When former Disney actress Olivia Rodrigo dropped her debut album, “Sour” in 2021, it became the number two album in the U.S. Since then, fans have eagerly been awaiting her sophomore album, “GUTS.” Unlike “Sour,” “GUTS” is filled with pissed-off lyrics, lively banter and a pop-punk edge similar to Joan Jett in the ‘90s.
The album starts off with “all american bitch,” which opens with a bright melody that leads into a strong rant filled with lyrics including, “I know my age and I act like it.” Rodrigo starts off her album with a bang, leaving behind the girl who made “Sour.”
“Lacy” is about a young girl who Rodrigo wants to be. A femme fatale personality, a “dazzling starlet” and a “Bardot reincarnate.” But Rodrigo almost despises what “lacy” represents, and how, “[Lacy] poisons every little thing that I do.”
Rodrigo moves away from writing about former aspirations, which was a fundamental part of “Sour.” Songs like, “get him back!” and “love is embarrassing” are about a more young, playful sort of love. In “get him back,” Rodrigo reflects on a whirlwind of a summer fling, singing, “I wanna kiss his face with an uppercut.”
In another track, she references how, “love is embarrassing,” with lyrics like, “Just watch as I crucify myself/For some weird second string.”
The songs, “logical” and “pretty isn’t pretty” convey the most powerful message in the album with fierce emotional moments in the bridges. “Logical” is about a young woman who has been manipulated by an older man. Rodrigo fights for a breath while singing, “And now you got me thinkin’/Two plus two equals five/And I’m the love of your life.”
“Pretty isn’t pretty” reveals how harmful social media is for a growing young teen. Rodrigo harmonizes, “There’s always somethin’ in the mirror that I think looks wrong” and, “It’s on the poster on the wall, it’s in the shitty magazines/It’s in my phone, it’s in my head, it’s in the boys I bring to bed.”
Filled with a powerful piano ballad, “teenage dream” is a more melodic and somber version of “brutal,” from “Sour.” Rodrigo expresses not living up to people’s expectations, singing “I’m sorry I couldn’t always be your teenage dream.”
In “brutal,” Rodrigo belts out “Where’s my f-king teenage dream?” She then questions, “When does wide-eyed affection and all good intentions start to not be enough?”
Filled with witty lyrics and a variety of melodies, many people will find Rodrigo’s album relatable. From having an embarrassing love life to struggling with societal standards, Rodrigo expresses everything a former Disney princess wouldn’t. “GUTS” will definitely become a staple in teen girls’ playlists around the world.
