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Vampire

 At the age of fourteen, Olivia Rodrigo understood that she could be a professional songwriter. She was writing all the time, and she wrote one particular song that made her think, This could be what I do with my life.


You can't teach someone to be talented. I see a few "hallmarks" in Rodrigo's writing: a smart use of images, a sense of humor, and especially a gift for self-deprecation. Here, she addresses an older man who has used her and lied to her:

Hate to give the satisfaction, asking how you're doing now.
How's the castle built off people you pretend to care about?
Just what you wanted.
Look at you, cool guy, you got it.

What follows is a kind of wry line that I'd expect from someone ten years older:

I loved you truly:
Gotta laugh at the stupidity.

Rodrigo continues to put herself under a microscope:

I used to think I was smart,
But you made me look so naive...
The way you sold me for parts,
As you sunk your teeth into me...
Oh, bloodsucker, fame-fucker:
Bleeding me dry like a goddamn vampire.

And one more standard adolescent mistake:

Every girl I ever talked to told me you were bad, bad news--
You called them crazy; God, I hate the way I called them crazy, too.
You're so convincing.
How do you lie without flinching?

Rodrigo seems to be writing a coming-of-age novel in real time. This kind of ability isn't normal. I'm a fan.

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