17 Impeccable Lyrics From Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘GUTS’

You can’t go five seconds without encountering a quotable lyric while listening to Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS. The young singer-songwriter’s long-awaited sophomore album is finally out after months of anticipation, and it’s already shaping up to be a flawless piece of songwriting, full of zingers and potent one-liners that capture the anxieties and affairs of a teenage girl’s (and a millennial’s) heart in full, 4K detail.

From the relatable cringe of “ballad of a homeschooled girl” to the scathing societal commentary of “all-american bitch” and “pretty isn’t pretty,” Rodrigo writes like she’s installed a fish-eye lens inside all of our bedrooms. Below, we present a non-exhaustive list of some of the best, most impeccably written lyrics from GUTS, from a dig referencing the Kennedys, to gutting (pun intended) lines about growing up and meeting societal expectations. It’s further proof that she’s already far ahead of her peers in becoming one of her generation’s greatest songwriters.

1. I got class and integrity just like a goddamn Kennedy, I swear — “all-american bitch”

Political science majors will be dissecting this one for years.

2. I'm a perfect all-American bitch/ With perfect all-American lips/ And perfect all-American hips/ I know my place/ I know my place and this is it — “all-american bitch”

You’ve just found the perfect Fourth of July Instagram caption.

3. Yes I know that he’s my ex but can’t two people reconnect? — bad idea right?

It’s true and she’s brave for saying it.

4. And every girl I ever talked to told me you were bad, bad news/ You called them crazy, God, I hate the way I called 'em crazy too — “vampire”

I can’t explain it right now but this is feminism.

5. Went for me and not her/ cause girls your age know better — “vampire”

Phew.

6. Lacy, oh, Lacy/ Skin like puff pastry — “lacy”

This lyric is working on so many levels. What does she mean by puff pastry? Is she doughy? Is she fair and plump? Is it a compliment or a dig? We may never know, and that only adds to its brilliance.

7. 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”

So many things are clicking syntactically with this lyric: the use of the “despise,” the isolating on her “eyes” and “mind,” the opposite tugs of hate and love. It graduated from the Shakespeare school of writing.

8. Everything I do is tragic/ every guy I like is gay — “ballad of a homeschooled girl”

All girls right now please stand up.

9. And I’m playing the victim so well in my head/ But it’s me who’s been making the bed — “making the bed

Rodrigo never skips an opportunity to roast herself, and she’s so real for that.

10. I fell for you like water/ that falls from the February sky/ but now the current’s stronger/ and I couldn’t get out if I tried — “logical”

One of the most poetic lines on GUTS (even if it gives flashbacks to Taylor Swift’s “cardigan”).

11. But I am my father’s daughter so maybe I can fix him — “get him back!”

As fans have already pointed out, the meaning of this lyric changes drastically once you learn Rodrigo’s father is a therapist.

12. I wanna meet his mom/ just to tell her her son sucks — “get him back!”

Referencing the parentals in a song will also be an elite tactic.

13. Watch as I crucify myself for some weird second-string loser who's not worth mentioning — “love is embarassing”

This lyric belongs in r/rareinsults.

14. You found a new version of me and I damn near started World War III — “love is embarassing”

Amend the history books now!

15. You have everything and you still want more — “the grudge”

This lyric can only be delivered while screaming at each other in the pouring rain.

16. And none of it matters, and none of it ends/ You just feel like shit over and over again — “pretty isn’t pretty”

Nihilist girls, we’ve been hit.

17. They all say that it gets better but what if I don’t? — “teenage dream”

The impact of this lyric goes hand in hand with its delivery of being shouted like a mantra. No existential spirals end without getting to this point.