Olivia Rodrigo has been heavily impacted by the fictional relationship between Sex and the City characters Miranda Hobbs and Steve Brady. Speaking to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, the singer revealed that “multiple songs” on her forthcoming album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, were inspired by the couple.
Rodrigo explained to Fallon that the album’s first single, “Drop Dead,” is about a “really awesome first date” and represents the “first step” of the LP. “The journey definitely ebbs and flows and goes in lots of different places from here, but this is the first chapter,” she said.
She added, “I knew I wanted this record to be about romantic love in more of a positive sense because my last two, obviously, were a little heartbroken and angsty, as they should be. So I knew I wanted to write some kind of love songs, but I also wanted to inject them with a little bit of sadness and longing and melancholy, because all my favorite love songs have that.”
She cited the Cure’s “Love Song” and Lana Del Rey’s “Video Games” as two her favorite love songs, calling them “so sad.”
Rodrigo confirmed to Fallon that “there’s actually multiple songs that are inspired by Miranda and Steve.” “It’s my favorite show,” she said. “I think I’ve watched every single episode maybe three times. When Miranda and Steve are getting back together she’s crying and she’s like, ‘Steve, any time something funny I just want to tell you.’ And I remember watching that and being like, ‘Oh my God, I have to write a song about this.’”
Rodrigo also discussed her upcoming tour, which she announced earlier this week. “I’ve been working so hard on it,” she noted of the tour. “I’m so stoked to play these songs live.”
Rodrigo will release You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love on June 12. The album marks her third full-length, following 2023’s Guts. Rodrigo has so far shared one single, “Drop Dead,” which she will perform on Saturday Night Live this weekend along with another new track. Rodrigo told Fallon that it has “always been a huge dream of mine” to host and perform on SNL as she prepares for double duty on Saturday night.