Finding comfort in nostalgia - especially within pop culture - was natural for many. There's also been the weight of police brutality, school shootings and the impending death of democracy for people to bear. To varying degrees, we've all endured the trauma of a pandemic that hasn't ended, particularly the mental and emotional toll of isolation and anxiety that has transpired. Which is why the rise of "sad girl" pop feels synonymous with the current state of the world. Their music, in turn, helps them cope with their own "lived realities." It's equal parts celebration of the artist and found community for someone who, in a world away, relates. "But modern listeners - especially young people - are pushing back against that paradigm, celebrating artists like Billie Eilish, Halsey, and girl in red, who don't shy away from the troubles of the world but sublimate them into their music." 's 'We Are Young,'" says Nate Sloan, host of Switched on Pop and assistant professor of musicology at USC Thornton School of Music. "There's a cliche about pop that it represents a retreat from reality, an escapist fantasy world where listeners get to leave their fears and anxieties in a vision of Katy Perry 's 'Teenage Dream' or fun. While "sad girl" pop isn't exactly new (most music trends are cyclical, of course), the way that people are clinging to it is. Others have steadily begun following suit: Sasha Alex Sloan emerged with a debut EP aptly titled Sad Girl two years later Gracie Abrams' intimate, diaristic tracks served as major inspiration for Rodrigo (who later recruited Abrams as a tour opener) Tate McRae has turned her insecurities into aspirational, sad-pop anthems like "she's all i wanna be." Įven with all of its origins, "sad girl" pop didn't truly begin to form its own sort of subgenre until Billie Eilish and her whispery, gloomy music emerged in 2016. But one could argue that this iteration of "sad girl" pop found its roots in the 2010s, thanks to artists like Lana Del Rey, whose palpable aching and loneliness became inescapable anthems like " Video Games " and " Summertime Sadness " Taylor Swift, whose first crossover success Red spawned the still-heart-wrenching fan favorite "All Too Well" Robyn, who created the ultimate crying-at-the-club banger " Dancing on My Own " and MARINA, care of the depressed-Barbie era of her album Electra Heart. Though Rodrigo is one of the stars at the center of "sad girl" pop, it had been percolating long before the explosion of "drivers license." After all, artists like Fiona Apple and Alanis Morrisette were the poster girls for it in the mid-to-late '90s. The music itself creates a spectrum of emotions where you might want to sway at one point, but scream like Zach Braff and Natalie Portman at the rock quarry in Garden State at another. "drivers license, " one could say, is the latest centerpiece of "sad girl" pop - the specific aesthetic of artists who write songs through a dreamy, yet raw lens of rage, pining, heartbreak or rejection. Everyone was screaming, crying and dancing at the same time. While it wasn't exactly uplifting - Rodrigo vividly details the devastation of trying to move on from an ex, and laments the milestones they were supposed to celebrate together - the song became universally celebrated, sending listeners into a nostalgic haze of first heartbreaks. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and inspiring memes across social media. "drivers license" broke streaming and chart records upon its release, debuting at No. But when she released her debut single, the racing power ballad "drivers license," in January 2021, suddenly she had the biggest song in the world. Olivia Rodrigo probably never imagined that a drive through the suburbs would become a rallying cry for anyone who's ever mourned a relationship.
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