#the moral of the story is that i think lacy and grudge are very complex and about a lot of different things

[yiangchen]

i'm actually so obsessed with the sequencing on guts. we start off with all american bitch, which is all about the frustrations of being a girl and feeling boxed in by society. it's the perfect intro into the album. then bad idea right starts off the story, where olivia is aware she's making a mistake reconnecting with an ex but does it anyway. in vampire we find out why it was a mistake and that this person was just using her and taking advantage of her innocence/naivety. part of the reason that she fell into this person's trap is explained in lacy, which introduces her struggles with worshipping girls that are prettier than her, causing her to seek the validation of an older guy. with ballad of a homeschooled girl, the downward spiral continues and she's listing all of her mistakes (but in a fun way), and by making the bed, she admits that she's partly to blame for what's happened (but in a sad way). she's choosing to party and hang around people that don't give a fuck about her, and she's pushing away her real friends who would want her to snap out of it. she's aware she's fucking up, but she can't bring herself to do anything about it, so she keeps on making the same mistakes and blaming herself. logical continues that train of thought, about how she's partially responsible for her pain, but specifically in relation to (who i assume is) the same guy from vampire. she gets angry again in get him back, and she's so conflicted, wanting to hurt him and be with him again all at the same time, which is kind of embarrassing, leading into love is embarrassing, but in grudge, we learn that she's just not ready to let go yet. pretty isn't pretty brings us back to her insecurities aka the reasons why she's let societal expectations and boys hold so much power and control over her. finally, teenage dream ends the album with her wondering if she's wasted her teenage years yearning to be older and wiser, and fearing that "it will get better" is a myth, which is literally the reason for her struggles throughout the album, bringing everything full circle i-