Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” is a full throttle power ballad
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” is a full throttle power ballad
Power ballads used to top the charts regularly, from 80s rock to 90s R&B. But then in the 2000s, the formula of constant escalation gradually fell off the Billboard. Now, seemingly out of nowhere, Olivia Rodrigo’s single “Drivers License” is breaking streaming records as listeners yearn for the emotional catharsis from this contemporary power ballad. With the help of David Metzer, professor of music history at the University of British Columbia, we break down how “Drivers License” sticks to an age-old formula, and how it deviates from a well worn musical path.
SONGS DISCUSSED
MORE
Professor David Metzer’s The Ballad in American Popular Music: From Elvis to Beyoncé
Aiyana Ishmael for Teen Vogue “Olivia Rodrigo Song "Drivers License" Sparks Fan-Made TikTok POV Covers”
Olivia Rodrigo’s Instagram demo
Richard S. He Twitter thread
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
View all episodes
By Vulture
4.6
26342,634 ratings
Power ballads used to top the charts regularly, from 80s rock to 90s R&B. But then in the 2000s, the formula of constant escalation gradually fell off the Billboard. Now, seemingly out of nowhere, Olivia Rodrigo’s single “Drivers License” is breaking streaming records as listeners yearn for the emotional catharsis from this contemporary power ballad. With the help of David Metzer, professor of music history at the University of British Columbia, we break down how “Drivers License” sticks to an age-old formula, and how it deviates from a well worn musical path.
SONGS DISCUSSED
MORE
Professor David Metzer’s The Ballad in American Popular Music: From Elvis to Beyoncé
Aiyana Ishmael for Teen Vogue “Olivia Rodrigo Song "Drivers License" Sparks Fan-Made TikTok POV Covers”
Olivia Rodrigo’s Instagram demo
Richard S. He Twitter thread
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
More shows like Switched on Pop
View all
Pop Culture Happy Hour
11,537 Listeners
99% Invisible
26,243 Listeners
Song Exploder
5,977 Listeners
Explain It to Me
7,858 Listeners
The Gray Area with Sean Illing
10,727 Listeners
All Songs Considered
3,146 Listeners
Popcast
1,491 Listeners
Pivot
9,501 Listeners
Gastropod
3,667 Listeners
Decoder with Nilay Patel
3,144 Listeners
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
8,868 Listeners
Twenty Thousand Hertz
4,186 Listeners
Good One
1,484 Listeners
Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia
2,070 Listeners
Today, Explained
10,203 Listeners
Rolling Stone All Access
1,019 Listeners
Land of the Giants
2,166 Listeners
Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast
5,985 Listeners
Unlocking Us with Brené Brown
23,583 Listeners
A Touch More with Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe
728 Listeners
Good Noticings
6,477 Listeners
Unexplainable
2,316 Listeners
Pop Pantheon
525 Listeners
Cover Story
1,220 Listeners
Not Just Football with Cam Heyward
152 Listeners
Vibe Check
1,776 Listeners
Networth and Chill with Your Rich BFF
1,747 Listeners
One Song
1,191 Listeners
Critics at Large | The New Yorker
663 Listeners
Prof G Markets
1,431 Listeners
The Sam Sanders Show
589 Listeners
Bird's Eye View with Sue Bird
440 Listeners
Solutions with Henry Blodget
31 Listeners