Geffen Records
Release Date: January 8th 2021
Reviewed by: Joshua Andre
Olivia Rodrigo– drivers license (Single) (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- drivers license
Throughout the history of this site, I have tried to expand my musical palate beyond which I guess I previously would consider to be music I would never listen to. I previously thought I would never listen to country music, let along review any songs from that genre. Same with pop artists like Little Mix, Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato to name a few. Now here I am in 2021, and now embarking on a musical journey where no Christian music site has gone before. And probably where no other Christian music site will go again. and that is into the abyss and rabbit hole of “drivers license” by up and coming rising singer and actor Olivia Rodrigo.
If you haven’t heard about “drivers license”, then where have you been? Seriously though, the song that is still the most popular and highest charting song of 2021, is a piano led ballad that speaks to the core of who we are as human beings. As Olivia, famous for being the lead starring role in the High School Music reboot TV series, fervently and emotionally relays to us her feelings and emotions of sadness, confusion, anger and sorrow when driving past her ex’s house, we are presented with a personal and honest story that could’ve been based on Olivia’s real life. But regardless if it is or isn’t, “drivers license” can and does extend its message into each one of our circumstances. With Olivia lamenting and relaying that ‘…I know we weren’t perfect, but I’ve never felt this way for no one, and I just can’t imagine how you could be so okay now that I’m gone, guess you didn’t mean what you wrote in that song about me, ’cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street…’, we see a person not completely over her ex, and a reminder that in every lost relationship or a break up (whether romantic or platonic), these things hurt, and sometimes the only way to deal with them is to face them head on and talk the issues out. It’s clear that Olivia has done this in her song- and as we look into our own lives to see whether there are people in our lives we need to hash our issues with before healing from seemingly unfixable wounds; let us remember that Olivia’s song of vulnerability is what the world needs. Not a song with no filter, but a song that teaches and reminds us that it’s ok to feel emotions, it’s ok to ask for help and it’s ok to heal in your own time.
“drivers license” by Olivia Rodrigo has blown up so, so much this year. It’s an honest portrayal of teenage love, or maybe beyond that the complexities of relationships in general. The song may be about always keeping your heart guarded from others so that it won’t be hurt again- but I see Olivia’s powerhouse anthem being about still taking chances and risks even though we have the ability to be hurt. That’s what being human and being a part of life on earth is all about, right? To feel and to hurt is to be alive? Well… enough of me being philosophical, does anyone here think this song is deep as I’ve made it to be? Or perhaps it’s just a teenage angsty break up and longing song? What do you reckon? Who thinks I should review more pop songs and talk deeply about them?
Score: 4.5/5
RIYL: Olivia Holt, Dove Cameron, Sofia Carson, Sabrina Carpenter, Dua Lipa, Meghan Trainor, Carly Rae Jepsen