Olivia Rodrigo is already one of 2021’s biggest success stories. Drivers license is the first song the 17-year-old Californian actor and singer has released independently of Disney Channel.
Especially if you’ve been on TikTok in the last few days, you’ve probably already heard Rodrigo’s song. Drivers license has broken Spotify’s global one-day streaming records for non-holiday songs -even Taylor Swift loves it.
It features heartbreakingly honest and raw songwriting, something we’ve seen before with Taylor Swift and Lorde. It’s quickly become a teenage anthem of angst and heartbreak; it’s clear that she comes from the Gen-Z generation of young adults who have probably cried underneath LED lights to The 1975’s “Somebody Else”.
Drivers License was streamed 15.17m times on 11th January. The next day, it broke that record with 17.01m streams. For context, Spotify’s one-day streaming record is currently held by Mariah Carey’s classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You”, with more than 17.2m plays.
“We’ve never seen anything like this”, said Spotify’s Global Hits lead, Becky Bass, “where you have a newer artist that just comes out of the gate in such a dominant way, and just continues to grow”.
“I truly do think this is just a lightning-in-a-bottle moment”.
Produced by Rodrigo and Dan Nigro, Nigro previously worked with Conan Gray on his moody hit “Heather”. Both songs are similar, they speak directly to a generation who want their pop songs to feel like they’ve been written in bedrooms.
Drivers License is rumoured to reference behind-the-scene drama on Disney+ show High School Musical: The Musical The Series. The song describes Rodrigo getting her driver’s licence, a moment that she intended to celebrate with a boyfriend who has now moved on to another girl.
Everyone can relate to a break-up song, especially in gloomy January, when breakups are more likely to happen.
“Red lights, stop signs / I still see your face in the white cars, front yards / Can’t drive past the places we used to go to”: the song paints a picture of Rodrigo driving through the suburbs, haunted by an eerie reminder of the person she thought she’d have forever. She admits at the climax of the song: “‘Cause I still f****in’ love you, babe”.
On social media the response has been overwhelming -Rodrigo’s song has been the subject of thousands of TikToks.
One of Rodrigo’s inspirations, Taylor Swift, has already endorsed the song, commenting on her Instagram post showing “Drivers License” beneath the her latest song from her album Evermore on iTunes: “I say that’s my baby and I’m really proud”.
The song has clearly been a TikTok success, but so were “Old Town Road” and “Blinding Lights” and they took weeks to get to the top of the charts. Rodrigo is different, she’s young, relatable and already had an engaged fanbase, with over 5 million Instagram followers.
Fans are easily invested in these endless drama sagas, and it’s difficult, not to join in and feel sympathy for heartbroken teenage Rodrigo. I mean I’ve been screaming “Red lights, stop signs” for weeks now.
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