Olivia Rodrigo didn’t just gush about Robert Pattinson and her Twilight-themed in-ears during her recent Kelly Clarkson Show visit. In a newly-shared clip from the appearance, the 20-year-old pop star gave new insight into a couple of the lyrics on her sophomore album Guts, which arrived in September and debuted atop the Billboard 200.
The first lyric Rodrigo touched on was the outro to her fan-favorite Guts track, “Lacy”: “And I despise my jealous eyes and how hard they fell for you / Yeah, I despise my rotten mind and how much it worships you.” “Very emo of me, writing that,” she told Clarkson, laughing.
“I took a poetry class at USC,” she continued. “I wrote a poem called ‘Lacy’ for one of the assignments, and I really liked it. I’m like, ‘I’m gonna turn it into a song!’”
The haunting ballad has inspired many a fan theory regarding its subject, with many speculating that the name “Lacy” is code for Taylor Swift, Gracie Abrams or Sabrina Carpenter — all three of whom Rodrigo has history with. And though she is steadfast about concealing who her songs are about, she did tell the Los Angeles Times earlier this month that she enjoys when fans craft “more creative answers to who Lacy is,” such as her past self.
“I just think it’s not classy to come out and say it’s about this person,” she added at the time. “I also think that would set a weird precedent where I’d have to clear the air with every song I write.”
Clarkson also asked the Grammy winner about her opening Guts track, “All-American Bitch,” which swerves from ethereal choral moments to screamed grungey punk sections. Rodrigo opens by singing, “I am light as a feather, I’m as stiff as a board,” a play on the name of the children’s game involving lifting up a friend as a group with players using nothing but their fingertips.
“I always thought it was a really interesting phrase, I’ve been meaning to fit it into a song for a long time,” Rodrigo said. “[The game] seems kind of impossible. So I thought it was a good way to describe the impossible standards that are set for us as women.”
Watch Rodrigo break down her lyrics above.
