“Favorite Crime” by Olivia Rodrigo

On “Favorite Crime”, Olivia Rodrigo is singing to a toxic ex and about the relationship the two of them were involved in. And what she is basically doing is recounting how poorly he treated her. That is what the titular metaphor actually points to. The singer considers herself to have been the addressee’s “favorite crime”. Or another way of looking at that statement is that the way he treated her was criminal, yet he thoroughly enjoyed it.

So fundamentally, what we’re dealing with here is the narrator reminiscing on this union. She was very much in love with the addressee. But in hindsight, she realizes that the feeling was not mutual. This was something that her friends were able to pick up on even back then. But it was such that she would defend her sweetheart when he wasn’t around. 

And all lyrics considered, this is perhaps the aspect of that relationship which Rodrigo has come to regret the most. Basically she feels she played a “willing accomplice” to his crimes of the heart against her.

Then as far as the bridge is concerned, let’s just say that Olivia, herself still being a budding songwriter, is yet to learn how to properly utilize this part of song. But what it reads like she may be saying is something like she enjoyed her ex’s bad behavior when it wasn’t aimed squarely at herself. 

That is to say that the two of them used to behave mischievously together. Or something like that. The bottom line is that she ultimately regrets enabling his less-than-ideal behavior. The vocalist conducted herself uncharacteristically and even self-destructively in the name of retaining his love, which she ended up losing anyway.

All in all…

So whereas this is arguably another Olivia Rodrigo song which is mature beyond her young years, it definitely isn’t anything complicated. Indeed most of us with romantic experience, regardless of the age group, have likely allowed partners to do things which we now regret. And despite the at points perhaps overly-fancy wording of Favorite Crime, that’s essentially what the vocalist at hand is saying.  There were obviously some aspects of said romance she enjoyed also.  But all things considered, she regrets letting dude use her like that.

Facts about “Favorite Crime”

“Favorite Crime” is the penultimate song on the playlist of Olivia’s hotly-anticipated debut album, “Sour”. The project itself came out on 21 May 2021. And the reason it was so looked forward to is because earlier this same year her debut single, “Drivers License“, proved to be a massive hit.

Olivia served as one of the co-writers of “Favorite Crime”. She accomplished the task alongside the track’s other co-writer and producer, Dan Nigro. Actually Nigro produced the entire album. He also played the following instruments on “Favorite Crime”:

• drums
• acoustic guitar
• bass

The mastering of the track was handled by one Randy Merrill. Randy is considered one of the finest mastering engineers of his generation. He has worked with the likes of Lady Gaga, Adele and BTS.

This track was put out via the collaborative efforts of Geffen Records alongside Interscope Records.

It wasn’t one of the singles of “Sour”. “Sour” was actually preceded by only three singles, including “Drivers License”. The other two are:

• “Deja Vu”
• “Good 4 U”

Olivia Rodrigo

Prior to the dropping of “Drivers License” in January of 2021, people who knew Olivia Rodrigo knew as a Disney actress. And whereas she did make a name for herself in the regard she wasn’t exactly what you would refer to as a household name. She actually became globally famous for co-starring on a related program entitled “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” in 2019.

But since the blowing up of the aforementioned track in particular, she is considered to be perhaps the premiere up-and-comer in the music game as of the issuance of Sour. For example, Rodrigo has managed to make it onto the Time 100 Next list. And this is an important list that is comprised of way more than just promising music stars. 

Also she appeared on Saturday Night Live on 15 May 2021. Actually her appearance on the show was kinda unusual for someone who up until that point hadn’t even released an album. So the implication is that unless Sour ends up flopping, Rodrigo may well be on her way to becoming the next Taylor Swift. Actually many people are predicting exactly that!