Who? Olivia Rodrigo? Who?

A peek over the chasm of age into Generation Z.

POTUS, by Instagram, on vaccinations:  "We've got to get other young people protected as well. Who's willing to help?

Olivia Rodrigo, by Instagram:  "I'm in!"

POTUS, by Instagram: "You bet!"

I suspect most of my readers are thoroughly familiar with the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Willie Nelson, and Dolly Parton. That is because my reader demographic skews old. When I quote music lyrics I think of songs from the 1960s. (You can't chop your mother up in Massachusetts.)

Olivia Rodrigo is in the news. Normally, I would never have heard of her, but a 16-year-old clued me in. When I was a teenager I remember being astonished that old people--people over 40--didn't know much about the Beatles. What breathtaking lack of cultural competency, I thought--although at the time I would have said old people were "out of it." There were crossover events--the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan, so I thought they had no excuse for their ignorance. Back in the 1960s, radio listeners in the Medford, Oregon area had three viable radio choices--KMED, KYJC, KBOY--and all three played popular music. Nationally there were three commercial TV networks. We heard and saw each other’s stuff. The generations could not avoid contact.

Not anymore. My streaming service is different than your streaming service. My Netflix and Amazon Prime choices are different from yours. I don't think I have installed TikTok or Instagram apps, but if I have, I don't use them. 

Nevertheless, let me be an unlikely cultural ambassador. This much I know: Olivia Rodrigo is a big star. 

Her debut song, driver's license--all lower case--was released on January 8, 2021, and had the biggest first-week ever for a song on Spotify and Amazon Music. The song was number one for eight consecutive weeks, it was triple platinum, and was number one in eight countries. Music critics loved it, too.  At the time I thought the important thing in America was the insurrection on January 6. I had no inkling that something gigantic was happening on the music scene. Why would I? Youth is a foreign country to me now, and I barely speak the language there.

Olivia Rodrigo's music is in the ear buds of people in Generation Z--people aged from about ten to 23. "Zoomers" are the generational successors to the Millennial generation, people from their mid-20s to about age 40. Her big hit breakout song is a story of teenage heartbreak because the singer just got her driver's license, and it allows her to drive on her own past her former boyfriend's home. That is sad for her because "you were so excited for me to finally drive up to your house."  Worse, "you're probably with that blonde girl who always made me doubt. She's so much older than me, she's everything I'm insecure about."

The hit song's subject seems so impossibly young. There is a reason for it: Olivia Rodrigo is young--age 18--and most of my readers are not. Of course, "She's gonna have fun, fun, fun till her daddy takes the T-Bird away" did not seem young to me, back in the day, but of course, now it does. I have aged out of cheering teenagers having wild fun in cars. Listen and watch:

https://youtu.be/ZmDBbnmKpqQ

She released another song this spring, Good 4 U. It was number-one in the US and 14 other countries. Never heard of Good 4 U? The song is about a boyfriend who "moved on really easily" to someone new, to the heartbreak of the singer.

https://youtu.be/gNi_6U5Pm_o

Two songs do not catch you up with a generation, but it is a start. People in Generation Z grew up with the internet, where Siri and Alexa know everything. They rarely use email; they prefer to text. They don't listen to the radio; they get their music streamed. COVID figures large in the consciousness of all of them; it messed up their lives.

Olivia Rodrigo is meeting with President Biden and Anthony Fauci to discuss making videos that will encourage young people to get vaccinated. This won't seem like a big deal to  people who have no idea who she is. That would be a mistake. Olivia Rodrigo sends a signal to young people that vaccinations are something cool people do. Nothing Joe Biden can say will send that message. Biden, or someone on his staff, is showing cultural competency. 

You still don't care about Olivia Rodrigo? No matter. People our age aren't her audience, and we are out of it.