Ranked: You Seem Pretty Sad For a Girl So in Love, Olivia Rodrigo

Olivia Rodrigo has made her presence in the 2026 musical landscape felt with her excellent third album ‘You Seem Pretty Sad For a Girl so in Love’. I have grown up alongside Rodrigo’s albums, her lyrics and storytelling touching my life experiences in a way few artists have been able to replicate. ‘You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl so in Love’ has been one of my top-played albums since its release last month and now I have had time for the tracks to marinate, I am ready to reveal my ranking more than six weeks on. 

13. Honeybee

There always had to be a song that came at the bottom of the ranking! Setting aside the divisive ‘baby boy, honeybee’ line that has made some sections of the internet cringe, I find this song to be rather slow and repetitive, filled with fairly straightforward platitudes that did not excite me much. The addition of the violins and the heartache-filled line ‘I hope I never see what your face looks like going adds to the sense of foreboding weaved into the album’s first act. I have other Olivia Rodrigo ballads I am drawn to a lot more! 

12. Maggots for brains 

Maggots For Brains shows a more experimental, new sonic influence Rodrigo is adding to her palette, infusing new wave band influences into her pop- rock world. Her brain scrambled by the absence of her partner, Rodrigo finds herself unable to function and though the chorus is quite catchy I’m not a fan of some of the imagery included here (see: ‘everything feels mouldy/ like the fruit that’s in my fridge). 

11. Cigarette Smoke 

Cigarette Smoke is a significant track on this album acting as the connecting thread between the ‘girl so in love’ and ‘you seem pretty sad’ segments of the record. The production is very haunted with clear Phoebe Bridgers influences, dealing with the aftermath of the breakup when you are alone and trying to process all that went wrong. I thought the intertextual connections to other songs was clever in creating a cohesive concept and her vocals are beautifully delicate. 

10. Less 

If Cigarette Smoke is the aftermath of the breakdown of the relationship, ‘Less’ is the retelling of the decline unfolding in real time. It is a layered song that took me a few listens to understand and strips away the production to focus on Rodrigo’s voice and the piano. Rodrigo is slowly realising that the magic that sparked between the two of them has faded and the honourable action of leaving the relationship hurts too much. The vocals are filled with emotion and the rawness shines through in Rodrigo’s vocals. 

9. Purple

Purple was the colour palette which featured on both of Rodrigo’s preceding albums Sour and Guts so I was intrigued when I saw the song title on this track list. This song acts as the turning point between the Girl So in Love and You Seem Pretty Sad sections of the albums and uses colour as a metaphor for Rodrigo’s fading sense of self. It is another more stripped-back song which is elevated by its outro that acts as the perfect transition ‘melting’ into The Cure. 

8. U +me= <3

This song is for the girls manifesting for their forever person and possesses the joyful, excitable quality of feeling you have found the one. Rodrigo revealed in her Popcast interview with the New York Times that this song was nearly cut, which I am very glad didn’t happen! Again, Rodrigo demonstrates her lyrical nuance, weaving in warning signs of what’s to come. Everything has to change, what happens if we don’t stay the same? 

7. Begged 

‘Begged’ was first performed on Rodrigo’s appearance on Saturday Night Live as her second number and I have been hooked ever since. I would call it a sister song to ‘Less’, delving into her realisation the quality of the love she is receiving is not enough to sustain her. Her vocals are sensational and the hook ‘Nothing’s quite enough when I know that to get it, I begged’ is a stab to the heart every time. 

6. Drop Dead 

I strongly believe Drop Dead will be in my Spotify Wrapped next year. The choice of Drop Dead as a lead single marked a departure from the ballads that introduced her previous albums’ concepts and themes Driver’s License and Vampire. This is the first chapter of the story which bottles the euphoric rush of joy, fear and excitement of a successful date. The chorus is an earworm and I get to hear the talk-singing I love from Olivia on the second verse. 

5. What’s Wrong With Me?

This song marks Rodrigo’s first official collaboration on one of her full-length projects and Robert Smith from The Cure was the perfect partner to choose. Since their performance together on Rodrigo’s Glastonbury-headlining performance, the pair’s vocals blend together beautifully and the layered harmonies on the pre-chorus and chorus inflect the lyrics with extra heartache and longing. The song is full to the brim with poignant, devastating lyrics with the highlights coming from the chorus. Who else could write ‘Went to the doctor and she said I was fine/ tried meditation with a bottle of wine’? I challenge you to find someone. 

4. My Way 

Channelling her inner Avril Lavigne, Rodrigo unleashes her full rage on this Guts sister song. This is Rodrigo’s ‘back off from my man anthem’ and made for dancing and raging. The retro synthesiser opening up the track pumps the song with indie-rock angst and fury. I can see the crowds of teenage girls screaming on the bridge at the Unravelled Tour already. 

3. Expectations 

My summer anthem! Producer Dan Nigro challenged Rodrigo to write a mantra song and allowed her the opportunity to show off her tongue in cheek humour and wry self-awareness. ‘I won’t settle for a guy with a fake job’ is a very relatable sentiment as Rodrigo heals from the devastation of her heartbreak and embraces the freedom of being single. Another instance of Rodrigo talk-singing excellence. 

2. Stupid Song 

This song is far from stupid; it is one of the greatest tracks on this album. ‘Stupid Song’, the third lead single of this album, sees Rodrigo falling head over heels in love with her partner, starting slow and quiet then building into an outburst of anxiety-driven adoration. It is another song which shows off her refined vocals with a chorus to stamp your feet too even if the bridge isn’t one of her best. 

1. The Cure 

To put it simply, the best song Rodrigo has ever written. From the creepy, sinister opening guitar strums and the breathy vocals to belting by the end of the song, this track contains the thesis state for ‘You Seemed Pretty Sad for a Girl so in Love’. Rodrigo recalls ‘Vampire’ in the chorus as she finds her insecurities are unable to be sucked out of her body by romance. The refrain ‘I’m unravelled’ haunts the bridge as Rodrigo’s hope disintegrates. A perfect, moving alt-rock ballad. 

This ranking was a near-impossible task and is bound to change as the year progresses. Let us know your favourite track from ‘You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love’ below! 

Written by, Eve Hutchinson