Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love’ - What To Expect And More

Photo from Genius

After 3 long years of elevated hopes for Olivia Rodrigo to release a 3rd album, the time has finally come. On June 12th, Rodrigo will release her highly anticipated 3rd full length studio album ‘you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love’ leaving fans buzzing. With 2 standout singles, ‘drop dead’ and ‘the cure’, setting off the new era, fans are left torn by the confirmed split album of love and heartbreak.  

‘drop dead’, beginning the era, gives us an introduction to the ‘girl so in love’ half of the album. Despite it being perceived as the ‘love’ side of the album, Rodrigo still brings in melancholy, stating “No matter how hard I try to write a love song they always come out laced with a little melancholy”. Revealing that the album is in chronological order, ‘drop dead’ captures the romantic butterflies of an incredible first date - mixing love, fear and excitement into one. Filming the music video in Versailles, portrays the beautiful aspect of first falling for someone - the feelings being so full and dreamlike, reminding Rodrigo of Versailles. The freedom of Versailles, with the pop star running free like there's no tomorrow, embodies the endless possibilities of first catching feelings for someone. Fans are left questioning the rest of the ‘girl so in love’ half of the album, with aroused excitement for how Rodrigo will tangle love together with melancholy. 

‘the cure’ being the 2nd single, replaces the romantic butterflies with deep ache. We see how the album flips here, beginning the ‘you seem pretty sad’ half of the album, revealing the inner struggles and doubts that people may suffer within relationships. Filming the music video with entirely hand-made props and based in a hospital emphasises the remedy or “cure” for emotional pain. The use of hand-made props are truly incredible and add to the deep personal aspect of the video. With Rodrigo playing a nurse herself, this may symbolise her desire to fix things that are unable to be easily solved. The important twist to the music video, with Rodrigo becoming a patient and red string unravelling from her body, implies she is emotionally unravelling herself and that you can't always “fix” yourself through someone's love. It's safe to say Rodrigo has successfully started off the ‘you seem pretty sad’ half of the album in a beautifully devastating way. 

Announcing the album at the beginning of April, fan theories sky rocketed, with a drawn-out album rollout, walls painted pink around LA and hinting at the album name and track titles, it was a wave of relief when the album was finally announced. Rodrigo took a turn with her album name, waving goodbye to the 4 letter rule she created when releasing ‘SOUR’ and ‘GUTS’ and choosing ‘you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love’ (which she revealed this is something her producer, Dan Nigro, once said to her). Rodrigo stated that the change was intentional and tied to her growth as an artist, breaking free from her past teenage angst and facing more adult maturity. ‘You seem pretty sad for a girl so in love’ also acts as a summary - capturing the central idea of love and melancholy into one.  

After an extended wait for the track titles, they were finally released at the end of May, allowing fans to “claim” their songs and predict the meanings. With tracks like ‘u + me = <3’ contrasting tracks like ‘what's wrong with me’ and Rodrigo revealing ‘honeybee’ is the saddest song on the album, despite being on the ‘girl so in love’ half,  it's clear to see that the album will have its high and lows of romance and heartache. Fans are now spiralling as it is finally almost time for Olivia Rodrigo to release her long awaited 3rd studio album ‘you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love’.