It might be called Stupid Song, but Olivia Rodrigo’s latest single is yet another smart piece of pop songwriting from an artist who can do no wrong right now.
With Stupid Song riding high in global streaming charts, Rodrigo has now given us a little insight into how it was written in a new video interview with Pitchfork.
“It's the only song that I ever wrote on my grand piano in New York,” she remembers. “It was really expensive, and I was like, well, I didn't write any songs on it, but this one, this one I got it out in like the last few weeks of me moving [from] that apartment, so it was all worth it.”
Rodrigo says that the inspiration for Stupid Song came when she was out for an early morning walk in London: “This guy walks up to me – I thought he was gonna ask for a picture and I'm like, oh yeah, that's cool, it's cool – and he walks up to me, he goes, ‘You are so beautiful, like, can I take you to dinner?’ And I was like, ‘No, but, like, wow, thank you so much,’ and I was so like, just joyful and happy, and I went home, and I wrote this song about being infatuated with someone, and just like in total limerence.”
Discussing the song’s arrangement, Rodrigo says: “I wrote it on piano, and so obviously there's an element of it that's sort of piano ballady, but it had such energy, and we're like, let's put dance drums in there. And I think that little bridge part, it's my favorite part of the song, I love that part. I think it was the last thing on the record we finished, because we just could not figure out what that part was supposed to be, we tried everything under the sun, and yeah, I love that bit.”
It sounds like Stupid Song came together in sections, then, and Rodrigo says that she has no problem with it sounding like a hybrid of different parts.
“Whenever I play this song for people, they're like, ‘it's like three songs stitched together, but in kind of a cool way.’ And I think that was the vibe, that's what we were going for.”
Like other Rodrigo songs – Vampire, for example – Stupid Song is also a track that builds, almost theatrically, and she accepts that this is now something of a trademark for her.
“I just sort of write that way,” she explains. “I don't really know why. I’ve just always loved a song that is very dynamic – that's the type of music that I listen to. I think that's why I like rock music so much. I like something that's just really loud sometimes.”
There’s also another genre that Rodrigo and her co-writer/producer, Dan Nigro, have bonded over, along with an artist who’s served as an unlikely inspiration: “Dan and I, we really love a power ballad. We actually really love Meat Loaf songs sometimes, because we're like, ‘this is the ultimate power ballad.’”
Elsewhere in the video, Rodrigo also breaks down two other songs from her new album, You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love: The Cure and Cigarette Smoke. And, as if she wasn’t already busy enough, she’s also announced a new one-day music festival, Daisy Chain Fields, which will take place on 29 August at Great Park in Irvine California and feature an impressive all-women line-up.
As well as Rodrigo herself, this includes the likes of Chappell Roan, Bikini Kill, Doechii, Garbage, Katseye, Mitski, Rachel Chinouriri, Santigold and The Breeders, while Karen O, Sarah McLachlan and Stevie Nicks are listed as special guests.
All profits raised from the festival will benefit non-profit organisations that advance and advocate for women and girls, and presale tickets go on sale tomorrow, 24 June.
