Sour / Emails I Can't Send: Thematic Comparison

No, this is not what it looks like. Despite the drama caused by the whole Joshua-Olivia-Sabrina ‘love triangle’, we are not here to talk about that today. We’re here to discuss two brilliant albums and how they each portray an end of a relationship, looking into instrumental and lyrical choices. As putting songs based on their order in the album would not be helpful for this purpose, I will try to match the songs thematically as much as possible and touch upon the ones left afterwards. Let’s begin!

Drivers Licence / Because I Liked a Boy

We might as well start with a bang. Driver’s Licence was the song that launched Olivia’s career and is the most obvious allusion to the whole ordeal. Although the way I see it, it’s not really a song that bashes another woman; it’s an expression of heartbreak and how things you were looking forward to experience with your partner are now painful. Sure, there is the now infamous line referencing a blonde girl, but to me it’s more ‘I’m still heartbroken and here you are with someone else, completely fine’. I feel like there’s nothing else I can add about this song that’s not been said, other than that it’s worth the hype.

Because I Liked a Boy discusses the relationship with a same person, only from the perspective of Sabrina. The sad thing is that the beginning of the song describes a completely normal and innocent start, only for the chorus to reveal the damage that it caused and all the names she’s been called. It sounds bitter almost, like she’s saying ‘now this experience is tainted because of what happened even though I really liked you’. The circus metaphor is amazing as that’s what the whole thing became, a freak show of angry fans.

1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back / Read Your Mind

Sonically, these two are nothing alike. Olivia’s song is a half-spoken piano ballad and Sabrina’s is a potential dance anthem full of attitude. However, they are singing about a similar thing – an emotionally unavailable guy who is toying with their feelings.

Olivia is practically begging him to stop the back and forth as she can’t keep questioning herself every time he gets pissed off. Meanwhile, Sabrina acknowledges that it’s not up to her to read the guy’s mind and he needs to sort himself out if he wants to be with her. These songs seem like they could be a part of the same story at different times; one before the girl realises her worth and one after.

Good 4 U / Vicious

This one is kind of a no-brainer. Both songs are full of anger towards the other person. Good 4 U captures the frustration one feels when they see their ex move on while they’re still hurting, questioning if what they had meant anything. If it did, then how could someone move on so quickly? Olivia lays out the story in half-spoken verses, shamelessly admitting she’s still a mess in the chorus, sarcastically applauding him for being so well off. Personally, it is my favourite off the record.

Vicious takes an equally venomous approach, with Sabrina blaming her ex for the pain caused for apparently no reason and how she now feels like the other name crossed off the list. Lyrically, this one is a bit more complex but there is nothing wrong with keeping it simple sometimes. Sonically they have some similarities, especially with the build up towards the end (something I personally really enjoy in songs).

Traitor / Emails I Can’t Send

It took me a little while to connect these ones but now that I think about it, this just makes sense. Both songs take a similar stylistic approach, discussing betrayal in relationships. Olivia remarks how it doesn’t matter whether or not cheating was involved, that doesn’t make the betrayal any better.

Sabrina takes it one step further and remarks how this will affect her future relationships (it was a nice touch to show the song’s actually about her father and how that destroyed her trust in men). Both do a great job at expressing their pain and disappointment.

Enough For You / How Many Things

Both songs are basically anthems of how neither woman will feel important to their partner no matter how hard they try. Both are also written from a post break up perspective. Interestingly, this time Olivia is the more bitter one, listing every single thing she did to be ‘enough for him’, practically shouting in the climax of the song that she did not deserve this treatment and how someday someone will know how to treat her right as she accepted that nothing will be good enough for her ex. It feels quite cathartic for anyone who’s been in that situation.

Sabrina’s song is more mellow, with her admitting she still thinks about her ex all the time even though she knows it’s not reciprocated. It’s less about putting the blame on him but more wishing she could be back in the time she was his priority, despite it making her feel pathetic. It sounds like if they were the same storyline, How Many Things would be before Enough For You.

Favourite Crime / Tornado Warnings

On a surface level, these tunes are nothing alike. Olivia literally compares her affair to a crime which is an interesting metaphor and also places the blame on both individuals equally as she even states she “would do it all again”.

Sabrina takes a more subtle approach but the fact she states she’s lying to her therapist (please don’t do that kids) to preserve the relationship in her mind is very self-destructive as she’s aware of how immersive the relationship is and not in a good way.

Happier / Already Over

I am starting to reach for straws here but both songs portray the ending of a relationship where the other person moved on quicker and the narrator is struggling because of it. Olivia focuses more on the aspect of his ex’s new relationship, acknowledging it’s okay to be happy as long as their past is still meaningful to the ex.

Sabrina is a bit more general, talking about the lack of closure overall (with the impression it’s kind of a friends with benefits situation), but it’s precisely because of the versatility that the song works so well as people can relate to it and adapt it to their own situations.

Déjà vu / Bet U Wanna

The songs sound nothing alike nor do the lyrics seem similar at the first glance. However, at least for me, they do give off a similar vibe. Olivia describes her relationship in an almost superior way, saying whatever her ex and his new girlfriend do is all recycled and therefore less meaningful. It’s an interesting way to feel like you have the upper hand on the break up so to speak.

Bet u Wanna is a pure ‘screw you’ anthem, with Sabrina acting confident and arrogant even, knowing that her ex is regretting the way things ended and would like to go back but it’s too late now as she knows her worth. It’s a song everyone would love to dedicate to a relationship that went sour for whatever reason.

Brutal, jealousy jealousy, hope ur okay

The remaining tracks on Sour share a theme of capturing ups and downs of being a teenager. The feelings of inadequateness and anxiety that comes with it are perfectly captured in brutal while jealousy jealousy does a great job commenting on how toxic social media can be. This is fitting considering Olivia’s age and applies to people way past their adolescent years.

Nonsense, Fast Times, Skinny Dipping, Bad for Business, Decode

Sabrina was bound to have more leftover songs purely due to a bigger tracklist. These ones could be separated into a few categories. Nonsense and bad for business discuss happier parts of a relationship which was something that Olivia’s album didn’t have (as any happy moments were followed up with sadness).

Fast Times and Skinny Dipping focus on more bittersweet aspects of couple dynamics (I can’t say much more as I personally was not a fan of skinny dipping) with a sort of light-hearted ease that comes after having gained perspective on relationships.

Decode is a great album closer and a good ballad. It does its intended purpose of wrapping up the story and closing that chapter of Sabrina’s life. It is probably the biggest subtle difference between the two albums - while Sour seems to still be in the midst of the emotional rollercoaster, Emails I Can't Send seems to almost reminisce about them, at least by the end of it.