If you are like me, and millions of others, you have listened almost exclusively to this song for the past few days.
The song at the top of every chart right now, released by actress and newcomer to the music industry Olivia Rodrigo, is the smash hit “Drivers License.”
Not only is this song taking the charts by storm, but the inspiration behind it is blowing up on Youtube, Twitter, Instagram, and most importantly TikTok.
Rodrigo has not explicitly told the public who this song is about, but anyone who listens to it already knows it’s about Rodrigo’s co-star on the Disney+ original series, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Joshua Bassett, and the infamous blonde girl mentioned is ex-Disney star and musician, Sabrina Carpenter.
The conspired drama is that the now 17-year-old Rodrigo had a past relationship with the now 20 year-old Bassett starting in 2019, even though they never confirmed it. He supposedly called it quits in the spring of 2020 until she was of age, but then he started dating Carpenter.
I know, I know. Readers who don’t know this song think that it’s all alleged drama. But there is evidence.
First are the lyrics, “And you’re probably with that blonde girl who always made me doubt. She’s so much older than me. She’s everything I’m insecure about.” Carpenter is 21, 4 years older than Rodrigo.
Next are the lyrics, “I know we weren’t perfect.” Bassett also included these lyrics in his breakup song, “Do It All Again.”
Not to mention the first line, “I got my drivers license last week just like we always talked about.” Bassett taught Rodrigo how to drive, and took her driving for her first time.
Then the lyrics, “Guess you didn’t mean what you wrote in that song about me,” referring to Bassett’s song “Anyone else”, written about a close friend in a relationship who Bassett fell in love with. Fans think that he is referring to Rodrigo with her ex Ethan Wacker.
The public’s response to Drivers License is astronomical, and TikTok came for Joshua Bassett because of all of the evidence. Celebrities were not immune to piling on or weighing in.
Taylor Swift commented that she was proud of Rodrigo, multiple celebrities including Bassett (who may I add is either clueless or trying to be the good guy) had responded supporting Rodrigo’s new release. To add to the drama, Carpenter’s ex, actor Griffin Gluck, reposted the lyrics “And you’re probably with that blonde girl” in his Instagram story, which seems to prove the theories that it’s about Carpenter and Bassett.
This song is a solid 5 stars in my opinion. I’m going to break this down into three sections: the lyrics and vocals, the composition, and the music video.
Lyrics and Vocals: The lyrics clearly convey how Rodrigo’s feeling right now, who hurt her, and how she still hasn’t gotten over it quite yet. Her vocals are amazing. Not only can you hear her falsetto and how she can belt in her head voice, but the pain in her voice as well. Rodrigo hits an F6 at the end of the song while pouring out emotion and heartbreak in her voice.
Composition: It starts with the sound a car makes by what you can only describe as when you start moving and not everyone is buckled, but in the note of B♭5, which B♭is the key of the song. Until the bridge, this song is acoustic with a beat and mostly piano. Then in the bridge, Rodrigo gives me a little bit of Lorde vibes, but after it goes back to only piano.
Music Video: Where do I even begin? This music video is stunning, from the lighting, to the POV videos on her back, to the cinematography. There’s no possible way I can describe this other than to say stunning and magical.
Check out the music video below!
MOOSE PRINTS 