Deja Vu (Olivia Rodrigo song)
"Deja Vu" (stylized in all lowercase) is a song by American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo. It was released on April 1, 2021, through Geffen and Interscope Records, as the second single from her debut studio album, Sour (2021). Rodrigo wrote the song with its producer Dan Nigro, with Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, and St. Vincent receiving writing credits for its interpolation of Swift's 2019 song "Cruel Summer". An incorporation of various pop sub-genres, "Deja Vu" is about heartbreak and explores Rodrigo's anguish about her ex-partner repeating things they did in his new relationship.
"deja vu"
August 2020
April 1, 2021
2020
- Amusement (Los Angeles)
- Heavy Duty (Burbank)
3:35
- Olivia Rodrigo
- Dan Nigro
- Taylor Swift
- Jack Antonoff
- St. Vincent
Dan Nigro
"Deja Vu" received acclaim from music critics, many of whom considered it a strong follow-up to "Drivers License" (2021) and praised its lyrics. In the United States, the song debuted at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and made Rodrigo the first artist to debut their first two singles in the chart's top 10. It eventually peaked at number three. "Deja Vu" reached the top 10 in Ireland, Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada, Latvia, the United Kingdom, Portugal, and the Czech Republic.
Allie Avital directed the music video for "Deja Vu", filmed in Malibu, California, which depicts Rodrigo observing her ex-boyfriend mimic their relationship with his new love interest, played by Talia Ryder. Rodrigo performed the song on shows such as MTV Push and Billboard Women in Music, and included it on the set lists for her 2022 Sour concert tour and the Glastonbury Festival.
Composition[edit]
"Deja Vu" is 3 minutes and 35 seconds long.[13] Nigro produced and recorded the song at Amusement Studios in Los Angeles. He handled drum programming, and plays the acoustic guitar, electric guitar, Wurlitzer, bass, Juno-60, and percussion, Jam City plays the organ and guitar, and Ryan Linvill plays the flute and saxophone. Sterling Laws recorded the drum at Heavy Duty Studios in Burbank, and Chris Kaych and Jasmine Chen handled drum engineering. Mitch McCarthy mixed it at SOTA Studios in Los Angeles and Randy Merrill mastered it at Sterling Sound in New York City.[18][17]
"Deja Vu" is a midtempo[20] psychedelic pop,[5] pop rock,[21] art pop,[20] and indie pop song,[22] with influences of alternative music.[5][23] The song is set over a piano instrumental, complemented by the glockenspiel and heavy drums after the pre-chorus.[23] It also includes buoyant synths.[24] "Deja Vu" has a sensitive beat that crests into an expansive bridge according to Entertainment Weekly's Marcus Jones.[25] Rodrigo delivers harmonious vocals over the song's bell sounds and faded electronics; The Observer's Michael Cragg thought its whispered vocals recalled Lorde.[26][27] The song's similarity with "Cruel Summer" occurs during the bridge, where she emulates the "angry-chanty thing" from Swift's newer songs according to Variety's Chris Willman.[28] Bobby Olivier of Spin thought that with the "attention [it] paid to quotable and cresting bridges", both songs concluded on a similar note, and The Guardian's Rachel Aroesti described "Deja Vu" as a "Taylor Swiftian" pop song.[29][30]
"Deja Vu" has lyrics about heartbreak.[31] Throughout the song, Rodrigo addresses a past partner who is currently pursuing a different relationship and recalls how they are repeating things he did with Rodrigo, like driving up the California coast, eating strawberry ice cream, trading jackets, watching reruns of Glee, and listening to Billy Joel's 1983 single "Uptown Girl".[32] She expresses anguish about him recycling jokes she told.[33] Over its hook, Rodrigo sarcastically wonders if he ever accidentally addresses his new girlfriend by her name.[34] By the conclusion of "Deja Vu", she begins contemplating that the experiences she shared with him, perhaps, were not original to begin with: "I hate to think that I was just your type."[35] Entertainment Weekly's Maura Johnston described the song as "a gauzy fantasia with a time-blackened heart" and a "venom-filled diatribe toward an ex who's moved on".[24] Writing for The New York Times, Jon Caramanica identified its lyrics as "plain and pinpoint pained", and the "power struggle over who taught who about cool music" as an element reminiscent of Swift as well.[36]
Critical reception[edit]
"Deja Vu" received acclaim from music critics,[37] many of whom perceived it as a strong follow-up to "Drivers License". Stereogum's Tom Breihan commended the song's stylistic change of pace from Rodrigo's debut single, describing it as a "giddy, stomping pop banger with a euphoric-singalong chorus", although he also noted their similar subject matter.[38] Tatiana Tenreyro of The A.V. Club lauded it as an improvement, stating that it was a remarkable and sparkling track that "feels like a marriage between Taylor Swift and Radiohead".[39] Writing for NME, Rhian Daly called "Deja Vu" an illustrious follow-up, and Rolling Stone's Angie Martoccio and Chicago Tribune thought it dispelled any notion that she was going to be a one-hit wonder.[40][41][42]
