Olivia Rodrigo Fans Are Convinced This GUTS Track Is Dragging Taylor
“You built me up to watch me fall.” 👀
Olivia Rodrigo spilled her guts on her deeply personal new album, and that may include how she feels about her former idol Taylor Swift. There have been rumors for a while that Rodrigo’s relationship with Swift soured after a recent dispute over royalties, and that’s what fans think the GUTS track “The Grudge” is all about. In the heart-wrenching power ballad, Rodrigo sings about a former friend who betrayed her trust and “took everything [she] loved.”
It didn’t take long for everyone familiar with Rodrigo and Swift’s alleged drama to read into the lyrics for “The Grudge.” The bridge seems to reveal that Rodrigo’s rival is someone even more famous than her, who once helped her out but then turned on her: “You built me up to watch me fall / You have everything and you still want more.” The opening lyric also raised people’s eyebrows, as Rodrigo sings about the offending incident being a phone call she received on a Friday in May. It was in May 2021 that Rodrigo had to give Swift 50% of the royalties on her single “Deja Vu” after listeners noticed its similarities to Swift’s song “Cruel Summer.”
However, not everyone is on board with “The Grudge” theory. Superfans pointed out that in Rodrigo’s 2022 documentary Driving Home 2 U, she mentioned someone had broken up with her on May 8, 2020, which would have been a Friday. Some fans think “The Grudge” could be about this ex, rather than Swift.
This isn’t the first time Swifties have theorized that Rodrigo may be releasing music about her fallout with Swift. The GUTS lead single, “Vampire,” also stirred up rumors that Rodrigo may be singing about her former idol “bleeding [her] dry” after the “Deja Vu” controversy. Fans also think the alleged feud may have escalated recently, after Swift added Sabrina Carpenter as an opener for her Eras Tour. Rodrigo’s relationship with Carpenter is famously fraught.
Rodrigo has made it clear time and again that she will not reveal the real-life inspirations for her songs, so fans are just left with their theories. Listen to “The Grudge” for yourself below to mull over who you think it could be about:
