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Yes, I’m scared of Olivia Rodrigo’s guitar. And that’s just about the highest compliment I or any fan can give — it means her lyrics are so spot on and cut so directly to the bone that they make us feel remorse and nostalgia we’d rather avoid.

The phrase is derived from the song “scared of my guitar” on Rodrigo’s sophomore album, “GUTS.” It still applies to her third album, “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love,” which came out Friday. The album follows a relationship — from faraway obsession to post-breakup clarity — over the course of 13 songs and 50 minutes.

It’s been three years since Rodrigo released “GUTS” at 19 years old, and that time to grow shows. At 23 years old, Rodrigo’s lyrics are a complex and tender analysis of the baggage and mistakes that come from both sides of the relationship. That sets them apart from Rodrigo’s earlier songwriting, which, while still amazing, sometimes came from an angry-at-the-world, teenage voice.

What made me anticipate this album so much was the collaboration with The Cure’s lead vocalist and guitarist, Robert Smith on “what’s wrong with me.” The rich musical references throughout the album prove Rodrigo is a true student of the industry, not just creating catchy pop songs for the sake of hearing her own lyrics.

The album’s opening track and lead single, “drop dead,” is exactly what we’ve come to expect from Rodrigo, but it’s not boring by any means. It’s an obsessive love song made for the contemporary internet age.

“One night I was bored in bed / And stalked you on the internet,” Rodrigo sings.

An easter egg hinting at the Smith collab is also embedded in the catchy but conversational lyrics that probably won’t leave my head all summer.

“You know all the words to ‘Just Like Heaven,’/ And I know why he wrote them,” Rodrigo sings.

If Rodrigo knows all the words to “Just like Heaven,” I know all the words to “stupid song.” The song starts as one of Rodrigo’s trademark piano ballads but quickly escalates into something more developed. The somewhat tortured lyrics are artful foreshadowing for the painful breakup coming later in the album.

It’s hard to pick favorites on this album, but the seamless lyrical flow and satisfying harmonies of “stupid song” make it one of my top picks, along with the already TikTok viral lyrics like “you should feel how I feel when somebody says your name.”

“Honeybee,” “maggots for brains” and “u+me=<3” portray Rodrigo fully immersed in the honeymoon stage of the relationship. The lush vocals on “honeybee” paired with the religious certainty of the lyrics make this feel almost like a hymn.

“In the dark, I’m not scared / I just reach and you’re right there,” Rodrigo sings.

“U+me= <3” feels naive and giddy, reminding me of The Cure’s “Friday I’m in Love,” which Rodrigo recently sang alongside Smith. I love the juxtaposition between the vintage-feeling lyrics “carve our names into the car seat leather” and the clearly texting-inspired line “you plus me equals a heart forever.”

The first shreds of doubt enter the relationship with “my way” and “purple.” “My way” is a classic jealousy anthem, but “purple” looks at doubt in a relationship from a much more complex lens. Rodrigo ponders if two people can become too close and if doing everything together means losing yourself.

Rodrigo writes this beautifully, with lyrics like “It’s a small world / When it only can revolve around us two.” Plus, Rodrigo tosses in a Modern English reference with her repetition of “melt with you.”

This feeling comes to a head in “the cure.” The song puts words to a feeling that is incredibly hard to grapple with: the realization that a relationship might not be enough to fix your own problems. The lyricism proves Rodrigo’s maturity as she accepts that the flaws in the relationship may stem from herself.

“And it feels like medication / And it’s good for me I’m sure? But it don’t matter how your love feels anymore / It’ll never be the cure,” she sings.

The song’s musical build perfectly fits, portraying thoughts that are first whispered and guarded but then released in full force.

Even if you’re not a fan of The Cure, I hope you can appreciate the synth track “what’s wrong with me.” Smith’s British new-wave voice is iconic and blends unexpectedly well with Rodrigo’s. The way the two harmonize makes you want to sing along even when you don’t know all the words quite yet — but trust me, you will.

For me, “less” is the lyrical hard-hitter of this album, marking the end of the relationship portrayed throughout the album. It might be the song on the album I’ve listened to the least — only because it’s so piercing. Rodrigo’s storytelling of recreating a first date only to be faced with the fact that things aren’t the same as they used to be is masterful.

“If loving me means letting go / and wishing me the best / then I guess / I wish, I wish, I wish / you loved me less,” Rodrigo sings.

From that deeply troubled place, “expectations” is a big leap. All of a sudden, we’re singing along to catchy choruses again, and it feels like there might be a song missing in between these two. The production of this track called Madonna to mind as Rodrigo lists out her newly established dealbreakers: a fake job, a passive personality, etc.

The song taps into a common sentiment among Gen Z women: knowing your worth and not settling. But, it almost seems as if Rodrigo is hoping to convince herself that she’s no longer her past self.

The little reference back to “honeybee” in the album’s final song, “cigarette smoke,” is the bow on top. Though the mournful, regret-filled track is beautiful, lyrics expressing clarity and closure might have been a better fit to conclude the album’s storyline than the bitter look back Rodrigo gives. Still, “cigarette smoke” does offer a musical look back at the relationship portrayed in “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love.”

The album truly tells a seamless story — every song sets up the next. Rodrigo’s interpretation of the pop genre stays familiar, but her lyrics are more insightful than ever and packed with meaningful musical references. “You seem pretty sad for a girl so in love” is an intimate concept album for the online era.

Published on June 19, 2026 at 1:06 pm
Contact Charlotte: cprice04@syr.edu