Quinn Moreland of Pitchfork stated that with "Deja Vu", Rodrigo proved to be "pop music's next heavyweight", complimenting its gratifyingly enmeshing production, and deemed it an audacious and poignant catharsis.[43] Cragg described the song as an outstanding and lyrically sharp "kiss-off", and writing for Exclaim!, Heather Taylor-Singh opined that it is mesmerizing and "displays the nuances of young love".[27][44] Pitchfork's Olivia Horn wrote that she uses her emotional turbulence like jet fuel on it and praised its specific lyrics.[45] Caramanica thought Rodrigo captured the torment of collapse, and the apprehension of watching your old partner reassemble.[35] Craig Jenkins of New York thought "Deja Vu" worthy of immediately being placed in a "hall of fame".[46] Writing for DIY, Jenessa Williams called "Deja Vu" the "perfect bedfellow to Conan Gray's 'Heather'", and described it as a "'don't know what you're missing' fantasy that thrives under chunky drums and painfully relatable snark".[47] AllMusic's Heather Phares viewed "shades of Alanis Morissette's jagged, jilted younger woman in [the song's] hyper-literate litany of tarnished memories".[48]
Some publications included "Deja Vu" in their list of the 100 best songs of 2021. Rob Sheffield placed the song at number two, and deemed it the finest and most underrated among Rodrigo's successful releases that year, establishing her as the "pop savant of the moment". He was highly enthusiastic about its "Uptown Girl" reference: "It's a perfect ride on the pop time machine".[49] Pitchfork included "Deja Vu" at number 10, and Jenn Pelly stated that despite the chart success of "Drivers License", "Deja Vu" heralded Rodrigo's emergence as an artist. She noted her earnest umbrage over her ex and his partner's trivial activities, and declared that "in the drama of [the song,] Olivia is directing".[50] NPR listed it at number 20, and Lyndsey McKenna stated that despite the interpolation, "the track is all Rodrigo: a sharp send-off of an earworm, somehow delivered with both irreverent playfulness and brute force".[51] In 2023 rankings of Rodrigo's discography, Sheffield named "Deja Vu" her best song and Jessie Atkinson called it her fifth best.[52][53]
Commercial performance[edit]
"Deja Vu" debuted at number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100 issued for April 17, 2021, making Rodrigo the first artist to debut their first two singles in the chart's top 10.[54][a] Upon Sour's release, the song peaked at number three on the chart issued for June 5, 2021, and received a 4× Platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America.[55][56] On the Canadian Hot 100, it charted at number four, and Music Canada certified it 6× Platinum.[57][58] "Deja Vu" reached number four in the United Kingdom, and earned a Platinum certification from the British Phonographic Industry.[59][60]
In Australia, "Deja Vu" peaked at number three, and the Australian Recording Industry Association certified it 4× Platinum.[61][62] The song appeared at number 33 on the Triple J Hottest 100, 2021, alongside four other songs from Sour.[63] It charted at number three in New Zealand, and received a Platinum certification from Recorded Music NZ.[64][65] "Deja Vu" reached the top 20 of national record charts, at number two in Ireland;[66] number three in Malaysia and Singapore;[67][68] number four in Latvia;[69] number five in Portugal;[70] number 10 in the Czech Republic;[71] number 11 in South Africa;[72] number 15 in India;[73] number 17 in Lebanon, Lithuania, and Norway;[74][75][76] and number 19 in Greece, Hungary, and Slovakia.[77][78][79] The song earned a Platinum certification in Norway, Portugal, and Poland;[80][81][82] and Gold in Denmark, Italy, and Sweden.[83][84][85]
Live performances[edit]
Rodrigo's performance of "Deja Vu" for MTV Push was published online on May 1, 2021.[88] She reprised the song during her Tiny Desk Concert in a department of motor vehicles in December 2021.[89][90] Rodrigo sang it in a pink dress for Billboard Women in Music on March 2, 2022. She was accompanied by a four-piece, all-female band in all-white outfits during the pre-filmed performance. Billboard's Andrew Unterberger remarked that Rodrigo displayed typically vulnerable intimacy and bluntness and offered an alternately pleasant and grimy rendition.[91] She included "Deja Vu" in the set list for her 2022 Sour concert tour.[92] Rodrigo performed the song at the Glastonbury Festival 2022.[93] She introduced it by saying "I just wanted to ask you guys a question, does anyone here ever get deja vu?", which The Guardian's Laura Snapes thought highlighted the cacophony between her more impromptu and planned moments during the show.[94] Rodrigo reprised "Deja Vu" as a duet, with Billy Joel on piano, during one of the latter's Billy Joel in Concert shows, followed by "Uptown Girl".[95][96][97]