The 11 best Olivia Rodrigo songs

Why have a top ten when you can have one more? We rank the top 11 Olivia Rodrigo songs

She may have had her breakout in Disney’s most convolutedly named show (High School Musical: The Musical: The Series) but Olivia Rodrigo doesn’t waste words. Deft with a pen, highly skilled as a vocalist and promisingly experimental even across the two records she’s put out so far, the singer-songwriter is already one of the biggest names in pop today, and seems to be aiming for the legend status granted to acts like Swift, Gaga and Beyoncé.

This summer 2025, Rodrigo will headline at BST Hyde Park and play Manchester’s Co-op Live in the wake of this year’s hugely successful Guts world tour. We’ve combed through all of the hits that Rodrigo has put out so far to find her best 11 songs to date.

11. ‘teenage dream’

On the closer to 2023’s Guts, Rodrigo muses on the horror of aging – even if you’re only turning 19. Over her characteristic soft piano, with some background support from strings as the song progresses, she acknowledges that there’s a power in being a teenage pop star she’s afraid to age out of, from the extra grace she’s granted for her mistakes to the way that her youth appeals to those around her, particularly older men. “I fear that they already got all the best parts of me,” she sings. “And I’m sorry that I couldn’t always be your teenage dream.” The song builds to a huge finale as Rodrigo remembers that those around her tell her it all gets better with age – “But what if I don’t?”

10. ‘favourite crime’

Buried in Rodrigo’s debut album is this folky, Bonnie and Clyde-inspired musing on blame. Rodrigo’s ex may have treated her badly, but upon reflection she’s forced to acknowledge some culpability – she had a hand in breaking her own heart. “Oh, the things I did, just so I could call you mine,” she sings. “Oh, the things you did, well I hope I was your favourite crime.” On a record so unapologetically teenage, ‘favourite crime’ offers a unique perspective on the break-up, and puts forward a more mature central voice.

9. ‘lacy’

Rodrigo’s grungier pop is fantastic, but give her a simple picked guitar and a reverbed mic and her voice is truly something special. Jealousy is a common theme across both records, but ‘lacy’ offers Rodrigo’s best work on the topic, as she falls so desperately deep into her obsession with another girl that we can’t be sure whether she loves or hates her. Her lyricism is smart and slick, but it’s Rodrigo’s restrained, breathy vocals that truly pull the track together – particularly in that wonderfully intense final verse.

8. ‘good 4 u’

Once this song is in your head, it truly never leaves. From that infectious bass to the energy unleashed in the chorus, ‘good 4 u’ is hard to not enjoy. Rodrigo’s lyricism is a little blunter than in other offerings, but for this resentful torrent, it works, and there are inklings of the playful grunge-pop here that would come to influence her more on Guts. The distortion on her vocals is another highlight, particularly when she unleashes that “damn sociopath!”

7. ‘all-american bitch’

Sour’s opener ‘brutal’ caught us off-guard with an pop-punk opener – here, Rodrigo turns the tables again, opening Guts with a gentle guitar and an angelic vocal singing her own praises. The pop-punk chorus eventually hits, but only temporarily, before Rodrigo resumes her satire of the all-American girl. As an opener, ‘all-american bitch’ demonstrates to listeners that Rodrigo has stepped up her lyrical game, funnier and sharper than we left her on Sour, but also more cynical. “All the time, I’m grateful all the time,” she outros, in choir-girl fashion. “I’m sexy and I’m kind, I’m pretty when I cry.”

6. ‘the grudge’

True to name, Guts has a fair few gutting moments, but ‘the grudge’ is probably where Rodrigo takes us to our lowest. The production is emotive and rich, but never overwhelms our impression of Rodrigo sat at the piano, pouring out her woes, as she sings about someone who wronged in a way she finds it hard to move on from. “It takes strength to forgive but I don’t feel strong,” she sings. Her gloriously emotional voice is used to full effect here, and she leaves us with no happy endings – she may never be able to let this one go.

5. ‘bad idea right?’

A fun knock on the door and squeak of hinges transition leads us from ‘all-american bitch’ into the second track (and second single) on Guts, and ‘bad idea right?’ more than keeps the party going. Rodrigo is in the throws of heartbreak on this grunge-pop anthem, but unlike on Sour, she’s got a sense of humour about it. The trouble is, quipping about how she knows it’s potentially destructive to keep seeing her ex doesn’t make it any less of a bad idea. ‘bad idea right?’ marks a fun switch-up in sound for Rodrigo, who swaps out her emotive vocals for a chanted monologue, which she delivers in charmingly overblown theatre-kid style.

4. ‘get him back!’

Similar in style to ‘bad idea right?’ and equally great in execution, ‘get him back!’ pulls ahead thanks to its infectious energy. Rodrigo plays a caricature of her heartbroken self, torn between getting revenge on her ex or winning him over. The song plays to the strengths she first showcased with ‘good 4 u’ – an insanely catchy chorus, a pop-punk instrumental and a great sense of humour. “I am my father’s daughter,” sings Rodrigo, child of a therapist, “so maybe I can fix him.” Where Sour saw Rodrigo sincerely and earnestly wallowing in her misery, Guts shows the evolution of an artist ready to self-parody, whilst also musically stepping up her game.

3. ‘vampire’

The lead single from Guts is also the album’s clearest link to its predecessor, a truly excellent piano ballad turned pop-rock track in which Rodrigo has some cutting words to say about her ex. Her vocals are at their best here, confessional and breathy in the verse, restrained and ominous as the chorus builds, before building to a climax in which she holds onto her vulnerability and simultaneously showcases her power. It’s a fantastic performance, and the song is more than worthy of it, uncomplicated in concept but tightly written and packed with emotion.

2. ‘drivers license’

The song that turned a little-known Disney actress into one of pop’s most exciting voices. The transition of that car beep into the understated piano and beat, one that allows us to get acquainted with the emotional power of Rodrigo’s voice before slowly building out the instrumental, will always be instantly recognisable. Rodrigo has built a remarkably strong discography for herself over the past four years, but her debut single remains a masterclass, demonstrating a songwriting talent beyond her years whilst remaining authentically seventeen. When her voice sails up to hit those high notes in the song’s bridge, no matter how far removed a listener might be from their own teenage heartbreak, it’s hard not to feel something.

1. ‘enough for you’

‘drivers license’ was a perfect lead single for Sour – but if you believe that Rodrigo’s talent lies in her power to make young heartbreak feel fresh and painful no matter who she sings to, then her best song has to be ‘enough for you’. Over a simple guitar accompaniment, she gives a gut-wrenching description of her partner’s indifference to her, with seventeen-year-old vulnerability bleeding through every line. Her vocal performance is raw and deeply affecting. “Someday I’ll be everything to someone else,” she sings. Then, with a shaky breath – “He’ll think that I am so exciting.” Rodrigo has a great deal of moving songs in her arsenal, but this one cuts to the heart.