Singer Olivia Rodrigo’s sophomore album, Guts, adds to her first album, Sour, with a “more mature type of thinking. A female rage about adulthood growing pains and figuring out who you are at this point in life,” says Rodrigo.
The first track on the album is an opener “about repressed anger and feelings of confusion, or feeling put into a box to fit in with the ideas of what a girl should be,” According to Rodrigo. This track starts off talking about how sweet and caring girls can be on the outside, then dramatically switches to intense anger inside about fitting into what everyone wants you to be.
In a survey of 200 students at NH, 39% of people said that they listened to and liked the album, five percent of people said that they listened and didn’t like the album, while 56% people said that they didn’t listen to the album.
Rodrigo’s third track is the song that was released before the album was fully released, “Vampire.” This song was the performer’s release and helped her “sort through her feelings of regret, anger and heartache of an ex,” according to the singer. It is a “song about someone being manipulative and sucking someone dry, using them for all their worth.”
The track “Get Him Back!” is a back-and-forth between wanting an ex back and hating their guts. The title could play on the double meaning of getting him, it could be in a loving or hating way. Rodrigo says this song is about “exploring the conflicting emotions and desires that arise after a failed romantic relationship.”
Sophomore Cooper Schaefer’s opinion on the new album is that “It’s pretty good, but I need to be in the mood for it. The variety is really good though, like having fast songs while having slow ones too. It gives a song for every occasion.” Schafer first listened to the album on the day of release. Compared to her previous album, Sour, Schaefer says, “Overall I would say I like Sour better, but my favorite song is from Guts.” Schaefer listens to music frequently and can be found with one Airpod often around the school.
These songs reflect anger and frustration in general, with relatable topics such as exes or society. However, these are not the only feelings in the new album. Rodrigo also talks about the depressive struggles of growing up in an emotional way. The eleventh song on this album, “Pretty Isn’t Pretty” is a track about the biggest insecurities and self-confidence issues, keeping up with appearance, reflecting on self-positivity and female physical expectations, and pushing back on expectations while also falling to them.
“Making the Bed,” the sixth track, is one of these ballads people hear and relate to the confusion and out-of-control feelings of life. Rodrigo seems to reflect on her so-sudden fame and how that impacted her and how ill-equipped she felt.
