Me: Hello, hello hello! Welcome to today's episode of Musical Characters React!

Jane Seymour: Hi, everyone!

Vanessa: We hope you're having a great weekend!

Veronica: I heard that the Olympics started yesterday!

Usnavi: Yeah! We watched the opening ceremony, you can bet I cheered when DR came on in the Parade of Nations!

Sonny: Yep! I was super proud, too!

Me: Korea won its' first gold medal today and I'm proud about that, too!

King George: Well, even though this Olympic talk is interesting, what are we reacting to today?

Me: Today's winning request was by magical_kk!

Sonny: Oooh! This is a good album!

Me: Yep, Olivia Rodrigo is probably the biggest/most trending singer right now, at least for my and Sonny's generation. But I think most, if not all, of you guys will relate to the songs. The first song is "Brutal".

[I start streaming the album on Spotify. During "Brutal"]

Anne Boleyn: Yes! I love this rock beat!

Veronica: Yep. Yep, I can relate to this song. (Singing along) I'm so sick of seventeen, where's my f***ing teenage dream? If someone tells me one more time, "enjoy your youth", I'm gonna cry.

All the teenagers in the room: All I did was try my best! This the kinda thanks I get? Unrelentlessly upset!

Peggy: I can see how this song is relatable to teens.

Benny: And, yes, it IS brutal out there...

Hamilton: You got that right.

[During "Traitor"]

Jane Seymour: It looks like her boyfriend moved on a bit too quickly.

Me: Yep, and that's the subject of three other songs in this album,"Drivers' License", "Deja Vu", and "Good 4 U"

Eliza: I like the ballad feeling of this song.

Heather D.: Is this whole album about breakups and relationships?

Me: Yep.

[During "Driver's License"]

Sonny: Ah yes, THE most iconic song of 2021.

Me: Confession, when this song first came out, I didn't really get the hype around it, but I think I've come around.

King George III: Me, too...

Veronica: I heard that this song is talking about Joshua Bassett, Olivia's ex boyfriend from High School Musical The Musical: The Series.

Daniela and Carla: No me diga!

Vanessa: I agree, sometimes it's not easy to let go after a breakup, and it hurts even more when the other person seems to move on too quickly.

[During "1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back"]

Catherine of Aragon: Inconsistent and toxic significant others are pretty frustrating.

Veronica: Mmmhmm

Usnavi: Yeah, no one should have to go through a relationship like that.

[During "Deja Vu"]

Vanessa: I like that nod to Glee. I love that show

Laurens: Oof I feel bad for the guy's new girlfriend....

Heather C.: Same...like, come up with something original!

Sonny: If "Driver's License" is like the grieving/sad stage of a breakup, this is the jealousy stage.

Me: And "Good 4 U" is the anger stage.

Everyone: [singing along]  So when you gonna tell her that we did that, too? She thinks it's special, but it's all reused, that was our place, I found it first, I made the jokes you tell to her when she's with you.... do you get deja vu when she's with you....

[During "Good 4 U"]

Me: This is my favorite song of the album.

Catherine of Aragon: Yup. I can relate to it. With Henry and all.

Daniela: The chorus is really catchy. Like, really catchy.

Everyone: [singing along] WELL, GOOD FOR YOU, YOU LOOK HAPPY AND HEALTHY, NOT ME
IF YOU EVER CARED TO ASK! GOOD FOR YOU, YOU'RE DOIN' GREAT OUT THERE WITHOUT ME, BABY...LIKE A DAMN SOCIOPATH!!

Sonny: I've seen Tiktoks with that part of the song.

[During "Enough For You"]

Eliza: The line "All I ever wanted was to be enough for you" hit hard.

Sonny: This song makes me want to cry over breaking up with my non-existent girlfriend!

Heather M.: Yeah, the lyrics are pretty sad if you think about it....

[During "Happier"]

Heather M.:....(tearing up) actually this song is pretty sad, too.

Benny: Damn, the narrator's boyfriend seems like a pretty manipulative person...

Me: Lyric-wise, I think this is a sadder/angstier version of "Good 4 U"

J.D.:...oh you're right!

[During "Jealousy, Jealousy"]

Veronica: "I kinda wanna throw my phone across the room, 'cause all I see are girls too good to be true"....wow, how did Olivia get inside my brain?

Sonny: Well, a lot of the songs in the album are so relatable to teens...

Anna of Cleves: Comparing yourself with others will NOT be good for your mental health, so PLEASE do not do it!

Me: Yeah. Teen girls compare themselves with others a lot, but that's not good for them...that's one of the bad things about social media.

[During "Favorite Crime"]

Anne Boleyn: Oof, no one deserves that kind of emotional damage from their significant other...

Veronica: Yup. No one should be taken advantage of like that...

Carla: And the fact that the boyfriend in the song cared so little? That's messed up.

[During "Hope Ur Okay"]

[TW: Mentions of abuse/self-harm]

Me: I'm Christian, and I think it's sad that the parents of the boy she is talking about used the Bible to justify abusing their son, emotionally and/or physically. God would want parents to give the best and utmost care for their children.

J.D.: Is the reason the boy wore long sleeves to hide scars he got from his dad or from self-harm?

Sonny: Sadly, yes.  The boy and the middle school friend that Olivia is talking about in this song are both queer and had parents who treated them badly because of this.

Peggy: No one deserves to be treated by their family like that because of who they love.

Hamilton: Peggy's right. If parents are going to treat their queer kids badly just because they're queer, than they don't deserve to be parents.

Veronica: "Well, I hope you know how proud I am you were created" I love this line.

[The song ends]

Me: All right, that was the end of the album. What did everyone think?

Veronica: I really loved it, it definitely was something I could relate too.

Hamilton: Even though I am not a teen, nor Gen Z, which means some of the stuff in the songs I don't really relate to, I think they were very well written. I can see why a lot of people like them.

Vanessa: I liked it, I can't choose my favorite song! They're all good.

Catherine Parr: Same. I think I'll buy a physical copy!

Me: I'm glad you guys liked it! All right, that's all the time we have for today! Feel free to vote, request, and comment! See you guys next time!

Everyone: Bye!