, now lie in it,” which can be interpreted as revealing she believes she is at fault for what her life has become.
Rodrigo ends the album with the slow reflective song “teenage dream.” The song can be seen as a goodbye to her teenage self: throughout the verses, Rodrigo explains the struggles of being young, but in the chorus opens up about the uncertainty which arises from growing older. She feels as if her youth was wasted but also fears these may have been her best years. The songs of this album reveal the overwhelming pressure that Rodrigo faced after SOUR.
Could GUTS become more accoladed than her debut? Only time will tell.
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