Analysis of a Song Part 6: all-american bitch by Olivia Rodrigo

(photo)

Welcome or welcome back to Analysis of a Song, the series where I pick a song and break down the lyrics section by section. Today we are looking at an artist who I have been wanting to break down a song by for quite some time. She is up there as one of my favourite artists alongside Taylor Swift and Lorde. I am talking about none other than the gorgeous and talented diva, Olivia Rodrigo. I thought a lot about which song from Olivia’s still small discography I wanted to analyse, but in the end, I decided on what is perhaps my favourite Olivia Rodrigo song. It is the opening track of her sophomore album GUTS: all-american bitch.

Without further ado, let’s get into the lyrics.

Verse 1
I am light as a feather, I’m as stiff as a board
I pay attention to things that most people ignore
And I’m alright with the movies that make jokes ‘bout senseless cruelty
That’s for sure

And I am built like a mother and a total machine
I feel for your every little issue, I know just what you mean
And I make light of the darkness, I’ve got sun in my motherfucking pocket, best believe
Yeah, you know me

Right off the bat, I feel the need to clarify that this song is satire. She is not being serious, she is playing a character, and that character is “Society’s Perfect Woman.” This entire song is social commentary on the impossibly high standards the public, the media, and society in general holds women to, particularly women in the public eye.

The opening line is a reference to a popular party game often played by young girls at sleepovers. One person lies flat on their back and everyone else gathers around them with 2 fingers underneath them, chanting, “light as a feather, stiff as a board,” then they lift the person up, creating a “levitating” effect. I remember being 11 and trying this, then being freaked out when it worked. Even though girls at sleepovers try to sell it as a demonic ritual, the real reason behind it is simply physics. In saying that, performing demonic rituals at sleepovers is a passage of girlhood, I think (I’m still scarred from my “Bloody Mary” sleepover experience).

it doesn’t quite look like this in real life (photo)

By saying she is “light as a feather,” Olivia could be commenting on society’s expectations for women to always be thin, even to an unhealthy degree. This wouldn’t be the first time Olivia has spoken up about unrealistic beauty standards, she does so as well on jealousy, jealousy and pretty isn’t pretty. When she says she pays attention to things most people ignore, she’s pointing out how women are expected to be observant and attentive, whereas men get away with being neither of those things. I could tell you for free that all of the least obervant people I know are men.

And this “Perfect Woman” doesn’t care in the slightest about unnecessarily cruel jokes in movies, no way. She doesn’t care about politics. She doesn’t take offense when movies make sexist or misogynistic jokes. Instead, she does what society wants her to do: She shuts up and stays silent. She doesn’t have an opinion. She doesn’t talk about things she “doesn’t understand.”

I absolutely love the line, “I am built like a mother and a total machine,” because not only is it an absurd-sounding line on first listen, but it’s unfortunately true. Women are expected to prioritise motherhood above all else. And naturally, their bodies look a little different after giving birth. Going through nine months of pregnancy on top of pushing a human child out of you is bound to have a lingering effect. However, after a woman gives birth, there are societal pressures for them to immediately hit the gym, get on a diet, and do everything they can to get their body back to looking the way it was before. This, of course, is absolutely fucking ridiculous. But not for Society’s Perfect Woman. She’s a mother and a wife, but she’ still a total machine. She’s still got the perfect to-die-for bod. She’s still light as a feather.

“I feel for your every little issue, I know just what you mean,” is a reference to women being expected to be endlessly empathetic and understanding towards men. Even if a man does them wrong or is acting horribly or complaining about something insignificant, the Perfect Woman will always be forgiving and merciful. She will always be there as a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on. Her empathy never runs out. What’s more, she’s got sun just spilling out of her pockets. She’s optimistic. She lights up a room. She’s always happy. Never sad, never angry, never resentful, never any kind of ugly emotion. Just happy.

In this one verse alone, Olivia conveys so many things women are expected to be — thin, beautiful, observant, attentive, apolitical, empathetic, happy — and she conveys all of it without ever actually saying any of those words.

It’s at this point in the song that the facade slips sonically and the beat kicks in. Although Olivia is letting her true aggression show through the production, she’s still playing into her character lyrically. Forgive and forget is a popular phrase, and by using it here, Olivia is again referring to how endlessly empathetic and understanding women are expected to be. Even if they are mistreated or betrayed, they’re expected to forgive, forget, and move on. Anger isn’t a cute look for the Perfect Woman. Neither is holding a grudge.

In the second line of the chorus, Olivia is letting her teenage angst slip through. One of the most infuriating things a teenager can hear is being told to act their age. But again, it still fits into the theme of Society’s Perfect Woman. She doesn’t act younger than she is, nor does she act older than she is. She acts exactly how is socially acceptable. When she says, “got what you can’t resist,” I can’t help but wonder if she’s talking about the sex appeal that women in the public eye, especially in the pop music industry (or just women in general), are expected to have. Or, she could be talking about it from a personality standpoint. She’s got the starpower and talent that people can’t resist. That’s why she’s in the position she’s in.

Olivia proceeds to say, “I’m a perfect all-American-” before cutting herself off as she remembers herself and snaps back into composure. She cuts herself off right before swearing, almost as if she’s censoring herself.

Olivia performing ‘all-american bitch’ on SNL (photo)

Verse 2
I’m as light as a feather, I’m as fresh as the air
Coca-Cola bottles that I only use to curl my hair
Got class and integrity, just like a goddamn Kennedy, I swear
With love to spare

In this second verse, Olivia is starting to weave in Americana imagery. Not only is she Society’s Perfect Woman, she is specifically America’s Perfect Woman. There are hardly any other brands more Americana than Coca-Cola, which she says she’s using to curl her hair, which was a popular method women used to curl their hair back in the 1950s. And again, it also doesn’t get more Americana than the Kennedy family. The Kennedys are a prestigious American family heavily involved in politics, the most famous of the Kennedys being JFK, who infamously was the US President before getting assassinated in the 1960s.

