Why Teenage Dream by Olivia Rodrigo is the Perfect Closer

GUTSy storytelling

Olivia Rodrigo’s sophomore album is filled with the type of self reflection and teenage angst that can instantly pull you back into your own teen memories and emotions. At least, that has been my experience as I screamed along to her album in the car for the past few weeks. I have a new favorite track every four or five days and, somehow, I’m not sick of playing the songs on repeat just yet. I am so impressed by the diversity of musical tone throughout the album, and even more impressed by Olivia’s songwriting rich with cleverness, humor, vulnerability, and storytelling. My favorite albums often earn their way into my heart through their storytelling, not just in the lyrics, but in the order of the songs on the album. Opening and closing tracks are the most important choices of all for an album’s story: What does the artist hope the first and last impressions of the album will be for listeners? What themes should the opener set up for the rest of the album? What final thoughts and reflections should the closer offer to listeners?

My love for intentional album placements is why teenage dream, despite not being one of my GUTS favorites on its own, deserves a special shout-out and deep dive. The closing track begins with a lovely piano intro, featuring hints of dissonance that mirror the tension in its opening lyrics:

When am I gonna stop being wise beyond my years and just start being wise?
When am I gonna stop being a pretty young thing to guys?
When am I gonna stop being great for my age and just start being good?
When will it stop being cool to be quietly misunderstood?

These opening questions perfectly encapsulate the struggle of young success. Olivia of course alludes to her own anxieties after the explosion of her popularity following her first album, Sour, but also points to a more universal experience. There’s an immense amount of pressure on all of us to succeed EARLY, e.g. Forbes 30 Under 30 and society’s disproportionate attention to its youngest academics, athletes, money-makers, and award-winners. We all remember how much praise you would get for being ahead of our reading level in elementary school, for being a year or two ahead in math in middle school, for taking college courses in high school– the list goes on. Validation for achievement isn’t bad, of course, but the focus on someone’s age when they achieve something really makes it feel like true success has an expiration date- and the timer’s ticking. This sets an awful lot of people up for an ongoing crisis as soon as they reach adulthood. Suddenly, you’re right at the level you’re supposed to be (or, god forbid, “behind”). Olivia’s fear of becoming “good” instead of “great for her age” articulates this crisis that so many of us fall into, even when we are so, so unbelievably young like Olivia as she turns 19 in the song.

Also universal is the additional pressure of beauty standards and their connection to youth, as much as we disdain the impact they have on our self worth and confidence. Olivia picks up on that tension too, choosing the wry and slightly mocking phrase “pretty little thing to guys” to voice her vulnerable apprehension about growing older and therefore less beautiful.

I'll blow out the candles, happy birthday to me
Got your whole life ahead of you, you're only nineteen
But I fear that they already got all the best parts of me
And I'm sorry that I couldn't always be your teenage dream

This chorus has to be one of the reasons we all cry on our birthdays, right? The older we get, the less impressive anything we do feels- and we are not typically the ideal of whatever age we are turning. I find “But I fear that they already got all the best parts of me” to be particularly heartbreaking, a sad afterthought of the critical acclaim that Olivia receives for nailing her songs about youth: she can’t write them forever. I don’t doubt that her songwriting will only get better, but I understand why she would- right now, one of the reasons people adore her music is for its ability to pull us back into a teenage dream. What will happen when that’s not true?

And when does wide-eyed affection and all good intentions start to not be enough?
When will everyone have every reason to call all my bluffs?
And when are all my excuses of learning my lessons gonna start to feel sad?
Will I spend all the rest of my years wishing I could go back?

The second verse showcases the opposite fear of getting older: not only is it more valuable to succeed in your youth, but it’s also less incriminating to fail. It’s more acceptable to have moments of immaturity, more okay to not know what you’re doing, and less consequential to make mistakes. The highly publicized teen drama surrounding Sour might be the obvious reference for these lyrics, but again Olivia makes her deepest fears universal. It is really scary to think that we might have already experienced the best versions of our lives and ourselves.

The music in teenage dream builds and builds throughout the song, mimicking the emotion and physicality of an anxiety spiral or meltdown until it finally transitions into rock for the bridge, in which Olivia sings over and over:

They all say that it gets better
It gets better the more you grow
Yeah, they all say that it gets better
It gets better, but what if I don't?

Yeah, what if?!?!?! This question that Olivia repeatedly asks her listeners is not only a powerful ending to the song, but – the reason teenage dream is now one of my favorite closers – a powerful ending to the album and the career of her teens. This is especially impactful paired with the album’s opener, all-american bitch. Track 1 is currently my favorite on the album for its artistic and punchy depiction of the conflicting and beyond-unrealistic expectations felt by young women. It sets up fantastic themes about girlhood, self doubt, and relationships both to people and fame that reoccur throughout the rest of the album in both ballads and upbeat bops -

Lacy, oh Lacy, I just loathe you lately / And I despise my jealous eyes and how hard they fell for you / Yeah, I despise my rotten mind and how much it worships you (lacy)

They tell me that they love me like I'm some tourist attraction / They're changin' my machinery, and I just let it happen / I got the things I wanted, it's just not what I imagined (making the bed)

now it don’t mean a thing / god love is fucking embarrassing / just watch as I crucify myself (love is embarrassing)

And I say I don't care, I say that I'm fine / But you know I can't let it go, I've tried, I've tried, I've tried for so long / It takes strength to forgive, but I don't feel strong (the grudge)

I could change up my body and change up my face / I could try every lipstick in every shade But I'd always feel the same / 'Cause pretty isn't pretty enough anyway (pretty isn’t pretty)

It all culminates in this final question in teenage dream: does it (do I) only get worse from here? For Olivia in particular, this question is everything- this is the last album she’ll write about the specific topics that propelled her to success. She’s received so much critical acclaim and love from fans for writing songs about life as a teen, fueling her ultimate fear: What if she’s already peaked as an artist?

The talent with which she articulates this fear in teenage dream is proof enough for me that she won’t. GUTS is a testimony to Olivia’s breakout fame, a vulnerable exploration of youthful emotion, and a strong addition to the foundation of a long, thriving career in music. I already await her next album with excitement, and deeply envy everyone who is lucky enough to see the GUTS tour and teenage dream performed live. I’ll be on the waitlist :////