- I first realized songwriting was, like, sort of, a viable option for my life when I got to write a
song called "All I Want" for 'High School Musical:
The Musical: The Series.' Before that, I, sort of,
just kept my songs to myself and, like, played them
for my mom and my friends. But, that was, sort of,
the first experience where I wrote something that people,
like, really believed in, that I believed in, and it, kind
of, got heard by a lot of people, so it gave me a lot of confidence. “drivers license” coming out has, sort of, immensely affected my songwriting process and my music, you know, making
brain, I guess. But I thought, actually, when it came out, and when it, you know, started
getting to be really successful, I thought that I was gonna get in my head about my writing and be like, "Oh, I'm never gonna write anything as good as 'driver's license,' ah," and, like, fret about everything. But, I actually really think
it gave me a lot of confidence in my voice and in what
makes my songwriting special, which I feel like is my
vulnerability and honesty. And so, kind of, learning that that's what people resonated
with, kind of, helps me with writing all of my other music. Hey, I'm Olivia Rodrigo and these are my top
five songwriting tips. My first tip, which I think
is the most important one, is listen to music like a songwriter. I have grown exponentially
from doing this. I think it is the best way to
grow as an artist, in any way, is to draw on inspiration from
people that you look up to. I literally will, like, listen
to music that my idol made, watch all of their interviews,
and then go back and be like, "OK, I'm gonna, like, try
to write a song, like, as if they were writing this song," and it just, like, completely,
like, broadens your horizons and helps make your music
just, like, that much better. I'm obsessed with the way
that Taylor [Swift] paints pictures and her imagery is fantastic and her storytelling
is just, like, insane. So, I don't think I'm as good
of a storyteller as she is yet, but I always try to, like, put
aspects of that, sort of, narrative, singer-songwriter-y type
lyricism in my songs. I think Lorde really teaches me
a lot about, like, production, and actual music music. I think she always makes
such interesting choices and so I try to do that. And also, she's a brilliant
lyricist, as well, and she's super poetic and you can tell that,
like, lots of her songs started out as poetry, and so some of my songs
start out that way, too, when I try to emulate her. Also, a big lyrical inspiration
for me is Phoebe Bridgers. She's just, like, so brutally honest and says stuff that you wouldn't
think of being in a song, and I think that's impactful and beautiful and so, I, sort of,
try to do that as well. Another songwriting tip that I have is finished is sometimes better than perfect. I can't tell you how many times
I've, like, sat at a piano and, like, been writing
a song and been like, "This is terrible. I should just quit. "Like, this is so bad."
But, I, like, force myself to finish it or at least, like, finish
the idea or whatever or, like, finish the verse and chorus. And, lots of the time, I
come back and I'm like, "Oh, wait. That was actually great. "I was getting really
in my head about it." And so, you're never
gonna learn from something if you just, like, throw it away the second you think it's not good, and you're never gonna learn how
to, like, craft something good if you just, like, are
waiting for just, like, luck and a bolt of inspiration to strike you. Number three, I think
this sort of goes along with number two a little bit. Really, like, showing
up for your creativity, and not just waiting for,
like, a lightning bolt idea or something to inspire you. I think, sometimes, you
just have to work and write and create, even when you don't
feel particularly inspired, because I think when you
continuously show up, you, like, show the Universe
that you are capable of bringing this idea to life
and, you know, manifesting it in the way that it's
supposed to be manifested. And like, I'm spiritual in that way, where I think that, like, the
Universe pays attention to that and then will give you better ideas. So, that was sort of the exercise
that I did over quarantine is I, like, forced myself to write a song. Not forced myself. That sounds like -
[Laughs] That sounds sad and scary, but I sat down at the piano and was like,
"OK, "I'm gonna write a song
every day of quarantine," and I feel like that made
me a much better songwriter. And, you know, I think some of the ideas I wouldn't have, you
know, gotten to jot down if I didn't, you know, make
myself do that every day. So, I think showing up
is really important. It's more important than being
talented or good at anything. You can be super talented,
but if you don't show up, what's the point? Alright, fourth tip is to
write songs for yourself and because you love it
and you like to do it. The second that you, sort
of, start writing a song with the intention of it
being liked by other people, it loses its magic. At least for me, if I ever,
like, go on, like, Twitter or whatever, and look at people,
like, consuming my song or, you know, criticizing it or whatever, and then I take that with me in my writing and I'm like,
"Oh, wait, "but, people won't like
this if I do this," or, like, "Oh, I have to do
this, so people like it." It just absolutely, like, ruins it and I think you just
have to be true to you when you're, like,
writing all of that stuff and try to stay out of your head, and do it 'cause you love it. Don't do it for, you know, other people. Those are the best types of songs. It's actually super, super cool to see people relate to my songs. For a while, I felt like I
was, like, kinda weirded out 'cause I was like, "Oh, I kinda
have this, like, really weird life." Like, I've been homeschooled
since I was in seventh grade. I, like, am on a set all day with, like,
a bunch of, like, 45-year-old dudes. Like, is what I say going to
resonate with other people my age? And so, putting out “drivers license” and seeing people of, actually, all ages, male, female, everyone,
sort of being like, "Whoa, that took me back to a time "where I was feeling like that," or, "Oh, I'm feeling like that right now. "This helps me so much." Like, that was so cool to me to realize that, you know, honesty
is always relatable and you don't have to, like, try
to relate to large audiences. You just have to tell your story because, you know, humans are all so much more alike than we are different,
and we're all feeling so much of the same things
that we just don't talk about. The last songwriting tip
I have is to read poetry, as much poetry as you can. I feel like that really
informs my lyricism. I think I have to start a song with a lyrical concept or idea. I'm a very lyric, narrative,
story-based songwriter and everything else, kind
of, is secondary to that. So, in order to write a song that I like, it has to be either a poem that I like, or, like, a concept, or, like, a play
on words that I can, sort of, go from. The hook of “deja vu” is, "When she's with you, do you get deja vu?" And it's this, sort of, concept that I am really obsessed with and, I think, something
that my friends and I were going through, where it's like, sometimes, when you break up with someone and they get with somebody else, it sort of feels like everything that they're doing is recycled, which happens in every
relationship, I think. And for the music video, we kinda didn't want it to
be super on the nose, like, relationship-y, so I thought it would be
really fun to do, like, a, like, female-stalker type music video 'cause I'm obsessed with 'Killing Eve.' That's my favorite show of all time and I was like, "I wanna do a
music video like 'Killing Eve.'" And also, I think it really
ties into that, like, "Do you get deja vu?" thing because it's, like, these two girls,
like, living really similar lives because they, like, want
to be like each other. So, yeah. I had a lot of
fun making that music video. I think it’s like a really, kind of, convoluted, weird, awesome music video. I think it's, like, perfectly
creepy in the best way. [Laughs]
I love how she describes her songwriting, it seems very matter-of-fact and unpretentious. Learning from other artists, practising a lot, "finished is better than perfect", making up details.