Olivia Rodrigo looked at music 'in different way' after hearing Alanis Morissette's Perfect

13 October 2021

Olivia Rodrigo looked at music and songwriting in a "completely different way" after hearing Alanis Morissette's 'Perfect'.

Olivia Rodrigo

The ‘Good 4 You’ singer told the ‘Ironic’ hitmaker how her mind was "blown" when she heard the 47-year-old musician's 1995 tune blast out of her parents' car five years ago.

While interviewing each other as a part of Rolling Stone’s Musicians on Musicians, 18-year-old Olivia said: “I remember having my mind blown when I was 13.

"I was in the car with my parents listening to 'Jagged Little Pill'. I remember hearing 'Perfect', and I was like, 'Oh, my God.'

"I told my music teacher a couple days after, 'You can write songs like that?' I just looked at music and songwriting in a completely different way.”

The pair have had similar career trajectories, starting off as child actors.

Olivia got her big break on the Disney show ‘High School Musical: The Musical: The Series’, while Alanis shot to fame on ‘You Can’t Do That on Television,’ a Canadian comedy show on CTV.

Alanis’ 1991 debut album was the self-titled ‘Alanis’, while Olivia’s ‘Sour’ came out earlier this year.

The two artists also discussed a number of other issues that impacted them both, such as the pressures of social media.

Alanis said of online platforms: “People ask me what I think of Instagram and everything, and I just think it’s like a storefront in New York at Christmastime. It’s presentational."

Olivia said: “It’s just hard for me because I had my first Instagram when I was 12 years old. So I completely had all of my adolescence in front of people, and I think it’s hard to differentiate who you are as a person versus who you are as a person on Instagram.”

Alanis - who has 10 albums under belt - had some advice for her fellow singer.

She said: “My dad told me when I was really young - I think I was maybe seven - he said, 'Sweetheart, there’s three ways people will perceive you in the world: They’re going to love you and you can do no wrong, they’re going to hate you and you can do no right, or they just won’t give a s***. It’s going to be one of those three, so enjoy!' "