ThursdayApr082021
Stefan KohliThe lyrics of Olivia Rodrigo's new single "Deja Vu" are so specific, you really believe that she and her ex-boyfriend actually did do all those things she sings about in the song, before her ex went on to do them with his current girlfriend. But surprise — most of it was completely made up.
Take that line "Watching reruns of Glee/Bein' annoying, singin’ in harmony" — super-specific, right? Yes, but completely not true.
As Olivia and her co-writer and producer Dan Nigro admit in Rolling Stone's The Breakdown video series, "Neither of us have ever, like, watched Glee! But [when we were writing the song], we were like, 'Watching reruns of Glee' — heck yeah!"
And if you thought Olivia was a huge fan of Billy Joel because of that line "Play her piano, but she doesn't know/That I was the one who taught you Billy Joel" — think again.
"Dan actually came up with the Billy Joel lyric…which is probably my favorite lyric," Olivia admits.
"Just trying to make Long Island represent as much as possible in this," confesses Dan — who, like Billy Joel, is from Long Island, NY.
But there is some truth to the lyrics: Olivia's favorite ice cream flavor is, indeed, strawberry.
So if Olivia didn't live "Deja Vu," what inspired it? She says she simply had the line "when she's with you/do you get deja vu" written down in her phone.
"I get deja vu all the time, and I think it's a really interesting phenomenon," she explains. "And so I thought it would be a cool way to talk about when you break up with someone and they move on — sometimes you watch them on social media or whatever, and they're living the same life that you lived, with another partner."
(Video contains uncensored profanity.)
By Andrea Dresdale
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