Olivia Rodrigo released her sophomore album “Guts” on Friday, Sept. 8, more than two years after the release of her debut album “Sour.” 

“Guts” is the more mature, grown-up sibling of “Sour,” in a way. In “Sour,” Rodrigo describes her life and relationships at the age of 17. “I’m so sick of 17, where’s my teenage dream?” Rodrigo sings in the song “Brutal.” 

“Guts” focuses on the same themes of “Sour,” but with a more angsty, punk-rock feeling. While it still has some of Rodrigo’s signature ballads, “Guts” delves deeper into her knack for rock music.

Rodrigo told The New York Times she’s “always loved rock music, and always wanted to find a way that I could make it feel like me, and make it feel feminine and still telling a story and having something to say that’s vulnerable and intimate.” 

In “Guts,” Rodrigo reflects on her life while she was 19 — which is arguably the most pivotal age for an adolescent. Rodrigo talks about the toxic relationships she had and how it feels to grow up in the spotlight. 

“I had such a desire to live and experience things and make mistakes and grow after ‘Sour’ came out, I kind of felt this pressure to be this girl that I thought everyone expected me to be,” Rodrigo told The Guardian. 

Rodrigo said because of that pressure, she made mistakes and dated people she should not have. Therefore, “Guts” is about Rodrigo coming to terms with all of the pressure and realizing who she is and who she wants to spend her time with. 

The album opens with the song “all american bitch,” which sets the punk-rock feel of the record. It sounds reminiscent of something off of an early 2000s movie soundtrack. Rodrigo talks about the pressure to be the “perfect” American woman in American culture.

Rodrigo told The Guardian that she has faced feelings of “rage and dissatisfaction” that she felt like she could not express, especially in the spotlight: “I’ve always felt like: you can never admit it, be so grateful all the time…I’ve always struggled with wanting to be this perfect American girl and the reality of not feeling like that all the time.”

“Bad idea right?” was the second single released from “Guts.” It is a fun, playful confession of Rodrigo getting back with her ex: “Yes I know that he’s my ex/But can’t two people reconnect?/I only see him as a friend/The biggest lie I ever said.”

“Vampire” was the first single Rodrigo released from “Guts,” her comeback to the music scene after two years. The song starts as a slow ballad, then quickly transitions into an upbeat rock tune. Rodrigo talks about her relationship with someone who took advantage of and used her: “Bloodsucker, fame lover/Bleeding me dry like a vampire.”

“Lacy” is a soft, folky song where Rodrigo describes a girl she is envious of. It delves into the theme of envying someone so much to the point of admiration: “And I despise my jealous eyes and how hard they fell for you/I despise my rotten mind and how much it worships you.”

“Ballad of a homeschooled girl” is an angsty garage rock song, in which Rodrigo describes her social faux pas at a party: “I broke a glass, tripped and fell/Told secrets I shouldn't tell/Stumbled over all my words/Made it weird, then made it worse.”

“Making the bed” is a melancholic ballad in which Rodrigo blames herself for feeling dissatisfied with her life: “And I’m playing the victim so well in my head/But it’s me who’s been making the bed.”

“Logical” is about the difficulty of making sensible decisions when caught up in strong feelings for someone. With strong vocals and a soft piano, Rodrigo describes the naivety she had in this relationship: “And now you got me thinkin’/Two plus two equals five/And I’m the love of your life.”

“Get him back!” is a revenge song that plays with the double entendre of getting someone back: “I wanna get him back/I wanna make him really jealous, wanna make him feel bad.”

“Love is embarrassing” captures the embarrassment that comes with navigating love at a young age. Rodrigo told Rolling Stone how she got the inspiration for the song: "I think I was just having one of those days, where you think of one embarrassing thing that you’ve done and just, suddenly, it snowballs into every cringey thing that you’ve ever done in your entire life.”

“The grudge” is another one of Rodrigo’s classic piano-led ballads. Rodrigo talks about a relationship that was full of manipulation and deceit, but how hard it was for her to let go: “It takes strength to forgive but I don’t feel strong.” 

“Pretty isn’t pretty” is a dreamy pop song about living up to society’s expectations. Rodrigo expresses that no matter how much she tries, it will never seem enough: “I could change up my body and change up my face/I could try every lipstick in every shade/But I’d always feel the same/’Cause pretty isn’t enough anyway.” 

Rodrigo concludes the album with the moving “teenage dream,” in which she is vulnerable about her fear of growing up and getting “old” to the public eye. She reflects on her life as she bids her teenage years goodbye. 

Rodrigo alludes to the idea of the teenage dream from “Brutal,” saying: “But I fear that they already got all the best parts of me/And I’m sorry that I couldn’t always be your teenage dream.”

In the bridge, Rodrigo repeats the words: “They all say that it gets better/It gets better the more you grow,” then asks, “But what if I don’t?” It builds up into an emotional conclusion of the record, like “hope ur ok” was for “Sour.”

“Guts” was made for the “20-something teenage girls,” also known as the young adults who feel they may have grown up too quickly. It captures the essence of adolescence: messy relationships, embarrassing social situations, self-discovery and all.

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