Riffiter on expectations

"expectations" works because Olivia Rodrigo never raises her voice. She reads out a list of bare-minimum standards for a guy, one flat deadpan line after another, and the bright, bouncy production makes every shrug land harder. Nobody here is heartbroken. She has done the math and moved on, which is a funnier place to write from than another breakup ballad. The chorus is almost a chant, and it sticks after one listen. The remix with Chappell Roan, in a game-show video hosted by David Byrne as Johnny Johnson, pushes the joke further, but the original is already tight. It is short, mean in a polite way, and never explains itself. A small song with a very clear point.