Olivia Rodrigo Proved She's a True Singer-Songwriter with "Sour"
Published May 21 2021, 11:07 a.m. ET
Those who may have thought that Olivia Rodrigo would be a one-hit wonder when "drivers license" became a smash hit were proven wrong when the 18-year-old released her debut album, "Sour."
In addition to being a catchy track about heartache and a breakup, "drivers license" rose in popularity when people began speculating that Olivia wrote it about her rumored ex and current High School Musical: The Musical: The Series co-star, Joshua Bassett.
Now that "Sour" has come out, fans are wondering if Olivia wrote all of the other songs — and if they can potentially guess who they are about.
Keep reading to find out if the artist wrote all 11 songs on her album, and to learn why Taylor Swift is credited on one track.
Does Olivia Rodrigo write her own songs?
The talented teen chronicled her entire "drivers license" songwriting process (edits and all) on TikTok in the months leading up to its debut. Though she didn't go into the same level of detail with sharing how the other "Sour" songs came to be, she did write them.
She is a credited writer on all 11 "Sour" songs.
In the album description for "Sour," Olivia discussed how she created most of the songs in her bedroom when she was dealing with a heartbreak at the age of 17.
She wrote two of the songs entirely on her own, which are "enough for you" and "happier." The others were all collaborations with music producer Dan Nigro.
"Before I met my collaborator, producer— and co-writer in many instances — Dan Nigro, I would just write songs in my bedroom, completely by myself. So it was a little bit of a learning curve, figuring out how to collaborate with other people and stick up for your ideas and be open to other people's," Olivia explained in the description. "Sometimes it takes you a little while to gain the confidence to really remember that your gut feelings are super valid and what makes you a special musician."
Songwriter Casey Smith was also listed as one of the co-writers for "jealousy, jealousy." There are two other credited creators who are getting a lot of attention online.
Fans who scrutinize every credit on the album will notice that Taylor Swift was listed as a co-writer on "1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back." Though some hoped that Olivia had the chance to collaborate with her self-professed idol, Taylor and Jack Antonoff received the credits for a different reason.
Olivia's song interpolates Taylor's 2017 song "New Year's Day." Because both Taylor and Jack had co-written the song for the former's "Reputation" album, they received writing credits on "1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back."
The title of Olivia's song pays homage to the two digits of her idol's favorite number: 13.
Eleven songs made the final "Sour" tracklist.
Though Olivia honored Taylor Swift's lucky number with one of her song titles, she didn't include follow the icon's lead with having 13 songs on her "Sour" album.
Instead, 11 songs made the cut on Bizaardvark alum's final tracklist.
The tracks include her three singles, "drivers license," "deja vu," and "good 4 u." The album opens with another breakup jam, "brutal," which is followed by "traitor."
The remaining songs on "Sour" are "1 Step forward, 3 steps back," "enough for you," "happier," "jealousy, jealousy," "favorite crime," and "hope ur ok."
Now that Olivia has a full set of songs, she's about to become an even bigger fixture on the radio than when "drivers license" first came out.
"Sour" is available to stream on all major music platforms.