"Good 4 U" is a messy breakup song where Olivia Rodrigo addresses her former boyfriend. He has quickly moved on with a new partner while Olivia is still "cryin' on the floor of my bathroom." She can't comprehend why he doesn't care for her anymore and is acting as if their relationship never happened. Things are going sickeningly well for him since their split, to which Olivia responds: "I guess good for you."

Olivia Rodrigo wrote the song with Daniel Nigro, who also produced the track. Nigro, who's also worked with the likes of Sky Ferreira and Conan Gray, is Olivia's regular collaborator and co-wrote "Drivers License."

Rodrigo recorded the glossy song for her debut album, Sour, which she has described in various interviews as a mix of pop, folk, and rock. For "Good 4 U" the singer and Nigro set out to do a 2021 take on an early 2000s pop-punk song. "I love pop-punk music; I love grunge music; I love country music and folk music, she told NME. "I think, honestly, you can see little influences of all of those genres in my album. And I didn't want to make an entire record that sounded like 'Drivers License.' There's no fun in that for me - and probably not for listeners, either."