Olivia Rodrigo Explains How She Ended Up Interpolating Taylor Swift's Song On Her New Album

Carolyn Twersky
·3 min read

[UPDATED: 6/2/21 12:07 PM]: Olivia Rodrigo has always been a Taylor Swift fan, so it was quite the full circle moment when it was revealed ahead of the release of her debut album, Sour, that Taylor had a writing credit of one of Olivia's songs. Now, Olivia is explaining how the interpolation of Taylor's track, "New Years Day" ended up on her album.

In an interview on the Zach Sang Show, Olivia explained that she originally came up with the concept and wrote a verse and chorus for "1 step forward, 3 steps back" while in the car on a road trip.

'"When I got home, I decided to sing it over the chords of 'New Year’s Day,' she said. "I think they’re really beautiful chords. I was lucky enough to get that approved, and it’s on the record now. So, yeah, it's a cool thing."

As a reminder, an interpolation is different than a sample because the chords from "New Years Day" were muted slightly for "1 step forward," meaning they are not exactly the same as the original. Either way, it's amazing to see these two musical powerhouses supporting each other.

Original post: You may not need anymore incentive to listen to Olivia Rodrigo's debut album, Sour, when it comes out tomorrow, but I have one more piece of information that will definitely have you waiting up until midnight for the release.

Since it's already Friday, March 21st in New Zealand, the album has already been released there, and fans are freaking out because Taylor let Olivia interpolate her song "New Years Day" on Olivia's track "1 step forward, 3 steps back." This means that Taylor, as well as Jack Antonoff, has a writing credit on Olivia's album.

Of course, the Internet has been loving Taylor and Olivia's relationship, so they freaked out when this news came to light.

Despite what fans are saying, though, Seventeen has confirmed that Swift and Antonoff have writing credits on the song but did not collaborate on the track. It’s an interpolation of “New Year’s Day”, not a sample.

And Olivia wouldn't be a true Swiftie without including an easter egg. When you combine the numbers in "1 step forward, 3 steps back" what do you get? That's right, Taylor's lucky number 13.

OK midnight needs to come right now. I need to hear this album!

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