{"id":5187,"date":"2026-08-27T12:25:58","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T16:25:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/?p=5187"},"modified":"2026-08-27T12:25:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T16:25:59","slug":"the-meaning-behind-serena-joy-by-olivia-rodrigo-and-a-protest-song-with-a-warning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/the-meaning-behind-serena-joy-by-olivia-rodrigo-and-a-protest-song-with-a-warning\/","title":{"rendered":"The Meaning Behind \u201cSerena Joy\u201d by Olivia Rodrigo and a Protest Song With a Warning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/3-random-facts-about-olivia-rodrigo\/\">Olivia Rodrigo<\/a> returns with a post-punk protest banger called \u201cSerena Joy\u201d. Written with her producer Dan Nigro, Rodrigo warns of unwitting accomplices as she employs a fictional character as a metaphor for our current times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"serena joy\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Exyb5USEjjU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>\u2018The Handmaid\u2019s Tale\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rodrigo\u2019s song gets its name from the female character in <em>The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/em>. In the dystopian novel and television show, Serena Joy Waterford helps construct the patriarchal hellhole that is Gilead, forcing women into village custom, subjugation, and forced pregnancies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But it\u2019s hard not to notice the parallel between Margaret Atwood\u2019s fiction and America\u2019s flirtations with authoritarianism. And how many elites, including America\u2019s biggest companies and wealthiest individuals, played a role, and even aided in the slow destruction of democratic norms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Yeah, it\u2019s all for the cause,<br>For the good of us all.<br>And if you close your eyes,<br>Then it can\u2019t be your fault.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the second half of the verse, without mentioning his name, Rodrigo alludes to President Trump, the gold-filled White House, and ballroom construction as the backdrop to inflation, a persistent housing crisis, and general economic insecurity. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Yeah, it\u2019s all for the cause,<br>For the good of us all.<br>Here\u2019s a tower we built,<br>Painted gold on the walls.<br>And we\u2019ll never be beat,<br>No, we never will fall.<br>While they\u2019re out on the streets,<br>Man, we\u2019re having a ball<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Serena Birthed It<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Returning to Serena, she failed to learn a valuable (and predictable) history lesson: <em>If they do it to them \/ They\u2019re gonna do it to you<\/em>. It echoes how today people often ignore the Constitution until one day their own rights are stripped away.<br><br>Next, the public gets distracted by glossy consumerism as politicians divide people with culture war, conspiracy, and a multitude of invented bogeymen. And all the confusion and outrage ultimately leads to apathy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Have a Coke and a smile,<br>Let me show you a trick.<br>If you can\u2019t throw a punch,<br>You can learn how to spit.<br>And we\u2019ll never give up,<br>And we\u2019ll never submit.<br>Look, the life of your dreams,<br>Is beyond that cliff<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, the American dream isn\u2019t out of reach yet. Just make sure you hold onto it as we all careen off the cliff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Photo by Xavi Torrent\/Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Olivia Rodrigo returns with a post-punk protest banger called \u201cSerena Joy\u201d. Written with her producer Dan Nigro, Rodrigo warns of unwitting accomplices as she employs a fictional character as a metaphor for our current times. \u2018The Handmaid\u2019s Tale\u2019 Rodrigo\u2019s song gets its name from the female character in The Handmaid\u2019s Tale. In the dystopian novel [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":973477,"featured_media":5188,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"byline":{"profiles":[{"type":"byline_id","atts":{"term_id":316,"post_id":2139}}]},"savage_platform_role_ideator":[],"savage_platform_role_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_senior_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_photographer":[],"savage_platform_role_illustrator":[],"savage_platform_role_translator":[],"savage_platform_role_as-told-to":[],"savage_platform_role_reviewed-by":[],"savage_platform_disable_recirculation":false,"savage_platform_article_type":"news","savage_platform_vice_article_type":"article","savage_platform_article_intent":"","savage_platform_show_affiliate_disclaimer":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"wp_curate_deduplication":false,"wp_curate_unique_pinned_posts":false,"savage_platform_featured_image_caption":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"savage_platform_subheadline":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[377,36],"byline":[316],"class_list":["post-5187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-olivia-rodrigo","tag-pop-music"],"savage_platform_primary_term":{"category":{"term_name":"Features","term_id":12,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/category\/features\/"},"post_tag":{"term_name":"Olivia Rodrigo","term_id":377,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/tag\/olivia-rodrigo\/"}},"hide_from_homepage":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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