Rodrigo's debut studio album, SOUR, topped the charts globally and was met with widespread critical acclaim. She is nominated in seven categories at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist, Album of the Year for SOUR, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year for "drivers license". Time named her the 2021 Entertainer of the Year and Billboard named her the 2022 Woman of the Year.
Rodrigo signed with Interscope Records and Geffen Records in 2020. She negotiated the record deal to secure for herself ownership of the masters of her music. On January 8, 2021, she released her debut single, "drivers license", which she co-wrote with producer Dan Nigro. Within the week of its release, "drivers license" was critically acclaimed, and broke Spotify's record twice for most daily streams ever for a non-holiday song with over 15.7 million global streams on January 11 and over 17 million global streams the next day. It went on to break another Spotify record for the first song in history to hit 80 million streams in 7 days. The song debuted at number one on Billboard Hot 100 and reached number one in numerous other countries. Rodrigo stated in an interview that "It's been the absolute craziest week of my life ... My entire life just, like, shifted in an instant."
On April 1, 2021, Rodrigo released her follow-up single, "deja vu", which debuted at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100, making her the first artist to debut their first two releases in the top 10 of the Hot 100. The third single preceding her debut album, "good 4 u", followed on May 14, 2021, and became her second single to debut at number one on the Hot 100. SOUR, her debut studio album, was released on May 21, 2021, to critical acclaim. Charlie Gunn of The Forty-Five called it "the greatest coming-of-age album since early Taylor Swift or Lorde". Slate's Chris Molanphy said its first three singles alone established Rodrigo's "early status as Gen-Z's most versatile new artist". According to Clash critic Robin Murray, Rodrigo is regarded as one of Generation Z's finest artists, while Variety dubbed her "the Voice of her Generation" in its cover story of Rodrigo. SOUR debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart and spent a total of five weeks at the spot, becoming the longest-reigning number-one album by a female artist in 2021.
In June 2021, Rodrigo premiered SOUR Prom, a prom-themed concert film on YouTube. On December 6, 2021, Rodrigo announced a world tour, including tour stops in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Three days later, she was named Entertainer of the Year by Time. In an Instagram post on December 24, 2021, Rodrigo uploaded a snippet of a Christmas song called "The Bels" that she wrote and recorded at age five. According to Billboard, Rodrigo closed 2021 as the best-selling singles artist worldwide, placing eight songs on the year-end Global 200 chart, including "drivers license" at number four, "good 4 u" at number nine, and "Deja Vu" at number 27. In the US and UK, SOUR was respectively the third and fourth best-selling album of 2021. SOUR and "drivers license" were also respectively Spotify's most streamed album and song globally. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) ranked Rodrigo as the tenth best-selling artist of 2021 and SOUR as the second best-selling album of 2021.
On February 17, 2022, Rodrigo announced and released the trailer of her Disney+ documentary film 'Olivia Rodrigo: driving home 2 u', which was released on March 25, 2022.
Rodrigo cites Taylor Swift and Lorde as her idols and main musical inspirations, and also dubbed herself Swift's biggest fan "in the whole world". She dubs The White Stripes band member Jack White her "hero of all heroes". Her other influences include Alanis Morissette, Kacey Musgraves, Fiona Apple, St. Vincent, Cardi B, Gwen Stefani, and Avril Lavigne.
What I've Been Looking For
Olivia Rodrigo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You were always there beside me
Thought I was alone, with no one to hold
But you were always there beside me
This feeling's like no other
I want you to know
I've never had someone
The way you do
I've never had someone
As good for me as you
No one like you
So lonely before I finally found
What I've been lookin' for
So good to be seen, so good to be heard
Don't have to say a word
For so long I was lost, so good to be found
I'm lovin' having you around
This feeling's like no other
I want you to know
I've never had someone
That knows me like you do
The way you do
I've never had someone
As good for me as you
No one like you
So lonely before, gee, I finally found
What I've been lookin' for
Do-do-do, do, do-do-do-do-do, whoa
Do-do-do, do, do-do-do-do-do, whoa
Mm
In this song, Olivia Rodrigo sings about discovering love in an unexpected place. She starts off by expressing how hard it is to believe that she couldn't see the person who was always beside her all along. She had felt alone without anyone to hold, but now she realizes that this person had been there for her all along. She is grateful for this feeling which is like no other and wants the person to know how much she appreciates them.
The chorus emphasizes the depth of her feelings towards this person by explaining that she has never had someone who knows her so well and is as good for her as this person. She had been lonely before she finally found what she had been looking for. It took her a while to realize what she had been missing, but now that she has found it, she cherishes it deeply.
Throughout the song, Rodrigo expresses how wonderful it is to have this person in her life. She was lost and now she is found. She loves having them around and doesn't have to say a word. This person just knows her and that is what makes them so special. The song is an ode to those unexpected love stories that come when you least expect them, but end up changing your life forever.
Line by Line Meaning
It's hard to believe that I couldn't see
I can't believe I didn't realize sooner
You were always there beside me
You've always been there for me
Thought I was alone, with no one to hold
I felt lonely and like no one was there for me
But you were always there beside me
You were always there for me, even when I didn't realize it
This feeling's like no other
This feeling is special and unique
I want you to know
I want you to understand how much you mean to me
I've never had someone
I've never experienced having someone in this way before
That knows me like you do
You know me better than anyone else does
The way you do
The depth and level of understanding you have of me
As good for me as you
No one has been as beneficial for me as you have been
No one like you
No one else compares to you
So lonely before I finally found
I was lonely until I found you
What I've been lookin' for
The thing I've been searching for in my life
So good to be seen, so good to be heard
It's a great feeling to be recognized and appreciated
Don't have to say a word
We don't need to use words to understand each other
For so long I was lost, so good to be found
I felt lost for a long time until I found you
I'm lovin' having you around
I am enjoying your presence in my life
Do-do-do, do, do-do-do-do-do, whoa
Non-verbal expression of joy and excitement
Do-do-do, do, do-do-do-do-do, whoa
Non-verbal expression of joy and excitement
Mm
Non-verbal expression of contentment
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Adam M. Watts, Andrew Creighton Dodd
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Russel Bautista
It's hard to believe that I couldn't see
You were always there beside me
Thought I was alone, with no one to hold
But you were always right beside me
This feeling's like no other
I want you to know
I've never had someone that knows me like you do
The way you do
I've never had someone as good for me as you
No one like you
So lonely before I finally found what I've been looking for
Crizelle Delgado
Nini’s runs at the end though. She nailed it! The look on EJ’s face is hilarious. You go girl. 😂
Ashton Cooper
Crizelle Delgado ikr! Lol :D
Aisha Haji
Ashton Cooper I had it to make it 1.300
Oliviastafford Arriaga
Crizelle Delgado yes girl
Samantha Mendez
Ikr 😂
Mister Bobby
Why was they fighting anyways?
Hanners
This is basically watching a bunch of actors who are acting as a character prepare to act as another character within that character.......I love it
Jaxson Simmons
Brain fart
Lonely Potato
Inception
asya timerbayeva-dutt
Wut?