Rating the songs from Olivia Rodrigo's debut album 'SOUR' - Shannon Furgeson

    I HIGHLY recommend you listen to the album SOUR by Olivia Rodrigo before reading! Thanks!

      

      If you're a "High School Musical, the Musical, the Series Fan," an enemy of Sabrina Carpenter, someone who has turned on any hits radio stations in the past couple months, someone who has scrolled through Tik Tok at least once, or someone who enjoys alt-pop/rock music, you've probably heard at least one song from 17-year-old-hit-singer Olivia Rodrigo's debut album, SOUR. Her first single drivers licence was an absolute banger, staying in the Number 1 spot for 8 consecutive weeks of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, making Olivia the youngest artist to ever debut atop the chart, and also holds the record for the longest running number-one for a debut single. When it was first released in January, drivers licence broke Spotify's record for most streams of a single song in one week, as well as most streams in one day for a non-holiday song (January 12 with over 15 million streams). On May 21 of this year (only 10 days ago), Olivia released SOUR, and I was instantly obsessed. After listening to the whole album at least 5 times a day, I pretty much have all the lyrics and the songs down. Because this is the only thing I'm listening to right now, I think it's only fitting that I rate these 11 songs. This of course is only my personal opinion, and to be completely honest I don't dislike any of these songs, some are just not as smashing as others.  

11 - jealousy, jealousy  

    This song is obviously at the bottom of my list, but it's definitely not a bad song by any means. It's really catchy, but it's just not my favorite. I will absolutely sing this song whenever it's stuck in my head and when I'm in the shower and even when I'm in the middle of a lacrosse game, but I'm really just not a huge fan of the minor key, and the lyrics are just okay.  

10 - drivers licence   

    You might be confused as to why this song is at the bottom of my list as well, because it did so well on all of the charts and I was raving about it earlier. To be completely honest with you, I was obsessed with this song the minute it came out, but after about 2 consecutive days of streaming only this song nonstop, it got old pretty quickly, and I don't like listening to it anymore, but I think her bridge in this song is phenomenal and so catchy as well (a common theme among all of her songs you'll find). Another issue I had with this song was all the drama about who this song was about, and the slander that came after it was released. Joshua Basset her ex-boyfriend and his new fling (at the time) Sabrina Carpenter got a lot of hate after this song came out and became big, and I think the drama was entertaining at first but they ended up getting death threats when the three of them were all on good terms and Basset even ended up promoting her song on Instagram. 

9 - hope you're okay  

    This is the last song of the album, and I feel as though it ends the album off nicely. It's a good song, but to put it plainly it sounds like some of the other songs on the album and it's a little bland. I appreciate the lyrics though, they're really cool and the acoustics are cool as well, just a little boring in my opinion. Again, I really live for this bridge, and it reminds me of Lorde, which I love. 

8 - brutal  

    Brutal is the opening song in Olivia's Debut album, and opposite from hope you're okay, it's definitely not boring. The chorus is super fun and catchy and it's a great song to scream-sing in the car, but the melody is a little too "alt" for me. The change from violin to drums is a really great contrast in the beginning, though, and I think gives an clear taste of the contrast that goes on in the rest of the album.   

7 - happier   

    This is one of those songs that is always stuck in my head. happier has some of the best lyrics in the best album, and it makes me sad that this song is so far down on my list because it's so beautiful, but there are a couple that I love more! happier is one of the songs that I sing with so much passion it makes my voice crack, and I practically pass out from using all of my breath to sing it. 

6 - enough for you  

    enough for you is my jam. The melody is almost like a lullaby it's so peaceful and just irresistible I can't help but feel at ease when I listen to this song. The lyrics are relatable, and sound so amazing when she sings them. The thing about this song is it really shows Olivia's range and her range is so wide it's like the Grand Canyon. Not only can she sing in high and low octaves, Olivia has such an amazing range of styles and songs she really shows her talent throughout this whole album, especially with her tones in this song. 

5 - deja vu  

    deja vu is one of those songs that you could not escape. Tik tok was a breeding ground for free marketing for SOUR, especially with this song. It's almost wispy and delicate turned brutal... I can really only describe this song as passive aggressive, but it's so catchy. The bridge with this song is again, nothing short of spectacular. My favorite thing about this song is her reference to Glee!
 

4 - favorite crime 

    Although it sounds sort of similar to enough for you, favorite crime is one of the most intricate and beautiful songs on her track. It's so gentle but the lyrics are aggravated, making this such an amazing piece. I really have no words for this song, but I suggest listening to it if you're trying to understand. 

3 - 1 step forward, 3 steps back

    Deciding the top 3 spots for my rating was really hard, but I knew this song had to be up there. The lyrics really just carry this whole song. Although the gentle nature and simplicity of the song seem similar to some others, the lyrics are so dramatic and hold so much emotion it's hard not to fall in love with Olivia. She even uses the word "masochistic" which just had me so excited also because that's one of the word's from Edward's most famous line's in Twilight. 

2 - traitor  

     I admit, traitor does sound similar to the other songs, which is common at this point, but this song should not be overlooked... I can almost feel this song in my soul, down my spine, which I guess shows how much I really love it. I can't imagine a better song to perform during my shower concerts. 

1 - good 4 u  

    This is the alt-rock song we didn't even know we needed, but queen Olivia provided. If you've seen me driving with the window's rolled down in the past week, you know exactly how much I love this song. I can't express how good this song is, I think you have to listen yourself to figure that out. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNi_6U5Pm_o 

Thanks for reading about my ratings!! Please leave a comment below if you're an Olivia stan like me and tell me how you'd rate SOUR :)