My Sweet Review of SOUR by Olivia Rodrigo

Olivia’s Female Empowerment

First off, I would like to express how much I love Olivia Rodrigo. I have been listening to her music since SOUR came out in 2021, and ever since then, I have been massively empowered as a woman. There is something about her music, personality, and stage show that just empowers me. I can’t pinpoint it, but it is so important to me as I get older to listen to her and feel that all throughout my life. 

Who Is Olivia Rodrigo?

Olivia Isabel Rodrigo is one of the most popular female artists that we have today. She started on the show Bizaardvark on Disney Channel, and then starred on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, as well as the release of her hit single in 2020, “Driver’s License.” This song shot her to stardom before the release of her debut album SOUR in 2021. This album also includes four other popular singles called “Traitor,” “Good 4 U,” “Deja Vu,” and “Brutal.” 

Review 

For this review, I will be reviewing each song from the album based on how it makes me feel empowered as a woman. There are eleven songs on this album that go over topics like growing up, breakups, and being in love as a teenager, as Olivia recorded and wrote these tunes when she was seventeen, which made this album also very relatable to me in that sense. 

Brutal- 

“I’m so sick of seventeen.” 

This upbeat opening track to Sour has always been one of my top songs on the album. The theme of growing up and being tired of being a teen in the 2020s makes it still relatable to me today. One other lyric I love is “And I can’t even parallel park,” which is actually a fact for me as I am not too good of a driver in that sense. 

Traitor- 

“You know that you’ll never feel sorry”

Traitor is a very mellow, sad song. The opening line, “Brown guilty eyes, and little white lies,” captures me every time and gives me massive chills. Going through many teenage obstacles at the time, the lyrics hit me emotionally and were very associated with my feelings. This song can either be interpreted as a regular breakup song or a friendship breakup. Females go through many things in their lives, including friendship breakups, and talking about that can be relatable, as I said previously. 

Driver’s License- 

Olivia’s biggest hit ever, which sent her to stardom, is a song she wrote which she did not think would get any attention. Before she became massively famous, she decided to post a song she wrote in 2020 during COVID, and it got many hits on Instagram, so she decided to release it as a single. Many people love it because it is a super raw song with real emotion, which I respect as well. She was around sixteen when she wrote this, which shows pure talent in the songwriting category. Being able to express emotions is sort of frowned upon for women, but nowadays, artists like Olivia have crossed that border. 

1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back- 

Now this song has to be in my top five. It has the coolest intro, before Olivia starts her vocals, it opens with the sound of birds chirping, which sets the tone of the song. The theme of this song is when you are in a relationship that you think is in a good spot, but it goes back to how it was before. In the female empowerment category, calling out your man for doing something bad is what women need to do, so I find it good that she touches on that. 

Deja Vu- 

Another great single from SOUR, this is a very happy summery tune with sadder lyrics. Deja Vu is about going into a new relationship, but doing the same things as you did romantically in the last one, and trying to copy it. The video is super cool because instead of what the song is about, Olivia has herself looking at another girl and admiring them in a friendship type of way, and I find it so cool. It is super female empowering. 

Good 4 U- 

I remember being massively obsessed with this song in 2021, and it is still a great one. It's more of an angry song about how someone else gets over a relationship faster. Many people think this song is about Joshua Bassett, Olivia’s ex, which I agree with. Very feminine rage. 

Enough For You- 

This used to be one of my favorite Olivia songs, but I grew out of that phase. Not saying I don’t like it anymore, I just find it to be a bit too slow for me. The theme of this song is expressing that you did not feel good enough for someone in a relationship, which many women feel about men. 

Happier- 

This song is about wishing someone better after a relationship. It seems more sarcastic because Olivia says, “I hope you're happy, just not like how you were with me.” The way that she says that is iconic. Women being iconic in music is super important for me to feel empowered. 

Jealousy, Jealousy- 

This tune is very relatable to women and girls in this generation. I have dealt with jealousy from others and felt it personally myself, and it is something you can’t get away from. Hearing Olivia say she feels it too was very empowering to me because I did not feel alone. 

Favorite Crime- 

This song gives me chills all over. I love this song so much. It is about how you do things you know you shouldn’t in a relationship. That’s why it’s called a “crime.” I definitely felt this in a relationship, and I am sure many others do as well. 

Hope Ur Ok- 

The last song of the album hits the hardest for me. Being able to say you hope the best for someone after a friendship breakup is something I had to deal with, and its something many women hate to do, but getting the courage to do it is a big thing. 

If I were to rank this album with Cyclones, it would be a 4.5 because of how empowered I feel from this album and from Olivia as a person.