In the summer of 2024, I went through a pretty bad breakup, and the comfort artist I turned to at the time was Olivia Rodrigo.
I began listening to her music in 2021 when her first album, “SOUR,” came out. But now, for the first time ever, I was experiencing her music through the lens of a shattered heart.
Somehow through her lyricism, I was able to learn life lessons and simultaneously feel understood by another girl my age.
I want to spotlight a couple of her songs that have shaped who I am today. “stranger,” released as a bonus track in her second album “GUTS,” is about how she woke up one morning and had a weight off her chest because the moment had finally come, a moment when all the storm clouds of her past finally subsided. The lyrics write a story of a girl who had felt less than whole when someone left her but, now, she finally feels complete again, which is what happens when you lose anyone in life. I think everyone can relate to loss, and this song is a beautiful listen. Also, if you’re like me, it’s a nice cry as well.
Further in the song, Rodrigo reminisces about all the silly things she did to “earn someone’s love.” However, looking back, she can’t imagine ever doing all that stuff “for just some guy.” At the same time, she realizes she needed this loss to grow as a person, singing, “There’s nothing left for me to know. I had to stay, and you had to go.”
This next line might be my favorite lyric of all time. Concluding the bridge of the song, “And if I’m not enough for you, you’re not enough for me.” It is such a touching way to say you are enough and, if someone doesn’t think that, they quite simply aren’t enough for you.
Now, I want to redirect to a more angsty piece of hers, “love is embarrassing.” This song was not only my top song of 2024, according to Spotify, but its choreography even went viral on TikTok. This style of song is what made Rodrigo so popular. The piece mixes electric guitar heavy music with a shout-along chorus, being the perfect anthem for teenage girl angst.
The song mentions a time where she believed she met “the one.” He, then, embarrasses her by kissing another girl. Rodrigo, next, waits around for him like a “goddamn fool.” Similarly to the last song mentioned, she notes how, “Now it don’t mean a thing” and makes the claim that love is embarrassing for the sole reason of what we endure when experiencing “love.”
The singer mentions how she tends to “crucify” herself for a person who is “not worth mentioning,” proving she is no longer waiting around. She develops the ability to look back at herself in those moments and find amusement in them.
Overall, Olivia Rodrigo’s music became my anchor as a voice echoing my fears, hopes and tangled feelings as I tried to make sense of my own heart.
Her third album drops June 12, and my anticipation grows with every passing day. For everyone reading this column, I hope you find a song of hers you can relate to, too. Without her music, I wouldn’t have survived my first heartbreak, friendship breakup or even the raw edges of grief.
So, that’s how three-time Grammy winner Olivia Rodrigo saved my life without even knowing it.
