Opinion: Rodrigo’s “All I Want” Relatable

Emma Buchanan, Staff Writer

Many people have covered All I Want such as Jovan Perez, Brittany Maggs, and even Lauren Spencer-Smith, but Olivia Rodrigo is the original singer and writer of this song. It was written for High School Musical, The Musical, The Series. This song is known to be considered relatable and I agree.

Once someone has gone through a relationship whether it was with a girl or a guy, they might start to understand the sentiment and words that are put into this song. Two lines in particular “Does he think I’m the kind of girl who needs to be saved?” and “And I won’t fight for love if you won’t meet me halfway” really capture something people get wrong when a person wants a relationship. No one wants someone who is trying to fix or save them from anything; most people want someone protective, open with their infatuation, a big softie who treats their momma right, someone who will listen, and someone who’s willing to get to know us on a deeper level. Both partners need to be able to put an equal amount of devotion, love, support, understanding, and without all the above in the relationship, it won’t work out.

The line “And I say that I’m through but this song’s still for you” means that no matter what happened to end that connection,  both people will still have desire about the other whether it’s rage, love, regret, or even fright. There willl still be some kind of connection to the person or the relationship and honestly, that line seems to do a good job conveying that. Personally, there have been some relationships that I still wasn’t over and had an attachment to certain things the other made me feel. I’m sure a lot of people understand that tenderness. Though they might’ve tossed the relationship aside as if it were nothing, there is (sometimes) something that we just can’t let go of and sometimes it’s an indescribable feeling.

Aside from the lyrics, the passion Rodrigo puts into this song is amazing. When I first heard this song, I almost cried because the emotion I could feel from her voice was too relatable for me to handle. While some listeners might not like this song or any of her songs, if they’d just sit down and listen carefully, they might understand what I’m talking about. Just because some individuals might only hear sorrow, I hear that and grief, a little agitation, and maybe a pinch of displeasure. Whatever inspired her to write and sing it the way she did, was definitely something personal because her overall emotion is quite significant. There could be more emotions, but nonetheless, this song is extremely astounding.