Coca-Cola bottles that I only use to curl my haAAir (photo)

Even just making references to things that link back to periods like the 50s and 60s add to the Americana of it all. For a lot of people, when they think Americana, they think 1950s patriotic white picket fence nuclear family celebrating the 4th of July (ok, maybe as a non-American, my perception is a little stereotypical lol). She specifically says she has the “class and integrity” of a Kennedy, which again adds to the list of attributes this Perfect Woman needs to possess. She has to be sexy, but she’s also expected to be classy about it. This is a very thin line to walk, and Sabrina Carpenter is the perfect example of a female popstar who has been burned at the stake again and again for simply not caring about playing into her sexuality the way the media wants her to. She is playing the game by her own rules, not the rules the media tries to demand she play by.

The final line, “with love to spare,” is saying that even though this Perfect Woman is attentive and empathetic and happy and light, she still has more to give. In real life, someone who tried to bear all those positive attributes all of the time would probably spread themselves too thin, but not her. Because she is exactly who society wants her to be.

Chorus and Post-Chorus
Forgive and I forget
I know my age and I act like it
Got what you can’t resist
I’m a perfect all-American bitch

With perfect all-American lips
And perfect all-American hips
I know my place, I know my place
And this is it

This time, Olivia doesn’t cut herself off. She doesn’t censor herself. She names this character she’s been playing the entire song the all-American bitch. The word ‘bitch’ is a very heavy and loaded word, even though many will try to deny it. While it can be used humorously or between women in an affectionate way; bitch, at its core, is an insult men hurl at women to demean them. When a woman is labelled a bitch, they’re essentially the exact opposite of Society’s Perfect Woman. Instead of classy, they’re rude. Instead of happy, they’re prickly. Instead of easy-going, they’re difficult. Instead of shutting up and keeping quiet, they’re insistent of having an opinion.

This Perfect Woman ticks all the boxes. She’s danced their dance; she’s done all the things society wants her to do. And yet, she still gets labelled a bitch. She did everything right, and she still gets labelled a bitch. Because it’s inevitable. Even if women play the game and try to be perfect according to society’s standards, they will ultimately still fall victim to the patriarchy.

Olivia continues to talk about the sex appeal she’s expected to have as a popstar, saying, “with perfect all-American lips, and perfect all-American hips.” We know from Olivia that the original lyric was actually “perfect all-American tits” instead of hips, but she changed it to tone it down a bit. Frankly, I think the original line is hilarious, and I love that it’s the one she chooses to sing live most of the time. Olivia ends the new section by saying, “I know my place, and this is it.” Women will often get told to “know their place,” and Olivia, as this character, is staying in her lane of being the perfect saint who never rocks the boat.

Bridge
I don’t get angry when I’m pissed
I’m the eternal optimist
I scream inside to deal with it
Like, “AHHH”

In this section, Olivia is touching on how women are expected to bottle up their emotions for the comfort of others. They’re not allowed to get angry, otherwise they’ll simply be told they’re overreacting and being dramatic. Instead of letting their emotions out, they can only scream on the inside. It’s at this point in the song that Olivia’s character finally snaps. She’s no longer poised and composed, she completely loses her shit and begins screaming.

In an interview with The Guardian, Olivia talked about these kinds of repressed emotions, saying, “I’ve experienced a lot of emotional turmoil over having all these feelings of rage and dissatisfaction that I felt like I couldn’t express, especially in my job. I’ve always felt like: you can never admit it, be so grateful all the time, so many people want this position. And that causes a lot of repressed feelings. I’ve always struggled with wanting to be this perfect American girl and the reality of not feeling like that all the time.”

This screaming section of the song became a fun tradition of Olivia’s shows, where she would stop the song to tell the audience to think of something or someone that makes them angry. She’d then proceed to tell them to scream as loud as they can:

At 2:42 in the video.

Outro
All the time, I’m grateful all the time
I’m sexy and I’m kind
I’m pretty when I cry

Oh, all the time, I’m grateful all the fucking time
I’m sexy and I’m kind
I’m pretty when I cry

After her little outburst, Olivia’s character composes herself once again to deliver the final lines of the song. Olivia sings about what she mentioned in her interview with The Guardian; this need she feels to express her gratitude all the time. As a figure in the public eye, Olivia knows how lucky she is to have such a fortunate, well-paying job that many would kill for, but there are downsides to being so famous, the constant intrusion of privacy perhaps being the biggest one. But if Olivia were to go on the record complaining about that, the media would label her “ungrateful.”

This isn’t just the case for women in the public eye, women in general are expected to be nothing but grateful for the things they have in life. When she says, “I’m sexy and I’m kind, I’m pretty when I cry,” it’s almost as if she’s repeating a mantra to herself. She’s again adding to this list of things women are expected to be; sexy, kind, grateful… even when we’re crying, we’re expected to still look pretty while doing it.

It’s a never-ending list of expectations we’ll never meet.

Again, I adore this song. I think it is one of the most angsty and angry tracks on Olivia’s discography. I really do think this song is the epitome of female rage. Please keep in mind that this analysis is purely my interpretation. If you have any different interpretations of any lyrics or otherwise, I’d love to hear them in the comments below.

See you in the next analysis,

- Lilly :)