Is it too early to call the song of the year? Olivia Rodrigo’s debut single, “Driver’s license”, makes it hard not to believe that both she and the moving ballad must completely dominate 2021.
Rodrigo’s nostalgic song, aided by the piano, slowly turns into a story about the 17-year-old who finally got her license to direct. But the monumental occasion is soured by her broken heart: she should celebrate the conquest with her ex, who has moved on to an older blonde who she reveals is “all about what I’m insecure”. So Rodrigo drives through the suburbs, heartbroken and angry, wondering if any of the feelings were really real.
As the song progresses, Rodrigo’s voice turns into cathartic howls of pain, and the bridge is an exuberant layered release as it reveals “I still fucking love you.” Dan Nigro’s arrangements and production are reminiscent of Lorde Melodrama, providing surprising theatricality to Rodrigo’s singer-songwriter. The lyrics and detailed narrative are from the Taylor Swift School of Music, with the young star channeling Swift’s Fearless, where the then-19-year-old was balancing her dreams of a fairytale romance and the way her vision of that fairytale was quickly souring. Like Swift, Lorde and all his heroes before them, Rodrigo is able to create something moving and relatable without losing the unique specificity of his narrative that makes you feel like you are watching a movie of her life on your headphones.
Before “Driver’s License”, Rodrigo had been building a name for herself over the past five years through Disney. She started in Bizaardvark and has been the leader High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, an exclusive Disney +. Throughout the series, she began to show her talent for writing, contributing songs to the soundtrack she wrote with her co-star Joshua Bassett (who is also the supposed “Driver’s License” theme).
If Rodrigo is already writing such emotionally powerful songs at 17 and as his mere debut, no one knows where she will go from here. She could probably become the next great pop storyteller. Until then, we will just be driving through the suburbs, playing this song, feeling and reliving all of her first feelings of love together with her.
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