The Rose Song

Background and release

Olivia Rodrigo starred in the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series beginning in 2019, during which she wrote and performed "All I Want", a song that charted on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. After the series was renewed for a second season in October 2019, producer Tim Federle revealed Rodrigo had written a "pretty extraordinary" song, stating: "This was an opportunity to showcase what is the most extraordinary thing about [the show's cast], which is, like, all Olivia needs is a piano."

Rodrigo wrote the first version chords of "The Rose Song" in 20 minutes after being asked by Federle, who gave her the prompt of a "feminist song from the perspective of a rose". The song was written in 2020, approximately six or seven months before the release of her debut single "Drivers License" in January 2021. Rodrigo found the experience of writing for her character unique and enjoyable, describing it as an amazing challenge to work within a prompt and have limitations on her creativity.

She regularly tries to incorporate both her personal experience and her distinctive songwriting voices into songs she writes for the series. "The Rose Song" was released on June 18, 2021, as part of the soundtrack album High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Soundtrack: Season 2.

Composition and lyrics

A gentle piano ballad, "The Rose Song" was called "sweet [and] uplifting" by USA Today. Rodrigo is the song's sole writer. It is set in the key of F major and moves at a moderate 142 beats per minute. Rodrigo's vocals span from a low G3 to a high G5.

The track begins softly and restrained, then builds into a fuller second verse. In the second season of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, the song appears in the episode "Yes, And." There, Rodrigo's character Nini is experiencing writer's block while playing the Rose in her school's production of Beauty and the Beast. She initially tries to write a duet for the Rose and the Beast, but ultimately creates a solo for her character.

The lyrics explore Nini's realization that she is not defined by others' perceptions, her growing independence, and her discovery of individuality. The chorus includes the lines: "Cause I am more than what I am to you / You say I'm perfect / But I've got thorns with my petals, too / And I won't be confined to your point of view / I'm breakin' through the glass you put me in / 'Cause my beauty's from within." Rodrigo explained the song's message by saying that everyone can feel restricted, whether by outside forces or others' opinions, and that it connects to the rose being kept under glass, with breaking through that glass representing a glass ceiling.

Did You Know?

• Entertainment Weekly ranked it Rodrigo's second-best song on HSMTMTS.
• Comic Book Resources considered it Rodrigo's swan song on the series.