Looking for some new music to start off the new year? Well check out Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License”! Rodrigo plays a lead role in Disney+’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, as Nini Salazar-Roberts. This is her first independent song (and music video) to be released and you do not want to miss it.
Inspired by a broken heart, and anyone who has felt that, knows it’s not easy. This song does such an impressive job at capturing all the elements of the end of love. To express the bits of happiness she still feels from their memories, the song adds in upbeat clapping subtly over the melancholy piano melody. In the music video we see a reoccurring pattern of dark tones through the majority of the song, but there are a few scenes that are bright. The video seems to lighten up when the artist is reflecting on the positive times she remembers and misses. Through this process, the song has developed a realistic dynamic, generating emotion to its audience. This is not a song that you simply listen to, you experience the feelings of the artist through her work.
“Drivers License” does an astounding job at connecting all aspects of the work. The visuals in the music video, the instrumentals, and the lyrics are all working together to compliment one another throughout the whole song. At the 30 second mark, right after Rodrigo sings “Crying ’cause you weren’t around” the synthesizer drops, directly relating to what is being said in the song and giving the lyrics more power. Even the music video gives amazing visuals to display her emotions. Shades of deep blue are constantly used in the video to express the darkness she is feeling. Every element was carefully constructed into its place in the song and video, and that’s what makes high-quality content.
Listening to this song, one can see how talented this young artist is. Often lyrics are just thrown on a beat and music videos rarely represent a song’s emotions. Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” mastered all of this.
