Reading the title of Olivia Rodrigo’s new album, You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love, it’s easy to focus on the singer’s professed sadness. However, the girl on the album is also “so in love.” And on the track “Honeybee”, Rodrigo describes being in love. Though the relationship does come with its share of anxieties.
Behind the Lyrics
In the opening verse, Rodrigo has overcome the heartbreak from past failed relationships. But one thing the time-heals-wounds cliché leaves out: It gets easier when you’re smitten with someone else.
You can hear a cricket over the intro’s quiet piano chords. Like we’re getting a glimpse of the singer, alone with her thoughts before she explains how she feels.
So I guess that it’s true,
Time can heal even the worst of wounds.
And the clichés I knew,
Seemed so commonplace when I saw you.
Let’s just walk in the dark,
Hop the fence in the park.
Baby boy, honeybee,
God, I love the way you look at me.
Relationships exist on shaky ground. Especially the new ones. Here, Rodrigo hopes her partner sticks around. Nonetheless, it’s a vulnerable place to be. Which brings us back to why a girl so in love just can’t quit her sadness. But should we expect anything less from The Cure’s best-known fan?
And it’s too hard to describe this,
In a way that feels honest.
But even when I’m quiet,
I love you, baby, I promise.
And I hope I never see what your face looks like going,
A face I swear that I could spend my whole life knowing.
Herе’s to hoping.
“The Most Terrifying Thing Ever”
Rodrigo told Zane Lowe that “Honeybee” was the earliest song she wrote for the album, but it didn’t come easy. “I think that was the challenge for me, lyrically, as a songwriter: How do I write a love song that feels like it matters to me?” she said.
She found it by exploring how tenuous relationships can be: “Being with someone who you are attached to and adore in this way is the most terrifying thing ever.”
In the dark, I’m not scared,
I just reach and you’re right there.
Photo by: Lloyd Bishop/NBC via Getty Images