Romantic Melancholy in You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love
Olivia Rodrigo’s highly anticipated third studio album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, marks a thematic departure from her previous work.
Unlike her albums SOUR and GUTS, which were characterised by teen angst and heartbreak ballads, this album highlights a more mature approach to her musical and emotional expression. The 13 tracks chart a journey through a romantic relationship from start to finish, covering feelings from happiness to suffering in a chronological manner that paints the entirety of the work, upon reflection, with a melancholic sheen.
The album opens with its lead single, Drop Dead. The bright, sparkly synth intro and the addicting chorus melody mirror the song’s lyrics in encapsulating the feeling of falling in love. Rodrigo released an iconic music video to accompany this song, which she filmed while running and dancing around the actual Palace of Versailles, a nod to the lyric: “Looking like an angel on the walls of Versailles.” Stupid Song begins small in musical scope but builds in energy throughout. The chorus melody also gradually ascends, just like the feelings of desperate want that Rodrigo belts out: “I want you more than any stupid song could ever say.” These first two songs effectively capture the strength of emotion that she recounts at the start of this relationship.
In Honeybee, Rodrigo sings a dreamy ballad tinged with fear and hope regarding her happiness. Overcome by love, she finds the feeling difficult to describe, and uses an instrumental break and choral backing vocals to build out this palette. This song foreshadows the insecurities that she addresses more directly in The Cure. U + Me = <3 is another infatuation song, but this one emphasises the speaker’s naivete on account of the ironic context that listeners know the relationship will not last. The juvenile title and silly, upbeat energy complement the notion of being overly confident about a romantic relationship in its early stages. A backing vocal chimes in: “Let’s get married when we both turn twenty-five.” In this manner, even the more lighthearted songs on this album acquire dark undertones.
Musically, Maggots for Brains is a fun and upbeat song with catchy melodies and guitar riffs. Thematically, however, it is an honest depiction of a topic not often touched on in pop music: overreliance on a romantic partner for happiness and interest in life. Rodrigo describes feelings of numbness and depression that recur whenever her partner is absent: “I’m a sad shell of a woman and I’ve got maggots for brains.” In My Way, Rodrigo dusts off her grunge rock vocal style to express frustration and jealousy towards another girl who is encroaching on her relationship. This track is reminiscent of Taylor Swift’s Better Than Revenge in its anger, musical style and subject matter. Despite being on the “girl so in love” half of the album, these two songs reveal an underlying negativity in the relationship.
Purple is the midpoint of the album and also its turning point from happy to sad. Rodrigo’s echoey vocal and the heartbeat-like beat create a soundscape filled out with layered harmonies and crunchy chords. This dissonance casts a shadow on this song that details the integration of two lives, suggesting that they do not fit as well as previously hoped or expected. Beginning with the premise of red and blue combining to become purple, by the end of the song, she sings instead, “Melt with you ‘til it all turns black.” This flattening of colour marks the album’s tonal shift.
The Cure was the second single from the album to be released. This is an excellent song about how romantic love and attention cannot be used to fix insecurities and mental health. The soft guitar and vocals pair with unsettling chords to highlight this tension. Rodrigo references GUTS track Vampire with the lyric, “I’ve got toxins in my bloodstream, you tried hard to suck ‘em out.” Musically, the song builds up to the bridge and final chorus, where frustration overflows into emotive production, followed by a beautiful string outro to come back down. Begged expands on this feeling of insecurity in a relationship, coupled with not wanting to leave. The delicate guitar picking pattern and soaring backing harmonies showcase Rodrigo’s vocals and the intimate vulnerability of the song.
What’s Wrong With Me features Robert Smith of The Cure (whose song Just Like Heaven is referenced on Drop Dead) and is Rodrigo’s first collaboration. The band’s musical influence on Rodrigo is evident in this song, and their voices complement each other well through harmonies and call and response. Lyrically, the song starts from an internal perspective but turns to the external with the revelatory line, “I think you’re what’s wrong with me.” The next stage in realizing that the relationship is breaking down but struggling to face that is depicted in Less. Arguably the saddest song on the album, this track reckons with conflict avoidance and a desperate attempt to recreate happiness in the relationship. In a plea for her partner to not do the “right” thing in ending the relationship, Rodrigo sings, “I wish you loved me less.” With only a piano backing, the song showcases her vulnerable vocals.
The next song, Expectations, brings a stark vibe shift to the end of the album. The 80s sound and party setting create a playful sonic environment. Rodrigo catalogues her relationship mistakes and reflects on past decisions in a lighthearted manner, remarking that “These days I’ve got expectations.” The album’s final and longest song, Cigarette Smoke, wraps up the story with reflection and melancholy. The “cigarette smoke” functions as a symbol of the bad memories that she longs to forget as she searches for answers and clarity in the wake of heartbreak. Rodrigo recounts regrets and resentment, and directly references both Begged and Honeybee in this sombre context. The emotional bridge is the climax of both the song and the album, before she repeatedly sings, “the memories go dark.”
The strength of You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love lies in Rodrigo’s cohesive storytelling. By the end, it becomes clear that the whole album reveals how she has recontextualised once happy experiences as sad memories. Despite all belonging to the same story, Rodrigo explores a wide range of emotions in these songs, bringing musical and lyrical variety as well. This introspective, self-aware approach as well as Rodrigo’s musical and vocal prowess make this some of her strongest work to date.
