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- Every key detail you may have missed in Olivia Rodrigo's new music video for 'Vampire'
Every key detail you may have missed in Olivia Rodrigo's new music video for 'Vampire'
Callie Ahlgrim
- Olivia Rodrigo released her new single on Friday, titled "Vampire," along with a music video.
- Like her smash hit "Good 4 U," the video was directed by Petra Collins and contains Easter eggs for fans.
The "Vampire" video seems to pick up where "Good 4 U" left off.
At the end of the"Good 4 U" music video, which was directed by Petra Collins, Olivia Rodrigo walks into a hazy forest at night. Then, she disappears into the depths of a lake.
At the beginning of "Vampire," which was also directed by Collins, we see a similar shot of a lake's moonlit waters. The camera pans up to reveal a familiar landscape with clouds and pine trees.
The opening scene may also contain a reference to "Twilight."
Rodrigo is shown lying on the grass in bluish-greenish lighting, reminiscent of Bella and Edward lying in a meadow in the first "Twilight" film.
Rodrigo has referenced "Twilight" many times on social media and even staged a satirical recreation of a famous scene, which also takes place in a forest.
These purple flowers could be a subtle nod to Rodrigo's aesthetic — or another nod to her love of "Twilight."
Much like her debut album "Sour," the cover of Rodrigo's forthcoming album "Guts" shows her posing against a purple background.
In an interview with Zane Lowe, Rodrigo described "Guts," as well as its lead single "Vampire," as a "natural progression and natural step forward in my life and sound."
However, the purple flowers could be another nod to the aforementioned meadow from "Twilight," which is always shown cloaked in similar flora.
The "Twilight" parallels could be interpreted as sinister, given the song's subject matter.
Of course, the title of Rodrigo's new song bears a semantic connection to the "Twilight" series, which focuses heavily on a coven of vampires.
But there's a deeper thematic connection at play here. In "Vampire," Rodrigo calls out an older man who lured her into danger, lied without flinching, and sucked her dry.
"I see the parties and the diamonds sometimes when I close my eyes / Six months of torture you sold as some forbidden paradise," she sings in the first verse.
In "Twilight," Bella is just 17 years old when she falls in love with Edward, who is a vampire.
Edward presents as a 17-year-old boy, but he is actually 104 years old. In the sun, his skin sparkles like diamonds; his beauty is intended to attract would-be victims. He tells Bella repeatedly that it would be dangerous and wrong for them to be together, but he can't help himself.
By the end of the series (spoiler alert!), Edward has turned Bella into a vampire, too. This process involves injecting her with venom so her aging process stops: her heart ceases beating, her bodily functions freeze, and her blood is drained. In other words, Edward literally sucks her dry.
Although "Twilight" is presented as a love story, as an adult in retrospect, it's easy to read as a tragedy. Bella wakes up in her cold, lifeless, permanent vampire body on her 19th birthday.
Rodrigo performs at the "19th Annual Awards," a likely reference to her age when she wrote the song.
In an email announcing "Guts," Rodrigo told fans she wrote "the bulk of this album during my 19th year on this earth."
She described the age as "filled with lots of confusion, mistakes, awkwardness & good old fashioned teen angst."
Rodrigo is bloodied and humiliated in front of a crowd, recalling the classic horror film "Carrie."
The 1976 horror film "Carrie," based on Stephen King's novel of the same name, follows a teenage girl with supernatural powers. She is mistrusted and disliked by her classmates, who conspire to crown her prom queen and then dump a bucket of pig's blood on her head. (Much like Rodrigo in the "Vampire" video, she's wearing a flowy white dress.)
Outraged and humiliated, Carrie uses her powers to burn down the gymnasium, killing everyone but herself. The pivotal scene speaks to the story's themes of deception, ostracism, and female rage.
Rodrigo previously referenced "Carrie" for a "Sour" promotional photo, in which she posed as a tortured prom queen.
She looks back at the cars on the street, perhaps as a nod to her breakout single.
Rodrigo became a household name after she released her heart-wrenching single, "Drivers License," in early 2021. The song was critically acclaimed and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Today I drove through the suburbs / And pictured I was driving home to you," she sings in the second verse.
This brief moment in "Vampire," when Rodrigo glances at the headlights behind her, might be a nod to her growth — both professionally and personally. As she told Lowe, "Life is pretty good."
Rodrigo also revealed that she recently moved to New York, a city that famously prefers public transportation to cars.
"We actually made a lot of the album at Electric Lady in Greenwich Village, it's just so inspiring and I just love the energy," she said. "I love it so much. It really works for me."
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