Olivia Rodrigo has become our new-found hero after the release of her recent single “drivers license,” which seems to be the theme song of all of our lives collectively right now, after the Disney star allegedly was left heartbroken by High School Musical: The Musical: The Series co-star, Joshua Bassett. The question we should be asking ourselves as college students is why a song about a girl finally being old enough to drive is resonating with us so much. Our emotional attachment to this song is not because of how hot Joshua Bassett is or how juicy all the drama of this love triangle is (though these are two bonus points), but it’s the description of the feeling you get when you think about him.
It’s the feeling of doing something you had always talked about doing with the person that once loved you. But now you’re doing it without them, and you’re just left with the memory of them and what it would be like if they were there. It’s the lingering curiosity of what it would be like if they were by your side; if you were good enough for them to stay. Olivia finally getting her license was the freedom that the two lovers probably dreamed of, distance and a lack-of-a-ride not prohibiting their love any longer. But by the time her freedom crept upon her, it was already too late and he was gone. It’s a classic — but tragic — case of the right person, the wrong time. Or is it the wrong person, the wrong time?
It’s how the second verse reminds us of a time of insecurity. There’s always someone in the back of our minds that we’re worried is prettier, funnier or skinnier. And sometimes that person wins. Sometimes that person is who your lover loves in the end. Sometimes it feels like no one will ever compare to that one that got away, and you will never love again. That’s 10 times harder to deal with when they’ve already moved on. This brings in the big question of the chorus: How are they okay without us, even when at one time they said it was forever? Were any of the words said to us even real?
And when your heart is breaking, it bears heavily on your chest. Like it’s hard to breathe, like it’s hard to do anything but think about it. But somehow, we always feel annoying for talking about it, even though we might really need to. Our friends act annoyed because we “shouldn’t cry over someone toxic” or that we “need to get over it already.” But here’s when I figured out Olivia is a genius: somehow after those comments, we still have this feeling of “but they don’t get it, they didn’t know him like I did.” In a way though, we still feel bad that none of our friends knew him as we did.
The last two verses of the song depicted a feeling I never could put into words myself, but always wanted to. When you get your heart broken, you see them everywhere. You hear them in every song you used to sing together, you picture their face at all the places you used to go, you picture them driving with you. It’s so hard to let go, and it’s not that we ever do. We keep this endless love for them while coming to terms that there’s nothing we can do about it.
All of this said, it has become evident that this song isn’t just another bop from a Disney star. This song is what we have all gone through, but never had the words to describe. And with that being said, “drivers license” by Olivia Rodrigo is a song that is close to my heart and is sure to resonate with us all.
