Do you remember when you got your driver’s license? I know I do. My mom and I drove almost an hour to make sure I got my license exactly on my 16th birthday. I could not wait for the day that I could drive myself around town and be free.
This is what I thought the song “drivers license” by Olivia Rodrigo was going to be about when I first heard it, but boy, was I wrong.
I feel like I am the type of person who is normally in on all the pop culture, but for some reason, I missed the beginning of the hype of this song.
One day at the beginning of January, I woke up and continued to see Instagram stories about this artist named Olivia Rodrigo. I had never heard of her before. So of course since I was curious about the hype, and I immediately got on my Apple Music account to look up the song. I hit play and my ears were never the same. In four minutes and two seconds, it made me feel so many different emotions I was unprepared for.
I probably listened to the song at least 10 times nonstop. I was blown away. All I wanted to do was grab my driver’s license, get in my car with my windows rolled down and blare this song.
Fans started getting attached to Rodrigo’s voice when she starred in the hit Disney+ series “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.”
Rodrigo was 17 years old when this song came out. Listening to her unique raw voice and deep lyrics, you would have never known she was so young.
Rodrigo is now part of the long list of Disney stars who turned to pop singers. But I will have to say, Rodrigo’s lyrics hit different than any other Disney singer I’ve listened to before. This song felt like it struck a different chord with our generation.
The song has been #1 on the Billboard charts for the past six weeks. I think this shows how people are feeling about this smash hit.
But what is it? What makes people so in love with the song? What makes it a smash hit?
I think what strikes people most about this song is that Rodrigo perfectly describes feelings people have felt before.
Most people know the feeling of getting their driver’s license and being all excited about it.
Most people know that feeling of heartbreak.
Most people know that feeling of comparison.
Most people know that feeling of driving around and reliving memories.
I know this song affected people in many different ways. I was curious, so I texted a few of my friends that I know love the song to ask what it meant to them. Here is what they had to say.
“You can feel her passion in the lyrics,” said Addison Harwell, freshman biology major. “I feel like it’s something everyone can relate to on some level.”
“It makes me feel understood because it is a reminder that I’m not alone in what I’m going through,” freshman social work major Caroline Permenter said. “She so perfectly articulated exactly how I have felt before.”
“I think the world had a lot of hurt from this past year; it was like this song put all of that bundled up in one. Whenever people listen to the words of this song, the whole world could just say, ‘Yep, I get it,'” said Grace McMurry, junior public relations major. “I personally haven’t experienced a heartbreak like the one she talks about in the song, but it is one I can envision. In each of the lines, I can put myself in those shoes.”
This song might just be the anthem for the year 2021. So maybe the next time you are with your friends in the car jamming out to some music, this song should be on your queue.
