Olivia Rodrigo visits SiriusXM studios in Los Angeles in July.Photo:Emma McIntyre/Getty
Emma McIntyre/Getty
When listeners tune in toGuts,Olivia Rodrigo’s new album, the first song they’ll hear is “All-American Bitch,” a searing satire of the expectations and double standards expected of women.
Female emotion — and the ability for young women to not only be angry, but to express anger in a healthy way regardless of societal expectation — is a topic Rodrigo, 20, knows well. On her 2021 debut albumSour, tracks like “Brutal” and “Good 4 U” seethed with teenage angst, andplenty ofGutsis equally grungy.
The idea that those feelings could be explored via song has long been one that greatly appeals to Rodrigo, she tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue.
“I think there are so many expectations placed on women — you’re always supposed to be grateful and calm and gracious and poised,” she says. “Growing up, I really struggled with the conflict of having all these feelings that I felt like I couldn’t externalize and this expectation that I wanted to be this good girl.”
Olivia Rodrigo performs at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles in May 2022.Chris Polk/Penske Media via Getty
Chris Polk/Penske Media via Getty
The singer-songwriter says “All-American Bitch” is “sort of about that,” and is a song she’s “very proud of.”
“[The title] comes from the essay that [Didion] wrote about hippies in San Francisco and running away from home,” she explains. “One of the runaways was talking about his mom back home and said that she was an ‘all-American bitch.’ I was like, ‘Wow, that’s so cool.’ It’s such a provocative set of words. I sat down the next day at the piano and wrote ‘All-American Bitch.’… You never know the trajectory a song is going to take.”
Rodrigo admits thatsitting down to write a follow-upto the hugely successful,Grammy-winningSourwas a challenge. She feared she’d be unable to top all that she’d achieved with her debut.
But theHigh School Musical: The Musical: The Seriesalum knew it was no use actively trying to write another hit.
“I think that I truly can’t write a song and pander. Good songs don’t come out of me writing to please other people,” she says. “All my best songs come from me just wanting to express something for myself and wanting to process a feeling just for me.”
She continues: “Putting that out is sort of a later thought, but at the inception of a song, it’s just very insular. I can’t think about the other stuff.”
As for the dissection of her often deeply personal lyrics, Rodrigo says she understands, as she’s “been curious” about other artist’s lyrics.
“It’s just an interesting part of this job that I’m still getting used to,” she says.
For more on Olivia Rodrigo, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.
source: people.com
