18 Painfully Real Olivia Rodrigo Lyrics About Breakups

Olivia Rodrigo’s debut album, Sour, has everyone thinking about the last person who broke their heart. Her lyrics about breakups and heartache are so visceral, it’s impossible not to feel like you’re driving alone past your ex’s street or crying on the bathroom floor right there with her. When her debut single “drivers license” skyrocketed to both the top of the charts and heartbreak playlists worldwide in December 2020, it became clear that Rodrigo just gets it. And Sour proves she gets all of it — from the tears, to the rage, to the devastation of watching your ex fall in love all over again.

In an interview published May 13, Rodrigo told Billboard she was worried she might be “pigeonholed” as “the heartbreak girl.” She said she even tried to write some love songs but ultimately decided against it. “I’m a songwriter who writes from a place of authenticity and truth,” Rodrigo said. “And truthfully, love and happiness and everything weren’t feelings that I was feeling at the time. And what’s the point of putting out a record if it isn’t something you feel is important to say to people?”

To put a wound in salt (yes, that was a “good 4 u” reference), here are 18 lyrics from Sour that perfectly encompass what it feels like to go through a breakup that’s more like an emotional, nauseating, unpredictable rollercoaster ride.

1. “Cause it's always one step forward and three steps back / I'm the love of your life until I make you mad / It's always one step forward and three steps back / Do you love me, want me, hate me, boy? / I don't understand.” — “1 step forward, 3 steps back”
2. “And you always say I'm never satisfied but I don't think that's true / Cause all I ever wanted was to be enough for you.” — “enough for you”
3. “It took you two weeks to go off and date her / Guess you didn’t cheat but you’re still a traitor.” — “traitor”
4. “And good for you, I guess that you've been working on yourself / I guess that therapist I found for you, she really helped / Now you can be a better man for your brand new girl.” — “good 4 u”
5. “God, I wish that you had thought this through / Before I went and fell in love with you / When she's sleeping in the bed we'd made / Don't you dare forget about the way you betrayed me.” — “traitor”
6. “Cause all I ever wanted was to be enough / But I don't think anything could ever be enough for you.” — “enough for you”
7. “I've lost my mind, I've spent the night / Crying on the floor of my bathroom / But you're so unaffected, I really don't get it.” — “good 4 u”
8. “Remember when you swore to God I was the only person who ever got you / Well, screw that and screw you / You will never have to hurt the way you know that I do.” — “good 4 u”
9. “And all my friends are tired of hearing how much I miss you but / I kinda feel sorry for them / Cause they'll never know you the way that I do.” — “drivers license”
10. “Maybe I'm too emotional / Your apathy's like a wound in salt / Maybe I'm too emotional / Or maybe you never cared at all.” — “good 4 u”
11. “Strawberry ice cream in Malibu / Don't act like we didn't do that shit, too / You're trading jackets like we used to do / Yeah, everything is all reused.” — “deja vu”
12. “I still hear your voice in the traffic / We're laughing over all the noise / God, I'm so blue / Know we're through / But I still fucking love you, babe.” — “drivers license”
13. “And maybe I'm just not as interesting as the girls you had before / But God, you couldn't have cared less about someone who loved you more.” — “enough for you”
14. “And do you tell her she's the most beautiful girl you've ever seen? / An eternal love bullshit you know you'll never mean / Remember when I believed you meant it when you said it first to me?” — “happier”
15. “I'd say you broke my heart / But you broke much more than that / Now, I don't want your sympathy / I just want myself back.” — “enough for you”
16. “Bittersweet to think about the damage that we do / Cause I was going down, but I was doing it with you / Yeah, everything we broke, and all the trouble that we made / But I say that I hate you with a smile on my face.” — “favorite crime”
17. “I'm selfish, I know / I can't let you go / So find someone great but don't find no one better / I hope you're happy but don't be happier.” — “happier”
18. “But don't tell me you're sorry, boy, feel sorry for yourself / Cause someday, I'll be everything to somebody else / And they'll think that I'm so exciting / And you'll be the one who's crying.” — “enough for you”

At this point, I think everyone who’s heard Sour all the way through is crying, actually.