Olivia Rodrigo, Drivers License | Track Review 🎵

Teen pop actress and singer Olivia Rodrigo ‘shines like a diamond’ on her breakthrough, brokenhearted single, “Drivers License.”

Believe it or not, a number of child stars have managed to carve out success beyond their Disney/ Nickelodeon roles in the music industry. 🎙 Ariana Grande, 🎙 Demi Lovato, and 🎙 Selena Gomez are a few big-time names that come to mind in more recent times.  🎙 Olivia Rodrigo apparently has “got next” you might thanks to a single that’s totally blowing up, 🎵 “drivers license.”  There is plenty to ‘salivate’ over on this four-minute plus joint – NO CAP!

“Drivers license” was written by Rodrigo and 🎼 ✍ Daniel Nigro, who also produces the record. While Olivia should totally be stoked here – she gets her driver’s license after all – she’s bummed. “Today I drove through the suburbs / Crying ‘cause you weren’t around.” Ugh.  Of course, the guy she desired to be with is with someone else, and that person makes her totally insecure – I feel that.  On the third verse, she continues her lament, expressing how “All of my friends are tired / Of hearing how much I miss you.” She sums up her feelings superbly on the chorus, asserting at the end, “I guess you didn’t mean what you wrote in that song about me / ‘Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street.”  She also get’s totally in her feelings on the bridge, dropping the bomb: “Can’t drive past the places we used to go to / ‘Cause I still fuckin’ love you, babe.”

Final Thoughts 💭

Honestly, it’s rarer that you think that a teen pop artist makes the buzz that Olivia Rodrigo makes with “Drivers License.” The scenario is very much a teen scenario yet people years older than Rodrigo can remember a similar situation, or even relate to it in a different sort of way – love’s universal after all.  “Drivers License” is a bop thanks to the songwriting, solid production (Nigro) and of course, an emotional, strong vocal performance by Rodrigo, particularly on the chorus and bridge sections. 

🎙 Olivia Rodrigo • 🎵 “driver’s license” • 🏷 Geffen • 🗓 1.8.21

[📷: Geffen]