Olivia Rodrigo on Sour songs similarities backlash: Nothing in music is new

Olivia Rodrigo has insisted it’s “disappointing” that her work has been “discredited” for its similarities to other artists’ songs.

The 18-year-old pop star recently gave Paramore’s Hayley Williams and Josh Farro writers credits for her hit ‘Good 4 U’, after fans and mu critics made comparisons between the track and the emo-pop group’s 2007 track, ‘Misery Business’, with a mashup of the two songs, originally shared on TikTok, racking up millions of views on YouTube.

What’s more, Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff and St. Vincent were added to the songwriting credits for Olivia’s song ‘Deja Vu’.

But the ‘drivers license’ star insisted “nothing is ever new” in mu and she can’t understand why people made a big commotion out of it.

In an interview with Teen Vogue magazine, she said: “I think it’s disappointing to see people take things out of context and discredit any young woman’s work.

“All mu is inspired by each other. Obviously, I write all of my lyrics from my heart and my life first. I came up with the lyrics and the melody for ‘good 4 u’ one morning in the shower.

“Every single artist is inspired by artists who have come before them.

“It’s sort of a fun, beautiful sharing process. Nothing in mu is ever new. There’s four chords in every song. That’s the fun part — trying to make that your own.”

Olivia, a die-hard Swiftie, previously revealed ‘Cruel Summer’ inspired ‘Deja Vu’.

She explained: “I wanted [the bridge] to be really high energy because the rest of the song is very serene and eerily calm.

“But I wanted the last bridge to kind of go crazy and I love ‘Cruel Summer,’ it’s one of my favourite songs ever. I love the harmonised yells she does. I feel like they’re super electric and moving, so I wanted to do something like that.”

Taylor, 31, and Jack, 37, are also both credited on her track ‘1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back’, which features a sample of the former’s song ‘New Year’s Day’ from 2017’s ‘Reputation’.

Meanwhile, Olivia recently praised Taylor for being “so supportive of other women”.

The star received a sweet letter from the ‘Cardigan’ hitmaker after she achieved global stardom with her hit single ‘driver’s license’, and said it felt “so nice” to be “welcomed” into the mu industry by a fellow female muian that she looks up to.

She said: “It’s so nice to be welcomed into the mu industry and so great to be supportive of other women.

“She wrote me a letter a while ago, and she wrote something about how you make your own luck in the world, and how you treat other people always comes back to you.”