making the bed

Olivia Rodrigo's debut album, Sour, was a mega success, making her an A-lister with Grammy trophies and Hot 100 chart-toppers. But with newfound fame came new challenges as she struggled to cope with the pressures of pop superstardom. "Making the Bed" is a wall-of-sound anthem that captures these struggles while also resonating with anyone who has ever felt trapped by the everyday grind. Every good thing has turned into somethin' I dread And I'm playin' the victim so well in my head But it's me who's been makin' the bed Rodrigo uses "making the bed" as a metaphor to highlight that she's the one responsible for her own unease and discontent.

Rodrigo's journey led her to doubt herself as fame messed with her priorities, pushing away the folks who truly knew her. Well, sometimes I feel like I don't wanna be where I am Gettin' drunk at a club with my fair-weather friends Push away all the people who know me the best "I was 19 and had all this zest for life but also was in this industry for the first time, and that can be kind of alluring," Rodrigo explained to The Guardian. "Ooh, there's all these exciting people and exciting things, all these fancy, shiny new toys." So, what was she buying into? "Like weird, interesting friends, or getting caught up in artificial interpretations of yourself," she said. "I say all this about separating person from persona, but it's a strange thing when you become successful and get noticed for songs that are super raw and intimate, so on a certain level you feel like people really know you – and they do, but not in the way that your friends or family would know you. It's a little bit of a tricky situation."

Rodrigo dives into a repeating dream where she's cruising through the city and the brakes fail. And every night, I wake up from this one recurrin' dream Where I'm drivin' through the city and the brakes go out on me I can't stop at the red light, I can't swerve off the road I read somewhere it's 'cause my life feels so out of control This metaphor is especially fitting for Rodrigo, as "Drivers License" used car symbolism to talk about unreciprocated love. Red lights, stop signs I still see your face in the white cars, front yards Can't drive past the places we used to go to