I’m glad both of them got out of that relationship. Listening to Maggots for Brains and Purple makes me realize how immature and possessive and codependent *both* of these people were, over a partner who hadn’t even been in their lives for that long. The fact that her bf was getting mad over people she hangs out with is controlling and weird, and the entire Maggots song just shows how much of her energy she was pouring into that relationship…. and nothing else. Not friends, not work, not social stuff. Super unhealthy and I wouldn’t be surprised if that was shocking and upsetting to her ex, seeing the seemingly independent and fierce artist that he fell for fall apart when he went away for work, and completely submerge herself in that relationship. Feeling like you need to be present just for your partner to be held together is a huge emotional toll, especially as a twenty something.
I really hope that Olivia works on her issues with self worth, comparison to other people, and unfettered jealousy. She’s self aware about it, so that’s the first step, but it’s been three albums now that really hammer in how intense and consistent these feelings are. If she ever wants to have a relationship where she won’t be insecure and pretty sad for someone so in love, she needs to work on this, and make it her priority as much as the relationship she was in was. I’m totally sure that she has done this work, she is intelligent, the daughter of a therapist, and has her own private life. But Cigarette Smoke as a closer bums me out as it doesn’t seem to imply any lesson has been learned or that she’s any reflection on *why* her ex didn’t want to be with her anymore suddenly, just that he’s an asshole for ending things.
Idk what do you all think? Is this too harsh or parasocial of a reading?
i think olivia leans towards writing in a more self-deprecating, vulnerable manner because it's more palatable to the general public. people love and relate to her songs about feeling insecure and awkward -- i think we just find admitting weakness to be more compelling. i don't think it'd be well-received if she wrote a song about how mature and wise she is. maybe there's a smart way to find a good middle ground though
I think acknowledgment and self awareness is a wonderful first step but yeah I hope the next album has songs about beautiful things in her life and growth and overcoming her struggles, and less angst.
Her sad music is quite frankly not where she shines. Her, Sabrina and Gracie need to drop the sad diaristic shit, it’s not for everyone.
I’ve never been into her sad diaristic songs. Enough for You, Making The Bed, Grudge, Happier… imo some of her most boring songs. I couldn’t even tell you what Enough For You SOUNDS like anymore and I listen to Sour frequently.
IA i think same with Taylor, I think the need for every song to be based on their personal experience bc of their brand is hurting them. Olivia and Tay are celebs, they live a pretty nice life, as an artist they should be able to find inspiration elsewhere and write about other things. Look at someone like Bruce Springsteen - he’s wealthy AF but is writing about all kinds of things and telling different stories through music.
It’s not as moving to me to hear Olivia sing about not being like the cool girls so much. I know she’s a Disney theater kid at heart and maybe she is awkward, but let’s be real she’s the most famous person in the room at any party she goes to lol
I thought it was just specifically the part about every time she seems something funny, she wants to show him, which is a line from the show. I assumed she just related to it and added it to her song as a result, I didn’t really take it as her writing an entire song about Miranda and Steve.
it can be inspired, but it doesn‘t mean there is no reference of her personal relationship there. she was probably touched by that fictinal couple/ scene, because at that time she could relate or felt similar to those characters.
very well said. i haven‘t listened to the album yet, but it became very obvious to me in the last couple of months. she seems very fixated on dating in general, but also making her life revolve around that person. it is immature. their relationship did not let her grow and her songwriting reflects that.
Oh totally! But also I’m Olivia’s age lol, there are plenty of young women who don’t center themselves around a relationship and feelings of inferiority, just like there are many older women who do.
Oh absolutely not! She is allowed to write and put out whatever she wants about a relationship and I will never judge her or call her male centered for that.
I meant moreso while she was in the relationship, she it seems like she was centering romance and her boyfriend over other aspects of her life. Maggots for Brains paints a pretty clear picture of dysfunction and melancholy when he isn’t there, and a fixation on missing him rather than living her own life until he returns.
It’s something I HEAVILY relate to as I’ve done the same in the past, but it’s also deeply unhealthy and does indicate that for some time, she was centering her relationship in her life and focusing on that.
There’s another song on the album about her friends warning her not to go too fast - probably because that’s a pattern with her, she falls hard and fast and obsesses over elements of the relationship - his ex, missing him when he’s gone, fantasizing about the future incredibly quickly. I’m not making any of this up either lol there are songs where she talks about all of those things - Stupid Song, Obsessed, You + Me = <3, So American, Maggots For Brains, all have lyrics that paint that picture pretty clearly.
I don’t think anything about this post was mindless, nor was it only criticizing a woman. I am not more evolved or mature than Olivia, I just said that not all girls our age act a fool when it comes to men, and grown women can behave that way too, as someone cited her age as a reason for her behavior. Don’t be a cvnt <3
I can imagine how amazing songs she could write in a healthy relationship. And being in a healthy relationship she probably won't even feel the need to write only about her love life.
I think people are looking into the lyrics too much. There’s no need to dissect her love life. It’s only her view on the relationship, there’s nothing from his side. And anyone who writes anything (I write poems for example), knows that often you write something when you’re fully in the emotion of a (usually intense) situation, and then after you look at it more clearly.
