Since Lorne has told us that we are at liberty to write our blog posts about whatever topic we please (within reason), I overwhelmingly tend to focus all of my Fish blog contributions on my favorite topic outside of PR: pop culture. Any blog post you’ve read with The Real Housewives, Taylor Swift or Britney Spears in the headline – most likely written by yours truly. You’re welcome for the endless entertainment and keeping you up to date on what the kids are talkin’ about these days.
Speaking of kids, there is one teenager who is currently dominating the music world: I’m talking of course about Olivia Rodrigo. Am I a 30 year old woman in a happy long-term relationship? Yes. Have I been relentlessly blasting the breakup album of a 17-year old experiencing her first heartbreak nonstop since its release? Also yes. Shamelessly. I don’t care if you’re 17 or 30 or 75 – this chick is the real deal.
For the record, every song on this 11 track long album is pretty much a masterpiece. But since I’m being forced (by myself, for the sake of this blog) to rank every song on this glorious album, without further ado…
#11: hope ur ok
The fact that I put this last shows what an amazing album this is. Unlike the album’s ten other tracks, Rodrigo’s own narrative takes a backseat on this album finale to the subjects of secondhand stories the singer has collected from friends.
#10: 1 step forward, 3 steps back
The track interpolates Taylor Swift’s Reputation closer “New Year’s Day,” and articulates the impact of inconsistent, and even unhealthy communication within a relationship.
#9: jealousy, jealousy
Over a plucky bassline and a prowling piano build, the singer — who often finds herself obsessed, for better or worse — makes sense of the incessant, toxic cycle of social media.
#8: favorite crime
This song centers on the examination of glaring red flags that only appear in their true colors through the lens of hindsight.
#7: enough for you
On ‘enough for you,’ Olivia Rodrigo showcases her emotional fragility and vulnerability, showing the way she bent herself out of shape in order to please an ex-lover, before he left.
#6: deja vu
AKA the album’s 2nd single after ‘driver’s license’ took over the world. While many may have been introduced to her as a ballad belting Disney star turned mainstream pop anomaly, “deja vu” made sure it was clear she could do soaring, fizzing pop-rock, too.
#5: brutal
The album’s opening track is all about teenage angst, and I’m all about it.
#4: good 4 u
‘Misery Business’ by Paramore walked so ‘good 4 u’ by Olivia Rodrigo could run. If you haven’t scream-sung the line “like a damn sociopath” in the car with your girlfriend’s on a Saturday night, you haven’t lived.
#3: happier
Rodrigo is self-critical and admittedly selfish, as she wishes her former partner a happy future plagued with reminders of the times they shared together. “Think of me fondly when your hands are on her,” she offers with wholehearted sincerity. A whirlwind of emotions are invited into this three minute space, all with equal validity.
#2: driver’s license
Beyond being the most universally recognizable song on Sour, the track serves as a third-track reminder of how we got to this album as a whole in the first place — and why there’s a global, highly invested interest in Rodrigo as both a singer and a songwriter.
#1: traitor
Sandwiched between two emotionally heavy tracks with equally heavy production at the top of the album, “Traitor” is a chilling contrast that features Rodrigo’s best vocal performance on Sour. The cinematic rise and fall of the song’s acoustics swirl softly around the singer’s vocals as she borders on a whisper, soaring higher only towards the conclusion.
