Olivia Rodrigo began phasing into a new era of music for her upcoming album “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love” with the lead single “drop dead”, which was released on April 16. Along with the song, Rodrigo released a music video, shot in the Palace of Versailles.
The instrumentation of the song immediately transports the listener to summer, with its breezy, yet upbeat intro, followed by Rodrigo’s soft, yet confident vocals. It’s hard not to picture oneself going for a long drive with the windows rolled down right at sunset on a carefree summer evening while this song is turned way up. The production style is almost reminiscent of songs written for the hit Netflix show, “Heartstopper”, with its synth forward, reverb heavy atmosphere.
As for the lyricism of this work, Rodrigo uses references to Versailles, astrology, and “Just Like Heaven” by The Cure to paint a picture describing the high-stakes feelings associated with a first date that goes really well. With lines like “All pressed up in the bathroom line / You’re looking like an angel on the walls of Versailles”, Rodrigo creates a sense of awe that she has with the subject of the song. It’s also fun to note that perhaps Rodrigo chose to reference Versailles because King Louis XIV was the primary builder of that palace, and “drop dead” is rumored to be about Rodrigo’s ex, Louis Partridge.
In another reference, seemingly to Partridge, Rodrigo discusses astrology with the line “Pisces and a Gemini / But I think we might go really nice together.” Rodrigo’s astrological sign is Pisces and Partridge’s sign is Gemini.
The hook of the song emphasizes the conflicting emotions that can overwhelm a person at the start of a relationship. “The most alive I’ve ever been / But kiss me and I might drop dead”, shows that a person can feel the best they have in a while with a person, but fear that following those emotions might lead to disastrous outcomes.
Rodrigo collaborated with her longtime producer, Daniel Nigro, and also Amy Allen, who has been a songwriter with big names like Sabrina Carpenter, Harry Styles, and Halsey, just to name a few.
It would not be a surprise at all if “drop dead” ended up being one of the “songs of the summer”, as the media likes to coin. Rodrigo managed to, yet again, create a catchy, yet emotionally vulnerable piece of music for a lead single. Couple this with fresh pinky visuals and a bound to be iconic music video (name a cooler filming location than Versailles), and there’s a recipe for another hit album on the way.
Rordrigo’s album “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love” comes out on June 12, and for fans of Rodrigo, “drop dead” is a sign that they’re in for a treat.