Olivia Rodrigo Reveals Which Rom-Com Inspired Fan-Favorite Song From New Album

The singer-songwriter has shared that multiple lyrics were inspired by fictional love stories since the album’s release on June 12.

Olivia Rodrigo | Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Olivia Rodrigo

It’s been exactly one week since Olivia Rodrigo’s third album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, dropped on Friday, June 12, breaking several records in the process. Now that fans have had plenty of time to dive into the lyrics, the singer-songwriter is sharing some behind-the-scenes tidbits about the inspiration behind certain songs.

What movie inspired Rodrigo’s song “honeybee?”

In a 15-minute-long video posted on YouTube on Thursday, June 18, the Grammy Award winner partnered with American Express for the brand’s “Story of My Song” series. There, Rodrigo walked fans through the third track, “honeybee”—which the pop sensation has referred to as “one of her favorite songs she’s ever written” multiple times—revealing its rom-com roots.

At the beginning of the clip, Rodrigo unveiled a board covered in her own handwriting, adding to the intimate feel of getting a peek into her songwriting process. She noted that the tune was “one of the first love songs” she wrote for the album before walking viewers through the lyrics, pausing along the way to note any that stood out. Once such lyric was, “Let’s just walk in the dark/Hop the fence in the park,” which the recording artist revealed was directly inspired by the 1999 classic Notting Hill.

“I don’t know if anyone’s watched Notting Hill recently, but it’s one of my favorite movies, and I was in England a lot,” Rodrigo stated, adding, “I love that movie, and I love Hugh Grant, and there’s a scene where they’re hopping this fence in a park that they don’t have a key for. I just remember loving it and thinking that was a really beautiful scene ...” You can watch Rodrigo’s full breakdown of “honeybee” on YouTube here.

Rodrigo’s other rom-com inspirations

Still, as fans are likely already well aware, the “drop dead” singer’s sneaky Notting Hill reference was far from the only lyric inspired by a fictional love story featured on her new album. While stopping by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ahead of the release in May, Rodrigo teased that a totally different song—titled “maggots for brains”—would also reference a beloved fictional pair, this time spotlighting Miranda and Steve from the hit HBO series Sex and the City.

Of the unexpected inspiration, she told the late-night host at the time, “I love Sex and the City. I think I’ve watched, like, every episode maybe three times, but there’s this line when Miranda and Steve are getting back together, she’s crying [and says], ‘Steve, anytime something funny happens, 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.’”

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