Liars and Saints

 Many, many Americans can quote Taylor Swift's references to freshman year. "She's cheer captain, and I'm on the bleachers...." "Betty, I won't make assumptions about why you switched your homeroom..." "And your mama's waiting up, and you're thinking he's the one, when the night ends...." The brilliance of Olivia Rodrigo is to "take the ball and run with it." Rodrigo identifies two rites of passage--obtaining a driver's license, and suffering your first heartbreak--and she weaves these together in one song. Getting dumped is like obtaining a license; you are now "authorized" to navigate the messy world of adult affairs. "Rolling Stone" voted Rodrigo's climactic lines "the third greatest song bridge of this century," and with reason. Red lights, stop signs.... I still see your face in the white cars, front yards... Can't drive past the places we used to go to.... Cuz I still fuc...

  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-f...

  I'm not an Olivia Rodrigo expert, but I've listened to more than one analytical podcast, and here are the two observations I like: * Rodrigo is, in every way, a child of Broadway.  She was nurtured by Broadway God Tim Federle, and she made her name on "High School Musical." To me, Broadway means: (1) using heavily detailed observations, and (2) showing evidence of a sense of humor.  * One of Rodrigo's great skills is the performance of "cringe."  As an actor, Rodrigo actually delivers "line readings" while she is singing. Her choice of tone can put a kind of "top spin" on certain sentences. Recalling an ex, she says, "He was so much fun! And he had such weird friends!" The line has an "airhead" tone, and underneath, there is audible self-loathing. It's fun to listen to. Many big breakup anthems ("We Are Never Getting Back Together," "Green Light," "Dear John," "Rolling in th...