Taylor Swift Features On Olivia Rodrigo's Sour, And You Totally Missed It

For pop music lovers, a collaboration between Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo would be a dream. The musicians have formed a close friendship, and there’s already a fandom behind them. Sometimes, the best things in life are hiding right under our noses. As it turns out, Swift had a small hand in Rodrigo’s debut album. Taylor Swift’s feature on Olivia Rodrigo's Sour will leave you shook.

Swift has been a vocal supporter of Rodrigo’s since she started releasing music. When “drivers license” arrived in January 2021, Swift said she was “proud” of Rodrigo and later sent a slew of thoughtful presents to her house. When the two pop stars finally met at the 2021 BRIT Awards, fans had a field day. The photo of their first meeting went viral, so you can only imagine fans’ reaction when news broke Swift’s name was on Rodrigo’s album credits.

After the album credits for Sour were released on May 20 (one day ahead of the album release), fans realized that track No. 4, “1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back,” featured a familiar name. The writing credits included Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff, and the news was ~almost~ too much for fans to handle.

Not so fast, though, because Rolling Stone confirmed Swift and Antonoff didn’t actually collaborate on the track, and it is simply an interpolation of Swift’s song “New Year’s Day.” An interpolation refers to the act of using a melody from a pre-recorded song.

Still, the song was a sweet nod to Swift’s music. Swift is famous for sprinkling Easter eggs into her music and videos, and it looks like Rodrigo took a page out of her book with “1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back.” Next to each other, the numbers one and three make 13, which is notably Swift’s lucky number.

Rodrigo has been an open book about how much Swift’s music means to her. In a March 3 interview with SiriusXM, Rodrigo said, “I think she’s incredible. All of her support and genuine compassion and excitement for me has just been so so surreal.” She also told Rolling Stone in April 2021 she was inspired by Swift’s “Cruel Summer” while writing “Deja Vu.”

Rodrigo and Swift may not have blessed fans with an ~official~ collab just yet, but something tells me it’s only a matter of time.