The Meaning Behind “What’s Wrong With Me” by Olivia Rodrigo and The Cure’s Robert Smith

On “What’s Wrong With Me”, Olivia Rodrigo collaborates with her idol, Robert Smith from The Cure. The song appears on Rodrigo’s latest album, You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love. And if one is feeling sad and wondering what’s wrong, then calling on Smith—one of rock’s great sad-song architects—is a good first step toward healing.

So, What’s Wrong With Olivia?

Here, Rodrigo describes the anxiety of being in a relationship she may no longer want. It’s the moment she realizes her partner is the reason she’s feeling sad.

I’m just staring at the ceiling,
Can’t describe this feeling I’ve got in my head,
I’m out of body in my bed.
And I’m just searching up my symptoms,
Desperate to fix ’em, I’ll do anything,
’Cause lately I’ve been spiraling, oh.
I’m not feeling like myself and,
Nothing ever seems to help.

The track also marks Rodrigo’s first official collaboration. “It’s my first collaboration, and I am just so proud of it, and I can’t believe that this song exists and the person that it exists with. I’m just so f**king over the moon,” she said at Primavera.

For his part, Smith told BBC6 Music, “She is genuinely fantastic as a songwriter and as a singer, as a performer. And the band, everything about it, I genuinely love what she does. I’m slightly in awe of how easy she finds it all.”

The Remedy

Went to the doctor and she said I was fine,
But every movie that I see makes me cry.
It’s like somebody put a weight on my chest,
I should talk to a friend,
But I can’t get out of bed.
My head is spinning and my stomach is sick,
Say I’m in love, so it’s hard to admit.
I can’t eat, I can’t sleep,
I think you’re what’s wrong with me.

The title offers a direct question. An easy one to ask, but not always easy to answer. Or, at least, not easy to face the answer one already knows to be true. She recognizes the symptoms. Now she’s turning to Robert Smith, whose legendary band has both a name and the masterpieces to offer what she really needs: The Cure.

Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage