Irrelevant backstory but not long ago Olivia Rodrigo's 'good 4 u' came on over the radio and I listened to it for the first time. I thought that's a really catchy song and admittedly I'm not the biggest fan of pop but the chorus was certainly more pop-punk and to my taste. Anyway I found myself for the next few days just constantly having Paramore's 'Misery Business' playing on a loop in my head, I couldn't quite put my finger on it as to why until I had the revelation that the melody of each song is near identical in the chorus. If you don't believe me play both songs back to back, either songs vocals could go over the other's instrumental for the chorus perfectly. I thought this was pretty nifty, shared the ideas with my friends who all agreed that they sounded so similar.

Flash forward to yesterday, now since I made this link I've been playing both songs quite heavily in my playlist and by listening to the lyrics of each song it began to dawn on me that 'What if good 4 u is the response song of the ex-girlfriend mentioned in Misery Business?' There's a few lines in the song that really resonated and it then it would also make sense of the similar melody and song structure, even up to the last chorus where in both songs the beginning of the chorus is echoed vocals into an amplified chorus.

In regards to the lyrics, 'good 4 u' has a particularly interesting line in the song:

"Well, good for you, I guess you moved on really easily,

You found a new girl and it only took a couple weeks."

Likewise in 'Misery Business' you get the lyrics:

"I waited eight long months, she finally set him free,

I told him I couldn't lie, he was the only one for me

Two weeks and we caught on fire"

Both songs allude to a period of two weeks after a break up. Two sides of the story does seem to be a common theme through the two songs, 'good 4 u' basically refers to the ex-partner clearly doing great, being a better person, having a better career etc after their breakup and 'Misery Business' confirms this with the line "I watched his wildest dreams come true, And not one of them involving you."

Basically 'Misery Business' is the song that shows off the new relationship, rubbing it in the face of the scorned ex. The scorned ex would surely reply with a song like 'good 4 u' having a matching melody and structure to the song whilst also showcasing a clear break in mental state from the events of 'Misery Business'.

To top it off, 'Misery Business' was released when Paramore's lead singer, Hayley Williams, was 18 years old and the video is set in a school setting. Likewise, 'good 4 u' was released by an 18 year old Olivia Rodrigo with the video set in a school setting thus putting them at the same age group in a school setting fighting over the same guy.

Hope fan theories about songs are okay and please let me know what you think?