Olivia Rodrigo’s new song is here!
The 18-year-old High School Musical: The Musical: the Series star released her new single, “Deja Vu,” on Thursday, her follow-up to the mega-popular single “Drivers License” — whose success made Rodrigo the youngest artist to ever top the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Like “Drivers License,” “Deja Vu” takes the perspective of someone addressing a former lover who’s moved on with someone new. “I hate to think that I was just your type,” Rodrigo sings as she addresses all the ways her old flame is seemingly repeating their love story with his new flame, while driving up the California coast to Malibu and enjoying a melting cup of strawberry ice cream, also both cited in the song.
“So when you gonna tell her that we did that too / She thinks it’s special, but it’s so reused,” she croons on the chorus. “That was our place, I found it first / I make the jokes you tell to her when she’s with you / Do you get deja vu?”
The track also had fans online buzzing about references to “watching reruns of Glee” and listening to “Uptown Girl.” “Play her piano, but she doesn’t know that I was the one who taught you Billy Joel,” Rodrigo sings.
As the music video goes on, Rodrigo and the “new girl” start to become interchangeable, appearing in the same locations in the same clothes, and the final mirrors the first, with the new girl in the driver’s seat of the convertible.
“Drivers License” has become one of the biggest hits of 2021, even recently earning its very own sketch on Saturday Night Live. Rodrigo was a good sport about the sketch — which included SNL’s male cast members raving about how they related to the teen heartbreak ballad — in an interview with RADIO.COM after the Regé-Jean Page-hosted episode.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think that they were going to do a ‘Drivers License’ sketch where they played the entirety of ‘Drivers License,'” she said. “And Pete Davidson, who is my biggest celebrity crush, was singing it and comparing me to Taylor Swift, who is my idol. It was just insane. It was on my 18th birthday too, so it was just a crazy day.”
Rodrigo recently chatted with ET about the upcoming season of HSM:TM:TS, which is set to include more of her original songs.
“I am excited for the fans to see season 2 of the show because I think they will get to see our characters’ growth and trajectory in a deeper way,” she said. “I also can’t wait for them to hear this really special song I wrote for an episode.”
