"deja vu" by Olivia Rodrigo // Song Review

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Olivia Rodrigo's "deja vu", the second single she ever released in 2021, solidified her as one of the defining voices of a new generation in pop music, proving she was far from another one-hit wonder. It served as the follow-up to her debut single, "drivers license", which was a massive cultural moment and one of the biggest songs released that year. "deja vu" felt like a natural progression for her as an artist, while still carrying through some of the same themes of yearning and nostalgia of a past relationship, she also introduced a more expansive and textured sound, signaling her potential for evolution and growth that was to come with future releases. 

The song was co-written and produced by Dan Nigro, her core collaborator on all of her music up to this point. The storytelling is so layered and specific lyrically, in a way that is so personal to her own life, while also maintaining a universal relatability to the experiences she shares. Through vivid, specific lyrics, she captures the bittersweet frustration of watching an ex recreate shared moments with someone new. In the chorus she sings, "So when you gonna tell her that we did that, too? She thinks it's special, but it's all reused, that was our place, I found it first, I made the jokes you tell to her when she's with you, do you get déjà vu when she's with you?"

"I'm really obsessed with the concept of déjà vu and I think it's such a cool, psychedelic, awesome thing," Olivia said in an interview with Rolling Stone. "Sometimes when you break up with someone and watch them live the life they lived with you with another partner, that can be really frustrating. I think that's a universal, relatable thing that happens."


Long before "drivers license" took off in the way that it did, Olivia had picked "deja vu" as the second single for her debut project as far back as September 2020. At the time, she was planning on just releasing an EP, but the overwhelming success of her first single expedited the process to instead release a full length debut album, SOUR, in Spring 2021. 

"I had this single picked out in September 2020" Olivia said in an interview with iHeart Radio. "It sort of took the pressure off for me of following up 'drivers license' since we planned this so far in advance. 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."

The song's bridge is one of the strongest moments, with Olivia painting a vivid picture of the shared memories that are now being relived with someone new, "Strawberry ice cream in Malibu, don't act like we didn't do that shit, too, you're tradin' jackets like we used to do, yeah, everything is all reused," she sings in the bridge. "Play her piano, but she doesn't know that I was the one who taught you Billy Joel, different girl now, but there's nothing new, I know you get déjà vu".

The bridge  was loosely inspired by Taylor Swift's "Cruel Summer", so much so that Taylor, Jack Antonoff, and St. Vincent were later credited as songwriters on "deja vu" as well. This wasn't the only instance of her needing to retroactively credit artists for musical similarities, though. Around the same time, her third single, "good 4 u", also led to Paramore's Hayley Williams and Josh Farro being added as co-writers due to the similarities it has to their "Misery Business". These moments sparked an interesting conversation at the time about the fine line between inspiration and interpolation in modern pop music.

Since the release of "deja vu" in 2021, Olivia has gone on to release so many more incredible songs and has grown a lot as an artist, but this will always remain a timeless classic and a snapshot of the early stages of her artistry. It served as a pivotal stepping stone coming off of the massive success that "drivers license" was and giving a glimpse at the immense talent she would only further develop with the rest of SOUR and later GUTS in 2023. It serves as a defining moment in her journey, capturing the raw emotion and sharp storytelling that would later evolve and refine her sound - a true time capsule of Olivia beginning to cement her place in pop music history.  


Thanks for reading! I have written about Olivia Rodrigo's music many times in the past, all of which are linked below + more from my song of the week series here. ☆


Photo Credit: Olivia Rodrigo, Geffen Records


Related Posts:

GUTS by Olivia Rodrigo // Album Review


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