As the first track of her debut album, "Sour", Olivia Rodrigo chose "Brutal": a song about her teenage inner thoughts and view of the world.
Tempo
Before her first album came out, Rodrigo was known for her slow, sad love songs that make her fans have all the feels. However, "Brutal" showcased a different side of her songwriting. It starts out slow, just as anyone would anticipate given the history of her previous songs. After about 12 seconds of soft violins, she says
"I want it to be like...messy"
and the beat drops to reveal a faster-paced tempo for the song. This tempo takes over until the end where it gradually slows down to go back to her well-known, slower-paced singing.
The changes in tempo add another layer to this song. If she sang about how brutal the world was in a mellow and romantic tempo, as most of her songs are, the song would not have the same impact as it does with the loud, rock tempo that it currently has.
Rhythm
Rodrigo utilizes many accents and silence throughout this song. After the beat drops, the guitar playing puts an accent at the beginning of every four-count. This is used for the whole song, not including the slower violin parts at the beginning and end. Silent beats can be heard in this song as well. Specifically, in the chorus before one of her most iconic lines, the instruments and her singing is loud, until all of a sudden everything is silent and she says,
"God, it's brutal out here".
Timbre and Dynamics
The beginning and end of this song hold a very mellow and warm tone quality. The verses and chorus have a heavy and harsh (yet controlled) tone quality. The differences in the tone qualities enhance the lyrics.
The tone color in this song is very interesting. During the chorus, you can tell that Rodrigo's tone is much stronger, almost as if she's yelling. This is a very cool dynamic given that after she is "yelling" the silent beat comes in and it sounds as if she is tired of yelling.
Lyrics
The lyrics in this song are very relatable. It is interesting to hear how a celebrity can still feel insecure and have self-esteem issues, as sometimes the public can forget that famous people experience those feelings too. She also makes this song relatable by using well-known phrases in her lyrics such as "teenage dream", "golden years", and "enjoy your youth".
A specific group of lyrics in this song stuck out to me when I first listened to it.
"And I'm so tired that I might
Quit my job start a new life
And they'd all be so disappointed
'Cause who am I if not exploited?"
These lyrics are interesting to me because I believe it is a comment she is making about Disney. Before her music career took off, she was known as an actress on two Disney shows. Given that her job was being a "Disney kid", there is a certain stereotype that is given to child actresses who become singers. It is as if she is implying that Disney has exploited her and that they fully intended to do so.
Form
The form of this song is simple. It begins with an instrumental intro, followed by the first verse. Next comes the chorus and second verse. As the music slows down, the song ends with an outro. I find it interesting that as "Brutal" is the first track of her album, the last lyric of this song is
"God, I don't even know where to start."
It shows that she planned the song to have this form as some kind of prologue to her album. She ends the song that is at the start of her album with that line, then proceeds to have songs related to her teenage years that she was referencing in "Brutal". I find the form of this song so clever that it gives me chills!
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