31 days spooky, day 16: 'Vampire' by Olivia Rodrigo

The color filter decorating Olivia Rodrigo’s Instagram continues to dip into a scarlet paint pot from its previous purplish tones. It isn’t the first time she’s voyaged this color journey, either! As one could guess when dealing with the supernatural folklore in question, the color first leaked into her sophomore album’s lead single: ‘vampire.’ 

It's on the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge homepage display, its screencap so violently red that one could easily assume that Rodrigo was performing the tune in a photography darkroom. There’s a limited red 7” vinyl, too. However, more pointedly, it appears in the music video directed by Petra Collins.

Rodrigo's lips appear smeared with their maroon gloss, rocker nail polish chipped, and even the red moon that hangs so brightly over an otherwise Twilight-esque lake. This would’ve been the Easter egg way back in her SOUR days, as it seemingly picks up straight from the end of the ‘good 4 u’ music video. Every woodsy tree adds a new ring as it stands the same, her flashing those red eyes, bare of any fangs. 

Dracula tweets these Olivia Rodrigo lyrics

Of course, we’re not just going down to the local hardware store to scour the paint aisle for our Halloween costume. Other things make adding this tune to our Spotify spooky playlist a sure bet, such as its lyrics. 

Our blood-sucking energetic vampire experiences insomnia as “I should've known it was strange / You only come out at night” is our first spine-curling hint in the chorus. “The way you sold me for parts / As you sunk your teeth into me, oh” is also there, visualizing how used Rodrigo felt. As well as the title itself, “godd**n vampire!” The bridge also toys with the romantic thrill that often shrouds these creatures: "You can't love anyone 'cause that would mean you had a heart.” Maybe it does, but it just hasn’t beaten in several years...

Ensure your fridge has an overwhelming supply of blood bags as you blast this tune! 

Are you not in the mood to help enter a vampire into your home? No worries, we have many other spooktastic beats to filter off your cobwebbed CD player, such as this 1980s anthem. It’s also in the heap of other 31 Days of Spooky articles on our Facebook and X/Twitter pages. 

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