r/OliviaRodrigoNeutral

What are your unpopular opinions or thoughts about Olivia, her music, her work ethic, & friends.

All sub rules still apply.

What are your popular opinions (opinions held by most) regarding Olivia, her music, her work ethic, & friends.

All sub times apply.

I've been trying to figure out why Olivia Rodrigo's music doesn't really click with me, because I'm usually a fan of mainstream pop.

My biggest issue is that her lyricism, especially on her ballads, is kind of weak. Of course, the selling point of YSPSFAGSIL is the overall narrative, but even the songs hyped up for their "genius" or "introspective" lyricism (i.e. "the cure" and all of the ballads) feel very straightforward and matter-of-fact rather than creative.

I think she's at her best on her louder, more sarcastic songs, ex. "my way," "expectations," "all-american bitch," "love is embarrassing," etc. But that also makes me wonder how much of that identity comes from Dan Nigro as a creative partner. He's clearly more than a traditional producer: Olivia has talked about him pushing her to belt the chorus of "drivers license," he plays a huge amount of the instrumentation on her records, and he's contributed to broader creative decisions (suggesting YSPSFAGSIL as the album name).

Since Dan was in a rock band, I also wonder how much of Olivia's rock sound is shaped by his instincts. On SOUR, only 2/11 (maybe 3/11, if you count "jealousy, jealousy") of her songs have rock influences. And Olivia naturally seems inclined to write ballads; all of the songs she has written independently, barring "so american," are ballads or softer pop songs.

Obviously, I'm not saying Dan "made" Olivia or that she's not talented. But I think the rock edge that distinguishes her from most of her peers is something that emerged through her collaboration with Dan, rather than something she would have arrived at naturally with any other producer. And, at least for me, I'm not sure her lyrics really hold a candle to the nuanced and interesting production of her music.

That said, I do think she and her team have an excellent artistic vision and strong branding, and she seems like a very knowledgeable and passionate artist. I'm curious whether anyone else feels this way, or if I'm missing something.

Honestly I've had thoughts about this album for the most part it's that I feel that it puts too much emphasis on the narrative over sound to the point that the second half of the album becomes a repetitive slog especially with repeated ideas like being sick in bed. It feels like the narrative matters more than how the songs sound and while I can appreciate that I can't really enjoy it. In general I preferred the first half but honeybee is just confusing both narratively and sound wise.

Like it comes just after stupid song which is basically the beginning of the relationship full of passion and obsession and then we get to Honeybee and all the passion is gone? It feels like begged part 1 like the relationship is in the rocks and it's just a matter of time for it to end.

Like she's already wondering if he's going to go, she's already hoping that the relationship will endure, she's comparing him picking her up and taking her home to a gift from god. She has to ask for him to sit with her and keep her company. It doesn't feel like she's in love it feels like she's waiting for the other shoe to drop like she's surviving on kernels of love. Doesn't help that to me she sounds like she's about to cry.

Then we go back to the super lovey relationship the very next song. Like I get that feelings of doubt could probably have been found even at the start of the relationship here it feels like they are almost the only feelings she had. Like those feelings are more present here than in purple.

Compared to the other song I feel it's a bit out of place, expectations, at least that one I feel she could be ironic or in denial? I don't feel it's ironic but if it was the intention then yeah it makes sense. With honeybee I just can't make sense of it, Honeybee feels like begged part 1 despite being so far from begged.

Sonically but not lyrically: My way

I feel that this song is completely held back by the lyrics. The “That’s it, I win” part is pretty cringe. And overall, I felt that the lyrics could’ve been way better.

Lyrically but not sonically: Bad idea, right

The lyrics are fine, nothing outstanding, but sonically, this song never grew on me.

There is nothing in the song that would make me think that was the title (besides 1 line about being a penny in a fountain). If I heard it without knowing the title it’s still obviously “begged” right

A lot of her fans are quick to say “who cares about charts?” when it comes to her music. Yet those same fans were eager to follow a DO and DON’T list on how to stream so drop dead would reach number one.

I think most artists, and especially popstars, care about the charts and succeeding at least somewhat.

Olivia definitely cared to get drop dead up there so she would break that record, but hasn’t seemed to since then try to keep it at one. Then didn’t try to get the cure or stupid song to number one at all.

I think Olivia toes the line about caring about singles. Some she wants to promote and get out there and do good but some she doesn’t. She seems more to care about the album charting. It’s gotten its second week at 1 but will that remain?

Personally, I think she cares. So it’s wild to me that the cure and, especially stupid song, weren’t sent to radio.

So what’s your opinion?

