Recently, there has been a song that has become extremely popular, and nearly every teen has heard it on some platform or another. “Driver’s License” by Olivia Rodrigo has blown up the past few weeks. The Disney star started her song’s path to success by posting a Tik Tok video about how she wrote a song to help her cope with all the emotions regarding her recent breakup. When she decided to post a thirty-second clip of her singing the song, the response was positive, and people wanted it to be released as a full song.

About a week later, “Driver’s License” was released, and was almost immediately met with praise and high streams.
The song has streamed almost on every platform available and has already made it onto the radio. Just a few days ago she hit number 1 on the Top 100 Charts after only a week of the song being released. In this same week, it received the honor of being the most-streamed song on Spotify, breaking the previous record. On YouTube, it has already received 52 Million views. One of the reasons this song is so popular is that in addition to being a catchy song, it is about the breakup of a young couple – something that a lot of middle and high school students can relate to. They either have gone through this before, are currently going through this, or are perhaps even afraid of their relationship coming to this. Because of this, teenagers have formed a connection to this song.

Taking a closer look at what students specifically at Cypress Creek thought about the song, I asked many students if they liked “Driver’s License” or related to it at all. After the interviews, I realized that half of the students liked the song, and the other half either did not like it or did not know the song. The kids who said they liked the song had similar answers, of either they related to the song, or they thought it was catchy and well made. For the kids who did not like the song, however, they said it was because the song did not fall into the genre of the music they normally listened to, with almost all students not in favor of the song saying they only listen to country or rap. From my perspective, this showed that the song is generally liked unless you do not listen to that genre of music.

Overall, the song is a big hit. It has made its way from a short Tik Tok clip, to now being played across the world and on the radio. However, Olivia Rodrigo has gotten backlash from Sabrina Carpenter who is dating Rodrigo’s ex-boyfriend, even though the song only mentions the ex-boyfriend’s current girlfriend as having blonde hair, and being older than Rodrigo. The rest of the song is about how she misses her past relationship, and the lingering feelings she has about the breakup. In retaliation, Sabrina released a song called “Skin”, her only original song to date. People are not liking Sabrina’s song nearly as much, however, she said that “Driver’s License” was not about Carpenter; it was about her ex. So what do you think? Do you like Sabrina’s, or Olivia’s song better? Whose side are you on?

Despite the drama between the two, “Driver’s License” success cannot be denied or overshadowed. Such impressive records for a 17-year-old to hold is incredible, and the number of responses from teens that have claimed the song has helped them cope is amazing. So if you love “Driver’s License”, you’re not alone; keep on listening!

https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/9512983/olivia-rodrigo-drivers-license-number-one-hot-100-debut

https://variety.com/2021/music/news/olivia-rodrigo-drivers-license-spotify-apple-music-amazon-taylor-swift-1234882800/