Olivia Rodrigo Includes Taylor Swift on ‘Sour’ Album in a Subtle Way

Olivia Rodrigo‘s album Sour comes out on May 21, and fans are beyond excited for the news that Taylor Swift is subtly included on the album. One of Rodrigo’s tracks reportedly includes Swift, and people were curious why exactly Swift was making an appearance on Sour. Here’s what Swift’s Sour credit actually means.

Credits for Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Sour’ came out and Taylor Swift’s on it

Rolling Stone reported that the credits for Rodrigo’s album Sour came out on May 20, a day ahead of the album’s release. Fans went wild when they discovered that Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff were credited on the album.

Why were they credited? People wondered if this was a super, well-kept secret that was hidden from fans until this moment. Rodrigo’s song “Deja Vu” drew in parallels to Swift’s “Cruel Summer” on the bridge, but Swift wasn’t credited on the track.

The outlet set the record straight though and revealed why exactly Swift was credited.

Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff have credits on Olivia Rodrigo’s song

Both Swift and Antonoff are credited as writers on Rodrigo’s song “1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back.”

“Swift and Antonoff did not collaborate on the track and […] the song is an interpolation of Swift’s 2017 Reputation hit ‘New Year’s Day,'” the outlet shared. It also noted how the two numbers in the song’s title are “1” and “3,” which side-by-side create “13,” an iconic number in Swift lore. For those unfamiliar, 13 is Swift’s lucky number. She often references the number in Easter eggs of her work, and even on release days for songs and albums.

This was the only song to include credits for both Swift and Antonoff. Fans were curious about what the song could sound like. It’s pretty safe to assume it will have parallels to “New Year’s Day,” Swift’s love song about cleaning up the mess of New Year’s Eve the morning after.

If Rodrigo’s “1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back” is at all like “New Year’s Day,” that would be quite a different sound for the “drivers license” singer. Her first three singles, “drivers license,” “deja vu,” and “good 4 u,” all stand out in their own way.

Her first single was an emotional ballad about driving through the suburbs after getting her driver’s license and being heartbroken. The second was about realizing a former lover is replicating past memories with a new person. And the third was a sarcastic pop-rock, Paramore-inspired jam dripping with bitterness about an ex who has moved on.

Olivia Rodrigo has made her love for Taylor Swift very well-known

Swift being present on Rodrigo’s album feels full circle for the young Disney+ star, who has made her adoration for Swift very public.

Rodrigo publicly sang Swift’s song “Cruel Summer” for an MTV special in 2020, regularly dances to Swift’s tracks on social media, and quotes Swift’s lyrics on her posts.

The two got to meet for the first time in person at the 2021 Brit Awards. Both Swift and Rodrigo shared photos of their interaction. There’s likely plenty more to come from this musical duo.

Sour is available to stream and purchase on May 21.