Today I’m reflecting on You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So In Love by Olivia Rodrigo.
(This is part of my Top 10 albums listening project, rooted in a snapshot of September 2026’s chart. Catch up with #1 and #2)
I really expected to hate this, based on a quick listen to the intros of the first few songs. It sounded like Taylor-Swift-esque girlpop that would have no intrigue for me. But it turns out, it was worth a deeper listen.
First Impressions
The first song song (Drop Dead) definitely made me feel like this was going to bore me. I was immediately suspicious of the multitracked vocals (what is she hiding? Can’t she sing?) and felt the Swift-influence in the rhythm and composition of the song. It was boppy. It was fine. Then there was a little talk-y bit that threw me back to the late 80s, with shades of T’Pau, and I got interested, but then it just repeated and repeated and repeated….
Stupid Song changed vibes a little (Katie Perry Firework?, a little bit Rascall Flatts’ Life is a Highway in the bridge), so I was hopeful the album would have more to offer than the first track promised.
Going Deeper
The next few songs got me more interested because they contained influences from all over the map. Honeybee made me think of Serge Gainsbourg, Maggot for Brains took me back to the mid-80s tech-synth-and-drums (though it devolved into a toothless adolescent whine1)
The album got more interesting the more I listened, with notable influences from yacht rock and Olivia Newton John to what I’m calling ‘girl rock’2, the pop-craft of OK GO, there was even an early Genesis melody in there, production like Gary Newman, a bit of Kylie Minogue, and maybe Suzanne Vega. A couple that made me think of, respectively, Dolly Parton3 and a classic American Songbook torch song4.
In spite of the Red Flag lyrics in the early tracks5 her personas in some of the songs are much more worthy role models6 for the young women who are no doubt the majority of her fanbase.
Verdict
I think it was poorly served by the first track, which didn’t set my expectations high enough for the rest of the record. I ended up really enjoying this album and could see myself listening to it when I’m in the mood for 51 minutes of eminently listenable pop7 that doesn’t all sound the same.
- with questionably a-feminist lyric. My notes: Read some Gloria Steinem, girl! ↩︎
- I made a note on “My Way” that it had a B52s and Foo Fighter-lite feel, with maybe a bit of Alanis Morissette/April Lavigne ↩︎
- Begged ↩︎
- Less ↩︎
- bad things happen ‘when my baby goes away’. Bleurgh! ↩︎
- For Example, The Cure‘s “It doesn’t matter how your love feels anymore, it’ll never be the cure” made me sigh with relief, and there’s fun song in there about hooking up with a loser and rolling your eyes about it later. It had a lovely “oh well” energy I can respect. ↩︎
- Which I often am. ↩︎