The meaning behind Olivia Rodrigo’s Grammy-nominated song ‘Vampire’ (2024)

After a two-year break, Olivia Rodrigo, 20, came back in full swing in 2023 with the release of her new album, "Guts."

The pop singer's latest release follows her debut album, "Sour," which featured smash hits like "Drivers License," "Deja Vu" and "Good 4 U" and earned her three Grammy Awards in 2022, including best new artist.

Now, at the 2024 awards show on Feb. 4, the vocalist is up for a whopping six Grammys, including album of the year for "Guts" and song and record of the year for "Vampire."

At the time of its release, "Vampire" earned the singer her third No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. But with the success came speculation about what the song is about — or who.

Here's everything the singer has said about the meaning behind her angry rock song "Vampire."

What Olivia Rodrigo has said about ‘Vampire’

The song starts out with Rodrigo belting a melodic tune, with the lyrics, "Hate to give the satisfaction, asking how you’re doing now / How’s the castle built off people you pretend to care about?"

The direct address and scathing lyrics clearly set the tone for the rest of the song. Rodrigo appears to be angry and spiteful, and her emotions are directed at someone she used to trust.

When she first released the song, Rodrigo wrote on Instagram that “Vampire” helped her sort through “feelings of regret, anger, and heartache.”

“Vampire,” with lyrics about being manipulated by someone older and wiser, could be about a romance turned, well, sour.

“You said it was true love / But wouldn’t that be hard / You can’t love anyone / Cause that would mean you had a heart,” she sings.

Rodrigo, who told Sirius XM she wrote the song in December 2022, was linked to DJ Zack Bia throughout 2022. They reportedly split in August of that year; Bia has commented on the relationship publicly.

While Rodrigo wouldn’t call the past relationship potentially described in “Vampire” as “abusive,” per the Guardian, she did note: “I don’t really know the exact definition. I’d just describe it as not great! Not ideal.”

When Bia was asked about the song in an interview with GQ, he said, “I don’t think it’s really about me. I think the Internet just ran with it.”

He also shared his side of what happened between them.

"We hung out, we’re both busy, and we ended up not furthering our relationship. There was never any drama, you know?" he told GQ.

The internet also speculated "Vampire" might be about someone other than Bia or an ex.

After Rodrigo's public friendship with singer Taylor Swift seemingly fizzled in 2021, some fans tied the song to the rumored feud between her and the "Anti-Hero" singer.

Rodrigo spoke glowingly about Swift after the release of "Driver's License" and cited her as an influence on several occasions. But a few months after the release of "Sour" in May 2021, Rodrigo quietly gave Swift and her collaborator Jack Antonoff retroactive credit for the song "Deja Vu." She also gave Hayley Williams formerParamoreguitarist Josh Farro writing credits for “Good 4 U.”

She later addressed the retroactive credits in December 2021 during an interview with Time.

“It was really frustrating to see people discredit and deny my creativity," she said.

Nearly two years later, after Rodrigo released "Vampire" and later "The Grudge," she was asked about the rumors of a feud.

Rodrigo was asked directly if Swift inspired "Vampire" in a September 2023 interview with the Guardian.

“How do I answer this?” Rodrigo responded. “I mean, I never want to say who any of my songs are about. I’ve never done that before in my career and probably won’t. I think it’s better to not pigeonhole a song to being about this one thing.”

“I was very surprised when people thought that," she added.

She did note that when creating the "Guts" album as a whole, she felt "better equipped" to deal with the music industry.

“I was so green as to how the music industry worked, the litigious side … I feel like now I know so much more about the industry and I just feel … better equipped in that regard. It wasn’t something I thought about too much," Rodrigo said.

She later reiterated her earlier comments, telling Rolling Stone, "I don't have beef with anyone."

“I’m very chill. I keep to myself. I have my four friends and my mom, and that’s really the only people I talk to, ever. There’s nothing to say," she said. "There’s so many Twitter conspiracy theories."

When asked about the retroactive writing credits added to "Sour," she said she was "a little caught off-guard" when it happened.

“At the time it was very confusing, and I was green and bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Is that the phrase?" she said. “It’s not something that I was super involved in. It was more team-on-team. So, I wouldn’t be the best person to ask."

But the meaning of “Vampire” goes beyond, “Oh, this person hurt me,” Rodrigo has said. In an interview with Sirius XM in July 2023, the singer-songwriter spoke candidly about what the lyrics meant to her.

“To me, what I love about ‘Vampire’ is, it kind of looks inward,” she said.

“It’s more about my regret and kind of beating myself up for doing something that I knew wasn’t gonna turn out great. And kind of just taking ownership of that and dealing with those feelings,” she continued.

Read the full lyrics to 'Vampire'

Hate to give the satisfaction asking how you’re doing now

How’s the castle built off people you pretend to care about

Just what you wanted

Look at you, cool guy, you got it

I see the parties and the diamonds sometimes when I close my eyes

Six months of torture

That you sold as some forbidden paradise

I loved you truly

Gotta laugh at the stupidity

Cuz I’ve made some real big mistakes

But you make the worst one look fine

I should’ve known it was strange

You only come out at night

I used to think i was smart

But you made

Me look so naive

The way you sold me for parts

As you sunk your teeth into me, oh

Bloodsucker, famef-----

Bleeding me dry like a goddamn vampire

Every girl I ever talked to told me you were bad, bad news

You called them crazy god I hate the way I called them crazy too

You’re so convincing

How do you lie without flinching

(How do you lie, how do you lie, how do you lie)

Oh, what a mesmerizing, paralyzing, f----- up little thrill

Can’t figure out just how you do it and god knows i never will

Went for me and not her

Cuz girls your age know better

I’ve made some real big mistakes

But you make the worst one look fine

I should’ve known it was strange

You only come out at night

I used to think i was smart

But you made me look so naive

The way you sold me for parts

As you sunk your teeth into me, oh

Bloodsucker, famef-----

Bleeding me dry like a goddamn vampire

You said it was true love

But wouldn’t that be hard

You can’t love anyone

Cuz that would mean you had a heart

I tried you help you out

Now i know that i can’t

Cuz how you think’s the kind of thing

I’ll never understand

I’ve made some real big mistakes

But you make the worst one look fine

I should’ve known it was strange

You only come out at night

I used to think I was smart

But you made me look so naive

The way you sold me for parts

As you sunk your teeth into me, oh

Bloodsucker, famef-----

Bleeding me dry like a goddamn vampire