So in interviews she always & passionately said she's inspired by this artist and that and that and that, I understand being inspired is a great thing as an artist and I'm a multi-fan of music too, but it's much better to not get inspired that much.

I’ve always thought Olivia was a great storyteller but this album, she really stepped up her game, from start to finish. What are some of your favorite lyrics from Olivia’s newest album and why? One that is still sticking with me after so many listens, is “Melt with you til it all turns black” from Purple, which is also my favorite track. It’s such a visual expression of how she feels so wrapped up in her partner that it begins to almost depress her.

I know this is old news by now, but how do we feel about Olivia's partnership with Lâncome? To me, it seems disingenuous & hypocritical for someone who wrote a song like "pretty isn't pretty" to turn around & promote the very thing her art was critiquing. Like, is her label making her do it or something?? Because I can't imagine she desperately needs the money or anything. It's just not a good look imo, it shows that she's willing to abandon her supposed values the second it becomes profitable for her. Am I being overly critical? What do y'all think?

Edit: Since some people seem to be missing the point of what I was saying, I'll attempt to clarify. I don't mean wearing makeup itself is "bad" or hypocritical or anti-feminist or anything like that. The problem is, where does this feeling of "never feeling pretty enough" that she talks about in the song come from? It doesn't just "come from within." It comes from the messages & images we internalize from our external environment-- namely beauty standards & capitalism always trying to sell us something, and needing to make us feel insecure in order to get us to buy more shit. So partnering with a makeup brand to promote this is being not only complicit in this system, but actively participating in & benefitting from it. If you thought "pretty isn't pretty" was just about an entirely internal struggle with self-esteem/body image, and not a critique of a systemic issue that extends far beyond the individual, then imho you missed at least half the point of the song...

i HATE roberts voice

he sounds like he smokes 20 packs a day, his voice doesnt blend well with olivia idk if its js me i havent seen anyone online express this opinion which is shocking to me

i was rlly confused at first like why is olivia growling in the background till i realized but ya it doesnt completely ruin the song for me but it rlly annoys me tbh

I was really excited to hear the album, but to me it was just okay. I keep seeing people and critics make it out to be this amazing piece of work and it’s making me feel like i’m missing something. I kinda feel like half of it is just her name and the reputation she’s built up.

I stumbled across a popular post on this subreddit a few days ago that talks about the album having stronger concept than execution, and I want to add onto it because I find this album incredibly lyrically weak and a step back from her previous work. All of her rhymes are very basic and there’s no *stand out* line that sunk in for me. I love Olivia and her work, have seen her live, and adore GUTS and Sour, but the writing on this album falls flat for me.

For example, a stand out line from GUTS is “And I know in my heart, hurt people, hurt people/And we both drew blood but man those cuts were never equal”. That is a genius line that perfectly and uniquely captures ‘I know I wasn’t perfect either but what you did doesn’t compare’.

But then we get rhymes in just Honeybee alone like “walk in the dark/Hop the fence in the park” “I hope I never see what your face looks like goin’” “shooting stars, racing cars” (I dislike this line especially). I feel like she took the most basic words and rhymed them together.

That goes for the rest of the album. Basic words, basic rhymes, lack of specificity and imagery. Of course I love the melodies and production, but lyrics are always first for me.

I’m sure others don’t feel the same, but these are just my 2 cents.

Has anyone noticed that Olivia’s Lego sets cost far more in the UK than the US? I looked into the pricing comparisons and here’s the breakdown:

Guitar: $119- should be £89.76 in UK- costs £109 in UK (about an extra £20)

Secret storage: $79.99- should be £60.34 in UK- costs £69.99 in UK (about an extra £10)

Concert moon: $49.99- should be £37.71 in UK- costs £44.99 in UK (about an extra £7)

Flower bouquet: $49.99- should be £37.71 in UK- costs £39.99 in UK (about an extra £2- not that bad)

Vinyl: $34.99- should be £26.39 in UK- costs £24.99 in UK (saves about £1.50 yayyyy)

Maybe this is standard but it seems very unfair that for the majority of items, those of us in the UK are paying far more. Surely the prices should have been matched more closely to make it fairer? I doubt Olivia was in charge of this but whoever was seems to have made a massive oversight. I feel kind of disappointed as I don’t think international fans should be paying so much more for the same items, especially as if you buy from the LEGO website they aren’t even shipping from the US. I absolutely love the Lego sets and still plan to buy them but I wish the pricing was fairer.

Does anyone else feel the same?

I wish she wrote more non-romantic relationship songs and more about like female friendship and stuff like that, you get what I mean?