Why I Can't Stop Listening to Olivia Rodrigo's "drop dead"

As a nearly 28-year-old man, you might not expect one of my favorite artists of recent years to be Olivia Rodrigo. If you thought that, you would be wrong.

In a fiercely competitive pop landscape, Rodrigo stands out as one of my favorites. Her music draws heavily from the 90s and 2000s. At times, she seems like she’s experienced a lifetime of emotions for someone who’s only 23 years old.

Part of what makes Rodrigo so interesting to me is how she draws from icons that have come before her: Hayley Williams, Taylor Swift, and now even The Cure. Art draws on what comes before it, which is something Rodrigo understands.

I shouldn’t have been surprised when “drop dead” came out. I loved it immediately.

The Song

“drop dead” is about a woman standing before a new relationship, giddy about what might come. For those familiar with Rodrigo’s other works, this is a fairly new take for her, stepping away from the more obviously melancholy vibes of “drivers license” or the angsty energy of “get him back!”

The song starts with the singer at a bar with her crush, hoping that he never finishes the beer he’s drinking. She thinks back to The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven,” understanding the infatuation that Robert Smith sings about even better now that she’s in love.

This verse paints such a specific picture. Who hasn’t been enjoying an evening with someone not wanting it to end? The image of a pint glass slowly emptying counts down the time until the two must part. The music swells to hammer home this giddiness.

As someone who grew up in the internet age, I’m brought right back to my teenage years. In the chorus, Rodrigo sings about being bored one night and looking up her crush on the internet. This is just such a precise image. When you’re unraveling an infatuation (since that’s really what she’s singing about here; it’s too early for love), there are these little moments that build and build the suspense. Chatting with someone over a beer. Looking them up online. Rodrigo paints this picture so well.

What Love Songs Miss

When it comes to the pop genre, there’s no shortage of love songs.

It seems like so many of these songs are about how in love someone is or about how upset they are at a recent breakup. There are many good love songs out there, yet certain tropes start to crop up over time.

Take Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect,” for example. It’s a lovely song, but its thesis is essentially, “I love you so much.” There isn’t tension, and while it’s a nice idea that makes for a good wedding song, love is often much more complicated than the lyrics suggest.

Where “drop dead” stands out is how it captures such a specific emotional circumstance: the elation and terror of realizing that you’re falling in love.

Rodrigo writes about this moment in a way that’s unique to her current relationship, yet she connects it emotionally to the universal experience of a new love’s anxiety. This is a feeling I understand because I’ve lived it.

Traveling Through Time

“drop dead” is a time machine. It takes me back to moments I’ve experienced before, full of butterflies in my stomach or tension in my chest. 

Whether it was in college talking to someone for the first time or at the beginning of my current relationship, I know that feeling, the one where you like someone and think they like you back, but you aren’t sure and have to make that leap.

I remember walking with my now-girlfriend before we started dating. I was pretty sure we liked each other, but I wasn’t certain. We went for a walk when I decided to ask her out. 

That moment between question and answer is exactly what “drop dead” captures. 

It’s the pressure building in your chest before it finally breaks, hopefully in a happy ending, yet in the beginning, you can’t know. It’s terror and excitement all rolled into one.

That’s what this song does to me.

Embarrassing? Or Art?

At times, I can feel somewhat embarrassed to enjoy music from artists like Olivia Rodrigo. Just this weekend as I was listening to “drop dead” at the gym, I felt an urge to make sure the cover art didn’t show. 

But that’s ridiculous. 

Rodrigo’s new song is fun and upbeat and – most importantly – it captures a universal feeling so well. She places us in her head at the start of this new relationship. We feel the excitement and the nerves. It’s something I’d bet many of us have felt before. 

Rodrigo takes a specific experience in her life, how she’s falling in love with her current boyfriend, and connects it to this universal idea, making it feel like it belongs to you. 

Next time this song comes on at the gym, I’ll leave the cover art showing.