Pretty Isn’t Pretty

Album

Guts

Label

Geffen Records

Genre

Art rock

Composer(s)

Olivia Rodrigo;Dan Nigro;Amy Allen

Entered Chart

Sep 23, 2023

Peak Date

Sep 23, 2023

An emotional and heartfelt reflection on self-positivity and female physical expectations, “pretty isn’t pretty” is the eleventh track from Rodrigo’s sophomore album, GUTS. The song describes the ever changing fashion trends and ideals in the current time, in which all girls seem to follow and coincide with. Olivia describes how these expectations and social norms are plastered all over different types of media around her, and feels as though she cannot keep up or ultimately fit in because no matter what she does, she’ll never feel perfect.

[Verse 1]
Bought a bunch of makeup, tryna cover up my face
I started to skip lunch, stopped eatin' cake on birthdays
I bought a new prescription to try and stay calm
'Cause there's always somethin' missin'
There's always somethin' in the mirror that I think looks wrong

[Chorus]
When pretty isn't pretty enough, what do you do?
And everybody's keepin' it up, so you think it's you
I could change up my body and change up my face
I could try every lipstick in every shade
But I'd always feel the same
'Cause pretty isn't pretty enough anyway

[Verse 2]
You can win the battle, but you'll never win the war
You fix thе things you hated, and you'd still feel so insecure
And I try to ignorе it, but it's everythin' I see
It's on the poster on the wall, it's in the shitty magazines
It's in my phone, it's in my head, it's in the boys I bring to bed
It's all around, it's all the time, I don't know why I even try

[Chorus]
When pretty isn't pretty enough, what do you do?
And everybody's keepin' it up, so you think it's you
I could change up my body and change up my face
I could try every lipstick in every shade
But I'd always feel the same
'Cause pretty isn't pretty enough

[Bridge]
And I bought all the clothes that they told me to buy
I chased some dumb ideal my whole fucking life
And none of it matters, and none of it ends
You just feel like shit over and over again

[Outro]
No, it'll never change
Pretty isn't pretty enough, mmm
Everybody's keepin' it up, oh
Pretty isn't pretty enough
Pretty isn't