In the new song “making the bed,” Olivia Rodrigo contemplates on her journey so far. She has seen the highest of successes in her career and maybe some of the lowest points in her personal life so far. Regardless of her highs and lows, she understands that everything that came into her life was out of the choices she made. So, you make the bed you sleep in!
Olivia Rodrigo released her second studio album ‘GUTS’ on September 8, 2023. The release of the album was followed by two singles “vampire” and “bad idea right?” Talking to Apple Music, Olivia Rodrigo admitted that her debut album ‘SOUR’ was a lot more spontaneous than anything else. However, her follow-up project ‘GUTS’ was inspired by “lots of confusion, mistakes, awkwardness & good old fashioned teen angst.”
In an interview with Interview Magazine in September 2023, Olivia Rodrigo hinted at the inspiration behind “making the bed,”
There’s one song that I wrote about how my life changed because of all of the things that happened with the last album and how crazy that was. It was cathartic in the end, but it was kind of hard dredging up all of that stuff. Anytime something bad happens with my career, I’m like, ‘Wow. I’m so lucky that I get to do this. You have to be grateful. So many people would love to be in this position.’ But you still have to acknowledge trauma.
Listen to “making the bed” by Olivia Rodrigo
Olivia Rodrigo “making the bed” Lyrics Meaning and Song Review
Olivia Rodrigo truly has seen the zenith of what the music industry has to offer. Her debut single “drivers license” and debut album ‘sour’ both made waves in the industry. Along with breaking numerous streaming records, “drivers license” also won many awards including a Grammy for ‘Best Pop Solo Performance’ in 2022. It was truly a once-in-lifetime entrance to fame and spotlight.
In the first verse of the song, Olivia Rodrigo says that she feels accomplished. She should be. She has done it and at the same time ruined it–ruined something she did for fun.
In an interview with Apple Music, Olivia Rodrigo said that her debut album ‘sour’ was more spontaneous than her trying to create something or achieve something with it. It was her testing the waters. It blew up. Now she is demanded to create music. Album-tour-album-tour. Now she has to create music on demand. Would she still enjoy it?
In the chorus of the song, Olivia Rodrigo gets very personal. She says that she has come to enjoy less and less of the life that had fallen on her lap. It was a life of glitz and glamour–no chance to make a mistake though. If she does, her face will be all over the media the same day. There is constant pressure to maintain a certain image. She has to put up with some charades, hang out with some ‘friends’ and at certain places. It almost feels like everything she used to love to do has now become a chore.
However, Olivia says that she is the one making the bed–an extrapolation of the phrase “you make the bed you lie in.” This insinuates that whatever comes into your life and whatever happens in your life is more or less the result of your own actions. You still have free will and you use your best judgment at the time.
In the second verse of the song, we hear that Olivia might be finding the actual source of her issues. She recalls a recurring dream she’s having. She is driving and suddenly her brakes stop working. Her research into dream interpretations reveals that it is a sign of her life out of control. But isn’t this contradictory to what she had imagined before? That she is making her own bed. Maybe she is not in control of her life as much as she thinks she is.
Olivia Rodrigo is a massive star now. There are certain obligations she has to fulfill, regardless of her belief that she is acting on her own agenda. Some forces are just out of our control.
Maybe, Olivia Rodrigo is not making her bed at all. Maybe, she only sleeps in it at night.
Let us hear what you think about this song in the comments below. Read the complete lyrics to the song on Genius.