Songs and surprises
Graphic by Anya Perel Arkin
By Delaney Roberts
What better place to share news than in a sold-out arena filled with adoring fans? Artists tend to use this method to announce a new project whether it’s a song, album, etc. to get fans buzzing. And, hearing the roars of fans reacting to new content must double as an ego boost to artists. Musicians like Olivia Rodrigo and SZA have taken this method one step further at their recent concerts by not just sharing information about new songs, but playing them live for the audience. When artists play unreleased songs at concerts, they get the opportunity to gauge how a live audience receives the song while the fans are simply excited about new music
On the first night of her highly anticipated GUTS world tour, Olivia Rodrigo surprised fans with “obsessed,” one of the four secret tracks of her sophomore album. The hidden track also makes an appearance on exclusive variants of the GUTS vinyl. The garage rock track consists of Rodrigo angrily singing about her obsession with her partner's ex. All she thinks about is the time they spent together and how much her current partner used to love their ex-girlfriend. Along with the electric guitar, percussion instruments are also very prevalent in the song. On Record Store Day in 2023, she released a very limited vinyl featuring all four of the hidden tracks. Although the song hasn’t been officially released, fans have been awaiting its release since the drop of her second album, because “obsessed,” along with the other tracks, was teased in a promotional infomercial. While the twelve-song tracklist was scrolling across the screen, a glitch in the video revealed four additional tracks that weren’t initially on the album. Throughout the song, she repeatedly compares herself to another woman and loses. The constant teasing of the song riles fans up even more with them itching to be able to listen to it on all platforms.
The song has interesting parallels to other songs Olivia Rodrigo has written, both from SOUR and GUTS. “Obsessed” starts with her softly singing, “If I told you how much I think about her you’d think I was in love,” showing the intense feelings she has toward that woman, whether negative or positive. Rodrigo sings about another woman with a homoerotism seen elsewhere on GUTS, like the fourth track on GUTS: “lacy.” “Lacy,” is essentially the soft, ballad version of “obsessed” where she admits to having an inferiority complex to another woman. The poison of comparing herself to this “lacy” character leads her to have what seems to be a crippling romantic obsession. By the song's end, she comes to terms with this obsession and whispers “Yeah, I despise my rotten mind and how much it worships you.” On her debut album, Olivia Rodrigo visually explores the theme of obsession via her stalker actions in the music video for ‘deja vu’; a song about recounting old memories with an ex-partner that they are “reusing” with a new girl after leaving Rodrigo heartbroken. Even though Rodrigo hasn’t set an official release date for “obsessed” or the other secret tracks, fans have faith that the release is coming soon because of how much attention she’s been giving the song. If you’re a fan of Rodrigo’s angrier songs such as “Deja Vu,” “All-American Bitch,” or “Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl,” then say tuned for the release of “Obsessed.”
Along with Olivia Rodrigo, SZA has also surprised fans at her concert with songs from her upcoming project LANA. She released an Apple Music Live album of her tour setlist which includes “DTM (Diamond Boy).” As soon as the melody starts playing she states, “I’ve been singing this little song from my deluxe [album] for fun,” and the deluxe album in question is an updated version of her sophomore album S.O.S. Similarly yet very distinguishable from other songs in her discography “DTM (Diamond Boy),” is a song where she expresses her vulnerability and insecurities like being unlovable and self-consciousness about her body. In the song, she sings, “I wonder if you’re all mine,” and the chorus repeats, “Baby, if it's OD, tell me, Am I sayin' too much?” She doubts herself and her ability to be loved. The lyrics of her song, “Garden (Say It Like Dat),” also express this uncertainty. In one of the verses she sings, “I know you’d rather be laid up with a big booty…you know I’m sensitive ‘bout havin’ no booty…” Along with surprising fans with an unreleased song, SZA played another “Saturn”, at the time an unreleased track, at the Grammy’s, and then in the following weeks, she dropped the single to streaming services everywhere with only the performance as a promotion.
When artists surprise fans with new music, especially at a concert, it allows fans to experience a track along with the excitement of being present to see something brand new. They also get to associate the song with the concert since that’s how they heard it first. Hardcore music fans may already be singing the song word-for-word because they found snippets of them in the deepest crevices of the internet and others may be blown away by an unfamiliar melody. Whatever the experience of listening to a surprise song may be, it’s always appreciated by fans and makes us feel more connected to the artists we so dearly admire.