The Real Meaning Behind Olivia Rodrigo's 'Jealousy, Jealousy'

Publish date: 2024-05-24

The lyrics in "Jealousy, Jealousy," are pretty straightforward, to be honest, and Olivia Rodrigo has said in interviews that when it comes to her songwriting, what you see is pretty much what you get.

"Com-comparison is killin' me slowly / I think I think too much / 'Bout kids who don't know me," she sings on the chorus. "I'm so sick of myself, I'd rather be, rather be / Anyone, anyone else."

As for this track, Rodrigo revealed the inspiration behind it. As she told NYLON, "In this time period, I was super obsessed with social media. I would look for things that would hurt my feelings all the time and compare myself to everyone," she said. "I felt like my life was only what I showed to others. I didn't feel like my life was any deeper than my Instagram feed. That's a really troubling mindset to be in as a teenager." So rather than writing a super sad song, she decided to pen a sort of "funny, tongue-in-cheek" take.

Rodrigo also told the outlet that she totally understands people's curiosity about the true story behind the lyrics, but there's always room for people to fill in their own meanings. "Lots of the time, people will fill in the blanks with details from their own life. If they don't want to, they can fill it in with details of my life and if that's what makes it impactful to them, that's fine."

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