Olivia Rodrigo's highly anticipated sophomore album, titled GUTS, came out on Friday, September 8th — and I have so many opinions about it. Whenever an album comes out from an artist I already really like, I usually feel underwhelmed after my first listen. It sometimes takes a while for an album to grow on me, but once I have time to digest the songs better and I free myself from the expectation I set of wanting to absolutely love every single song, I can actually figure out what I like about it and what I don’t. I think I was initially underwhelmed because GUTS is not SOUR, but what I have better realized since listening to it more is that it isn’t trying to be. There are definitely some songs on GUTS that are reminiscent of SOUR – emotional, vulnerable ballads with lyrics that people of all ages can relate to – but I don’t think Rodrigo intended for people to connect with GUTS for the same reasons they connected with SOUR. The songs are not just honest about heartbreak and sadness, but also about the changes in Rodrigo’s life after her rise to stardom. It’s very 19-year-old-pop star in a way that I honestly first found a little cringe, but I now understand was an intentional choice to separate herself from the expectations that SOUR created for her music. All this being said, my two favorite songs on the album are still the emotionally vulnerable ballads. What can I say – I have a type!
lacy
"Lacy" is an acoustic ballad about an intense obsession, insecurity, and envy that Rodrigo feels towards another person who is very feminine. Rodrigo is caught in a constant back-and-forth between loving and hating “lacy”, who is the subject of the song. She sees “lacy” as this perfect person who she isn’t sure if she wishes she could be or if she wishes she could be with. She describes how “lacy” likely doesn’t even know that Rodrigo feels this way because she’s “watching, hidden in plain sight.” This song describes such a specific and unique emotion that I don’t think I could put into any other words if I tried. It’s kind of like the 2023 teenage-girl-specific version of “Girl Crush” by Little Big Town, which I think is a more universally relatable song, but maybe why I like this song (and largely why I like the album) is because it isn’t for everyone, just for those of us who know all too well what this feels like.
Favorite Lyric:
“And I despise my jealous eyes
and how hard they fell for you,
Yeah, I despise my rotten mind
and how much it worships you”
making the bed
"Making the bed" is a slow-sounding acoustic pop ballad that explores the feeling of finally getting the thing you’ve always wanted, but it doesn’t feel like you thought it would. We all know that fame is heavily glamorized and that there are downsides that come with the opportunities granted to people who are known all over the world. In this song, Rodrigo describes the dissociation she is experiencing in her life because every day, her life feels and becomes more and more superficial. She talks about “getting drunk at a club with [her] fair-weather friends,” which paints a picture of a life that appears shiny and alluring but actually feels very empty. Rodrigo’s debut album SOUR came out over two years ago and was massively successful, but this song shows how achieving that success changed her life in negative ways as well as positive ones.
Favorite Lyric:
it's just not what I imagined”
teenage dream
"Teenage Dream" is an acoustic pop piano ballad with raw, brutally honest lyrics. This song was the perfect way to end GUTS because, to me, it felt like Rodrigo was speaking directly to the listener who just finished the album and is having thoughts about it. When I got to this song during my first full listen to the album, I had very mixed feelings about the album as a whole. It was very different from SOUR, and I didn’t know if I liked that. In this song, Rodrigo basically says “Hey, I know this album is really different and that you might not like it. Maybe you’re wondering if it will be successful or if I’ve already hit my peak as an artist. Do you think my career will only go downhill from here? I’m really sorry if it does.” I love how the instruments in the song pick up on the second bridge because I think it emphasizes how she not only feels scared about the future, but also angry, frustrated, overworked, and exhausted. If the whole song is Rodrigo crying, that part in the bridge is when she starts screaming as the tears run down her face. The song ends with the acoustic piano returning after the chaotic sound abruptly ends, and a recording of Rodrigo laughing with her producer and his baby. I think this is a beautiful way to end this song because the young, innocent baby contrasts with the song's themes of getting older, losing one’s innocence, and moving into the future.
Favorite Lyric:
“Got your whole life ahead of you, you're only nineteen,
But I fear that they already got all the best parts of me”
was waiting for the blog post on this ablum! did not disappoint :D
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