For some of the world, music is free therapy. For others, it’s background noise. For those who want emotional songs they can scream, they go for music about heartbreak. Olivia Rodrigo is a 19-year-old actor, singer, and songwriter famous for her music about heartbreak. Her album “SOUR” is one many people go to so they can scream their hearts out and cry. One of the most popular songs on the album is “good 4 u.” When I first listened to the song I thought it was a good song. Even if listeners can’t relate to the songs directly they are still nice to listen to. When listening to the lyrics and paying attention to the true meaning of them they can feel the heartbreak that she feels and I think that’s really powerful that she is able to do so with just her music.
Olivia Rodrigo’s sound on some of her songs is very soothing and the type of song you can have as background music, and others are some that you listen to when you want something upbeat even if the song lyrics don’t represent that.
The sound of Rodrigo’s music is effective in making the listener feel what she says. Her music makes you feel the words in your soul and it is therapeutic in many ways, especially her faster songs. It can take you from being calm to screaming the song and that’s not a bad thing.
“No, because it’s getting old and overplayed.” said Rain Entera ’25 when asked if she liked the song “good 4 u.” It is easy to see where she is coming from because you can like a song overplay it until you no longer like it.
At one point in “good 4 u,” Rodrigo sings, “I’ve lost my mind, I’ve spent the night, crying on the floor of my bathroom / But you’re so unaffected, I really don’t get it, but I guess, good for you.” These lyrics specifically are very heartbreaking, and my take on this is that she feels as if whoever she is talking about doesn’t seem affected by the breakup while she is heartbroken over it. For a celebrity like herself to be able to be that open about her emotions is very inspiring because she is letting her younger listeners know that it’s ok to feel the way she does and that everyone feels this way at some point. I am glad that she was nominated for so many music awards in 2021 and 2022 and recognized as Woman of the Year at the 2022 Billboard Women in Music Awards.
