About drivers license and Sad Girl Power
If you’re not living under a rock you’re probably familiar with “drivers license”, a breakup song written by 17-year-old Olivia Rodrigo about the heart wrenching feeling of seeing the boy she loves leave her for someone else. What you may not know is that the track was streamed 76.1 MILLION times during its release week in the US only and broke the record for most streams for a song in a week on Spotify.
To me, as a music woman, that is absolutely mind-blowing. I’ve studied everything I can about the data behind this song, jaw dropped on the floor, because this is one of those few cases that make the whole music industry stop and just pay attention, mesmerized by the absolute gigantic potential of a breakup song.
But music business woman aside: I, Karol, sad music consumer/fan, have played this song about 5–10 times every single day. I am not exagerating.
First of all, I am sucker for sad girl songs, being the Pisces that I am which, unsurprisingly, is also Olivia’s star sign. And I have come to realize that the most powerful tracks usually come with an all lower case title. Like the girl didn't even have the will to properly Title It Like It’s Supposed To. That’s the kind of sad song shit people love. So this is a match made in heaven for us. It’s a win fucking win.
Second, it doesn’t matter if you can drive or not, if the dude lives in the city or in the suburbs, if he left you for an older (or younger) blonde/brunette/redhead, it’s the subtle shit that actually gets to people. Like, for me, it’s the line “And I just can’t imagine how you could be so okay now that I’m gone.” It does it for me. Suddenly I remember things that make me wanna sit on my floor, wrapped in a blanket (it’s 90 degrees here now), eating Ben & Jerry’s and crying over someone.
In all honesty, to me this is the secret to songs that explode like this: they somehow connect to the deepest, craziest feelings you’ve felt in your life. Maybe when you were 15 and had your heart broken for the first time, maybe when you were 28 and had it broken the hardest. We’ve all been there, it’s the thing 99% of the population share: heartbreak. And I love it. I’m here for it.
To say the song is a success is an understatement. The stars simply aligned on that January 8, 2021: the lyrics, the melancholic melody that builds up in the chorus, the story, the marketing behind it. But I believe it also reflects people’s current state of mind. Maybe in another time this song would’ve made it to — maaaaybe — Top 40 and that would’ve been it. But I believe that last year, being a shitstorm that it was, opened people up to really let themselves feel. All the emotions, the good and the bad. Taylor Swift released two whole albums of (mostly) ballads/sad alternative songs that were a blast to listen to while we all dealt with our own quarantine life bullshit and the consequences it brought us. Both of them peaked at No. 1 on Billboard.
At the end of the day, I think that’s good. That the people are feeling. Past generations have never spoken as openly about their struggles and their sad hearts as the ones right now. Kids theses days will start a conversation with “you won’t believe what happened in therapy today” while most baby boomers would drop dead on the floor before they would open their mouths to talk about sadness, depression or whatever mental health struggles every person goes through in their lives.
Something that used to be frowned upon is now a part of people’s identity, it’s something to be celebrated: to feel the feels. They say you can’t heal what you don’t let yourself feel, and if “drivers license” has showed us anything is that, for the smart sad girls, you can make bank while you let yourself feel. Kuddos to Olivia for not letting a boy ruin her vibes. Kuddos to the new generation for embracing their feelings — high or low. Here’s to everyone becoming a little bit of a Pisces and feeling their feels too. Then maybe, just maybe, we will all be able to heal from all the bullshit we go through in life (while listening to sad girl music, of course). Now pass me the Ben & Jerry’s, and “Alexa, play drivers license for the 10th time today, please.”
