After two years of SOUR, Olivia Rodrigo is back with her new album GUTS, which was released on September 8th, 2023.
She released her two singles, “vampire” and “bad idea right?” before the album release, and they instantly went viral. Olivia Rodrigo is seen as the queen of teenage girl music and this album does that name justice. Here’s a song by song breakdown of one of the most anticipated albums of the year.
“all american b*tch”: 9/10
Rodrigo starts out the album strong with a new style. The song starts out slow and then out of nowhere goes into a rock style. Towards the end of the song she just starts screaming and then goes back to that slow style, which I really love.
Best Lyric: I pay attention to things most people ignore.
“bad idea right?”: 9/10
As one of the most popular songs on tiktok currently, this song expresses how seeing an ex boyfriend is a bad idea, but she wants to do it anyway. Throughout the song she goes between talking and singing which is perfect for this song. It’s pop perfection.
Best Lyric: Now I’m gettin’ in the car, wreckin’ all my plans. I know I should stop, but I can’t.
“vampire”: 9/10
This is the first single Rodrigo released for this album. In this song Rodrigo reminisces about a toxic ex boyfriend. The song is slower and gets more fast paced as it reaches the bridge. The bridge is one of her catchiest and best.
Best Lyric: You can’t love anyone, ‘cause that would mean you had a heart.
“lacy”: 6/10
This is my least favorite song on the album. Within the song, Rodrigo expresses her jealousy for a girl named Lacy. It’s really slow and as someone who prefers lyrics over music, the lyrics don’t stick out to me like in her other songs.
Best Lyric: Like perfume that you wear, I linger all the time.
“ballad of a homeschooled girl”: 8/10
In this song Rodrigo describes what it’s like to be a homeschooler. Throughout the song she describes it as “social suicide.” She experiments with the rock style again which I love for her.
Best Lyric: I laughed at the wrong time, sat with the wrong guy searchin “how to start a conversation?” on a website.
“making the bed”: 10/10
This is my personal favorite off the album. The lyricism in this song is one of the best she’s done. The transition into each time the chorus is sung is done perfectly.
Best Lyric: Every good thing has turned into something I dread.
“logical”: 8/10
This song takes us back to Rodrigo’s SOUR days. She expresses how much an ex messed her up that she’s not thinking logically anymore. This slow paced song allows Olivia’s anger to shine through in lyric form.
Best Lyric: And now you got me thinkin’ two plus two equals five and I’m the love of your life.
“get him back!”: 7/10
I didn’t like it at first because it reminded me of a Disney Channel song, but it grew on me. This is a double meaning song about wanting to get back with an ex to get back at him. The bridge of the song isn’t lyrically great like how I like my songs, but it’s very catchy and upbeat.
Best Lyric: Yeah, I pour my little heart out, but as I’m hitting “send” I picture all the faces of my disappointed friends.
“love is embarrassing”: 7/10
In this pop style song, Rodrigo expresses how embarrassing it is to be in love because it never lasts. The song is repetitive but very catchy. I don’t like the way she cuts off the song at the end, but it’s a good song.
Best Lyric: I’m plannin’ out my wedding with some guy I’m never marryin’.
“the grudge”: 10/10
This is one of her best produced songs. Rodrigo sings about how hard it is getting over her ex because of how bad she was treated. It has some of her best lyricism and the music goes perfectly with it.
Best Lyric: And I know in my heart hurt people hurt people and we both drew blood, but, man, those cuts were never equal.
“pretty isn’t pretty”: 10/10
The lyrics in this song describe how almost every teenage girl feels. Rodrigo describes how no matter what you do you’ll never be pretty enough. Listening to the lyrics instead of the music will really touch you.
Best Lyric: You can win the battle, but you’ll never win the war. Fix the things you hated
and you’d still feel so insecure.
“teenage dream”: 10/10
This is another one of my personal favorites. In this song Rodrigo expresses how drained teenagers feel even if they still have their whole life ahead of them. The lyricism is great in this song. The ending where she repeats “they all say that it gets better” is wonderfully produced.
Best Lyric: Yeah, they all say that it gets better, it gets better, but what if I don’t?
