Olivia Rodrigo’s New Album ‘Sour’ Has A Taylor Swift Feature & Tons Of Joshua Bassett References
After months of anticipation, Olivia Rodrigo‘s debut album, Sour, is finally here. Yep, the new LP came out on Friday,
Lillie Gissen
After months of anticipation, Olivia Rodrigo‘s debut album, Sour, is finally here. Yep, the new LP came out on Friday, May 21, and we cannot stop listening to it! But wait, did you guys catch the low-key Taylor Swiftfeature on the record?! You may not have even noticed it, but the “Lover” songstress made a secret appearance on the album, and boy, was it epic.
Oh, and did we mention that there are tons references to Rodrigo’s relationship with Joshua Bassett throughout the lyrics of the songs? The singer spilled so much of tea on what went down between her and her ex-boyfriend through her new music, and we are so here for it. In case you missed it, we went ahead and broke down the entire album from start to finish for you, here’s everything you need to know about Sour…
Olivia Rodrigo Interpolated A Taylor Swift Song On Her Album
It’s no secret that Rodrigo is a huge Swift fan, and she took it to the next level on Sour. It turns out, Swift and Jack Antonoff (who is one of Swift’s main collaborators) are both listed as writers on Rodrigo’s song “1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back,” but they didn’t actually work with the Disney star on the track. Instead, she interpolated Swift’s song “New Years Day,” which means she re-recorded the melody (rather than sampling it). Plus, there’s even a major Swift tribute in the title of the track! If you look carefully, you’ll notice that it includes the numbers one and three — which combined equals Swift’s lucky number, 13.
As fans know, after Rodrigo’s single “Drivers License” came out in January 2021, Swift actually commented on Rodrigo’s Instagram post and told her she was “so proud” of her. Then, the High School Musical: The Musical: The Series actress posted a video of herself crying and freaking out over it, which she captioned, “What is breathing?”
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“She’s totally my biggest idol and biggest songwriting inspiration,” Rodrigo gushed during a February 2021 interview. “To have her blessing was really, really special.”
She then revealed on Morning Mash Up that the blonde beauty had sent her a handwritten letter and some gifts.
“Actually last night, like literally like 12 hours ago, I got a package from her with this like handwritten note,” she explained. “And she gave me this ring because she said she wore one just like it when she wrote Red and she wanted me to have one like it and I, and like all of this amazing stuff, she’s like hand-wrapped these gifts.”
How sweet is that?! The two pop stars finally met at the 2021 Brit Awards on May 17, 2021, and boy, was it magical.
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She Didn’t Hold Back While Singing About Joshua Bassett
Rodrigo and Bassett’s messy relationship has pretty much been the talk of the town ever since “Drivers License” came out in the beginning of the year. And the new album seemingly contains a ton of songs inspired by the actor.
For those who missed it, the two stars met on set of HSMTMTS, and back when they were filming the show in 2019, fans started to notice that they were hanging out a lot when the cameras stopped rolling. They posted a bunch of cute pics together on social media, and naturally, rumors started to spread that they were dating. They never actually spoke out about the relationship while they were together, but fans started to speculate that they had split in the summer of 2020, when Rodrigo posted a video of herself listening to a song that they had written together for the show and wrote, “You think you can hurt my feelings? I wrote this song.”
“And that’s on failed relationships,” she captioned it.
Just a few weeks later, Bassett was spotted hanging out with Sabrina Carpenter (they were photographed getting lunch together), so it appeared that he had moved on. They were also spotted kissing during a Black Lives Matter protest a few weeks later, and in October 2020, they even more coordinated Halloween costumes.
Now, we know exactly what went down between them. In the song “Traitor,” Rodrigo sang about a guy who left her and started dating someone else two weeks later, seemingly referring to Bassett and Carpenter.
“And ain’t it funny how you ran to her / The second that we called it quits? / And ain’t it funny how you said you were friends? / Now it sure as hell don’t look like it,” the lyrics read. “You betrayed me / And I know that you’ll never feel sorry for the way I hurt, yeah / You talked to her when we were together / Loved you at your worst, but that didn’t matter / It took you two weeks to go off and date her / Guess you didn’t cheat, but you’re still a traitor.”
Her track “Good 4 U” also seems to be about the situation. In that one, she addressed a guy who was doing fine after a breakup, while she was a total mess over it.
“Well, good for you, I guess you moved on really easily / You found a new girl and it only took a couple weeks / Remember when you said that you wanted to give me the world? / And good for you, I guess that you’ve been workin’ on yourself / I guess that therapist I found for you, she really helped / Now you can be a better man for your brand new girl,” she sang in it. “Well, good for you, you look happy and healthy / Not me, if you ever cared to ask / Good for you, you’re doin’ great out there without me / Baby, God, I wish that I could do that / I’ve lost my mind / I’ve spent the night cryin’ on the floor in my bathroom / But you’re so unaffected / I really don’t get it / But I guess good for you.”
In the song “Enough For You,” Rodrigo talked about how a failed relationship effected her self esteem, and many fans are convinced that it’s also about Bassett.
“You found someone morе excitin’ / The next sеcond, you were gone / And you left me there cryin’, wonderin’ what I did wrong / And you always say I’m never satisfied / But I don’t think that’s true / ‘Cause all I ever wanted was to be enough for you / And all I ever wanted was to be enough for you,” the lyrics read. “And maybe I’m just not as interesting / As the girls you had before / But God, you couldn’t have cared less / About someone who loved you more / I’d say you broke my heart / But you broke much more than that / Now I don’t want your sympathy / I just want myself back.”
Last but not least, it’s believed that the emotional song “Happier” was inspired by Bassett and Carpenter too.
“And do you tell her she’s the most beautiful girl you’ve ever seen? / An eternal love bulls**t you know you’ll never mean / Remember when I believed you meant it when you said it first to me? / And now I’m pickin’ her apart / Like cuttin’ her down make you miss my wretched heart / But she’s beautiful, she looks kind, she probably gives you butterflies,” the 18-year-old sang. “I hope you’re happy, but not like how you were with me / I’m selfish, I know, I can’t let you go / So find someone great but don’t find no one better / I hope you’re happy, I wish you all the best, really / Say you love her, baby, just not like you loved me / And think of me fondly when your hands are on her / I hope you’re happy, but don’t be happier.”
Well, if you need us we’ll be listening to Sour on repeat.
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