Olivia Rodrigo scored a massive hit out the gate with her first single “drivers license,” and now she’s looking to repeat that success with her new song “deja vu.” The song picks up on the themes of her breakout hit, with imagery of driving, reflections about a past relationship, and lyrics about her ex’s new girl, though the new song is not a ballad and has a dreamier feel.
In the pre-chorus, she taunts her ex by suggesting the things he does with his girlfriend now, they once did together before:
So when you gonna tell her that we did that too?
She thinks it’s special, but it’s all re-used
That was the show we talked about
Played you the songs she’s singing now when she’s with you
On the second verse, she sings about being replaced with another actress, which will surely lead to speculation about whether the song is about her love triangle with Joshua Bassett and Sabrina Carpenter:
Do you call her, almost say my name?
‘Cause let’s be honest, we kinda do sound the same
Another actress
I hate to think that I was just your type
During an interview with Heat radio, she explained that she had the song picked out since last year, which helped alleviate the pressure of following up a No. 1 hit like “driver’s license.” However, she tried to downplay the similarities between the songs.
“I had this single picked out in September [2020] … so it sort of took the pressure off for me of following up “drivers license” since we planned this so far in advance,” said Rodrigo. “But it’s definitely not like “drivers license” at all, which I’m really happy about. I didn’t want to pigeonhole myself into this category of “sad ballad girl” thing. It’s definitely a little different, and sort of weird. I really hope that people like it, and even if they don’t, that’s cool too though, because I loved making it.”
In addition to the release of the new single, Rodrigo announced her debut album is on the way as well. Though she did not reveal the title or tracklist, it is set to drop on May 21. During a live stream, Rodrigo claimed the album will feature 11 songs and she’s been working on it for the past two months.
Read all the lyrics to Olivia Rodrigo’s “deja vu” on Genius now.
