Olivia Rodrigo and her musical collaborator Dan Nigro performed her new album, GUTS, acoustically Monday night at a special show for American Express cardholders at The Theater at Ace Hotel in LA. During the performance, as reported byBillboard, Olivia and Dan revealed some of the unexpected inspirations behind the chart-topping album.
— While they were creating “ballad of a homeschooled girl,” Dan’s nanny wasn’t available to watch his five-month-old daughter, so Olivia said she’d babysit. The baby sat in on the session, but while Olivia was bouncing her, she puked all over the singer. “But the silver lining was getting this song out of it,” said Olivia.
— For the song “the grudge,” Olivia said she was listening to The Smiths song “I Know It’s Over” while driving to the studio and was inspired by the lyric, “It takes strength to be gentle and kind.” That led to one of her favorite lines on the album, which she jotted down on her Notes app at a red light: “It takes strength to forgive, but I don’t feel strong.”
— For the song “all-american b****,” Olivia said she took the opening line from a game her mother used to play as a girl at sleepovers in the ’80s. During the game, Olivia’s mom and her friends would attempt to lift each other up with one finger while chanting “light as a feather, stiff as a board.”
“[It was the] perfect way to encapsulate impossible standards as a girl and woman,” said Olivia of the phrase.
The entire show is supposed to be made available on Olivia’s YouTube channel at some point Tuesday, October 10.
Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
