Reflecting on the record’s title, Rodrigo revealed it embodies her lifelong appreciation for complex emotions. “I always just thought that my favourite love songs were songs that were a little bit sad and a little bit broken, a little bit gut-wrenching,” she explained. “I love that title because it also reflected all of my favourite love songs. Songs that were about romance and about positivity but were also a little bit broken.” For Rodrigo, the title became an anchor when her personal life grew complicated: “Life has two sides. There’s two sides to the coin of love.”
A major focal point of the record is the track “the cure,” which she identifies as the heart of the entire project. The song was born out of an intense conversation with a close friend about the confusing reality of modern romance. “I was like, ‘I want to write this record about love… I have all these love songs that I just love and I’m in this relationship that is “happy.” why do I feel so depressed? Why can’t I feel how I think it’s supposed to feel in my head?'” Rodrigo shared.
Writing the track allowed her to explore emotional nuances she couldn’t grasp as a teenager during her SOUR and GUTS eras. “Songwriting for me is best done when you’re a little bit afraid to write it,” she told Lowe. “Having written that song, I learned so much about myself… Just being a teenager, you look at love like black and white. You’re like, ‘This person hurt me and I hate them.’ Or like, ‘I love this person. They’re the best person to ever exist.’ And I think this record for me… is me playing in the gray area a little bit more.”
