Driving up to No. 1

by Chloe Jordan | tech editor

After its release on Jan. 8, Olivia Rodrigo’s first song, Driver’s License, has debuted number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and has hit the record for most streams in one week on Spotify, thanks to Tik Tok.

The song is rumored to be about her former boyfriend, Joshua Bassett, supposedly now dating Sabrina Carpenter, who helped her achieve her goal of getting her driver’s license. When she finally got it, he wasn’t there to congratulate her.

Bassett and Rodrigo both starred in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Bassett being cast as Ricky Bowen who plays Troy Bolton and Rodrigo being cast as Nini Roberts who plays Gabriella Montez. In the show, they were cast as love interests.

Since the song has skyrocketed in popularity, Joshua Bassett and Sabrina Carpenter have allegedly released their own songs in response. Bassett released a new song called Lie Lie Lie, and Carpenter released a new song called Skin

Taylor Swift has even commented “I say that’s my baby and I’m really proud” on Olivia’s Instagram in response to her post about being next to Taylor on the US Itunes chart. 

The first verse describes Rodrigo getting her license and crying because her boyfriend wasn’t around to see, even though he used to be super excited for her to drive to his house.

The second verse states “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.” This lyric most likely refers to Carpenter, as she is blonde and four years older than Rodrigo.

The chorus explains that Rodrigo feels that he lied about how he felt in the song about her. She thought their relationship would last, but now she drives alone past his street. 

The rest of the song details how it’s difficult for her to drive past things that remind her of their relationship.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I expect all of this support,” Olivia’s caption on Instagram said. “Y’all have managed to turn one of the scariest most painful moments of my life into something so positive and powerful.”

You can support Olivia and buy some merch at http://shop.oliviarodrigo.com.

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