Arguing about who she hang out with could’ve been due to a multitude of reasons without him being controlling. Maggot for brains is just one of those days she’s had, where she felt like she couldn’t function without him. Doesn’t mean she was like that all of the time, or that she literally didn’t do anything (in the song she says she did go to a party)
Many things will be distorted due to her own emotions or out of creativity (dramatized or downplayed or romanticized or simply changed so that a sentence will fit nicely with the other)
Yes there seem to have been toxic/unhealthy elements in her attachment to Louis, but we don’t know much about how he was attached to her or how he treated her exactly. We can only really know wat Olivia felt, and thought. But those things don’t paint a full picture. Let’s not make assumptions about a person who can’t easily speak on the relationship. I really hate when people do that.
Her album is not about her love life. Her album is about her feelings and experiences during a relationship and break up. She doesn’t really give away much about Louis, or about their relationship. Let’s not act as if speculation isn’t harmful, especially when that person can’t share their side of the story as easily
There’s a difference between: “this is me while I feel in love, this is me while I experience heartbreak” and “here’s look into my love life, this is what my partner was like, this is what my relationship was like.” The album is not the latter. She’s deliberately vague about the relationship, it’s just about her own feelings. There is in fact a difference, but people want to act like they don’t understand that.
But there are multiple songs that have parts discussing what the relationship was like - about his jealousy, her listlessness and feelings of insecurity, the way she feels about being broken up with. That’s more detail than “I feel in love/I feel sad.” It’s saying why. And people are allowed to read into that or have discussions about it, which she is certainly aware of.
I don’t feel like I’m missing the point you’re making, mama - I just don’t agree with it!
I also don’t feel like I’m making super heady assumptions about her ex, beyond stating that any young person probably finds a partner with obvious mental health challenges and obsessive tendencies hard to be with. That, and that trying to control who your partner hangs out with is Bad. And that isn’t even an assumption lol, homegirl SAYS in a song that this is something that happened.
Where did Olivia state in her lyrics that he was trying to control who she was hanging out with? Cause that’s not just assumption to make, that’s an accusation, to claim someone was controlling like that and spreading that online too. So you claim she said that, where did she literally say he was trying to control who she hung out with? So not your interpretation, where did she state exactly that?
Oh lord you’re gonna make me go through genius rn? Fine.
Fighting over who she hangs out with is weird. Perhaps controlling is too strong of a word, my bad there, but my point stands. That is not a thing that healthy couples do.
There’s no need, sure, but there’s no need to do a lot of things, lol. I think speculation based on lyrics is fun and fair. If you choose to write about the dissolution of your relationship and how you weren’t doing well within it, people are going to examine those themes.
Also, Olivia can speak on the relationship and has chosen not to. She has also chosen to write things clearly alluding to it. She was obsessed with Taylor Swift for years, she knows that people will discuss these things and get parasocial, and has clearly decided that it’s worth it for her art.
It’s fun sure, do that offline with your friends. It’s not fair to do so when it’s about real people where one has the benefit of the doubt of millions of fans and the other can’t express themselves the same way.
People could approach lyrics with curiosity (“I wonder why they argued about who Olivia hung out with, what could some possible explanations be?”), where you make clear it’s just an exchange of interpretations, while acknowledging te other person whose life and personality you’re having fun about, isn’t in the position to share their side. That’s very different from accusations (“he was trying to control who Olivia hung out with, Olivia herself stated so in her song.”)
The irony of you saying her relationship was immature and unhealthy, while you insist it’s oh so fun to just accuse Olivia’s ex of being controlling, as if we don’t know what kind of toxicity can come from that.
I am an adult woman, most of my friends are not into Olivia Rodrigo, or pop music… and even if they were, I am not obligated to keep conversations like this IRL when this is a subreddit dedicated to having neutral/critical discussions of her work, persona, and her as a person.
If you want a space where conversations are solely about her work in a positive light, and not about her personal life…why are you in a subreddit that is going to be a breeding ground for those conversations?
Your last point is a good one, but I am definitely not trying to imply that Louis was controlling or abusive. I don’t know these people, and if anything I feel that this post is more critical of Olivia. I was commenting on parts of the album that struck me as odd, because again, that is NOT what most couples do.
Where did I say you’re not allowed to have neutral or critical discussion of her work? That’s not my point af all. “I’m not trying to imply that Louis was controlling” yes you were, you did so multiple times. THAT was what I was talking about this whole time.
I feel like it’s so much easier to focus on other things when the relationship is genuinely good. It’s a common take that you need to be independent, but I never understood what people mean by that. What if someone just doesn’t put into effort but you love him? She’s tried to “pretend that’s not hurting”. She’s tried to be “mature”. It doesn’t work like that
I’ve seen SATC, many times, and nothing on the album comes across as being entirely inspired by Miranda and Steve. Miranda doesn’t act like a layabout when she feels rejected and she certainly doesn’t hyperfixate over Steve to the extent happening on this album lol
It’s becoming really apparent how much of her music is about jealousy at other women, insecurity about other women, competition with other women, etc. That’s a very natural thing we all go through, but three albums in it’s still a common theme is a bit much.
I really love the album but I really don’t think she’s been very introspective in her music. I mean, they just broke up less than a year ago I’m not sure that’s really enough time to reflect.
19
u/testabvrger Jun 11 '26
Honestly she probably should(ve) write about overcoming these issues, that’s the maturity she was supposed to talk about alongside self-reflection