Lacy (song)

"Lacy" (stylized in all lowercase) is a song by American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo from her second studio album, Guts (2023). Rodrigo wrote it with its producer, Dan Nigro. The song became available as the album's fourth track on September 8, 2023, when it was released by Geffen Records. A folk-pop and indie folk song with influences of theatrical folk, "Lacy" originated from a poem she wrote for a class assignment. The song chronicles Rodrigo's obsession over the beauty of a female figure whom she addresses by the same name and her resulting envy and self-hatred.

Music critics praised the lyricism and production of "Lacy", along with the intensity of Rodrigo's performance. The subject's real life identity was met with speculation, and the song received critical analysis about the potential LGBT implications in its lyrics. "Lacy" reached the top 30 in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United States and entered the charts in some other countries. Rodrigo performed the song at the Grammy Museum, the Bluebird Café, and a Tiny Desk concert. She included it on the set list of her 2024 concert tour, the Guts World Tour. Noah Kahan covered "Lacy" on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge, which was released as the B-side to a 7-inch vinyl single in April 2024.

Background and promotion
After Olivia Rodrigo experienced unprecedented commercial success with her debut single, "Drivers License" (2021), its co-writer, Dan Nigro, produced all of the tracks on her debut studio album, Sour (2021). She drew inspiration from several genres, including pop, folk, and alternative rock. The album was released in May 2021, receiving critical acclaim and commercial success, following which Rodrigo decided to take a break from songwriting for six months. She conceived the follow-up album, Guts (2023), at the age of 19, while experiencing "lots of confusion, mistakes, awkwardness & good old fashioned teen angst". Nigro returned to produce every single track on it. They wrote over 100 songs, of which Rodrigo included the more rock-oriented tracks on the album because they drew a bigger reaction from her audiences during live shows.

Rodrigo began attending poetry classes at the University of Southern California in 2022. She was required to write a poem during a homework assignment. Rodrigo called it "Lacy" and came up with the titular line while sitting at her kitchen counter: "Lacy, oh Lacy, skin like puff pastry." She described the inspiration as "this sort of all-encompassing envy that I was feeling". Upon liking the poem, Rodrigo transformed it into a song with Nigro as the co-writer. "Lacy" was the first song she conceived by starting with a completely formed lyric and creating the melody later, having usually done both simultaneously. Rodrigo described it as an amusing test for her as an artist and called the final result one of her favorite songs on Guts.

Rodrigo announced the album title on June 26, 2023, and its lead single, "Vampire", was released four days later. On August 1, 2023, she revealed Guts's tracklist, which features "Lacy" as the fourth track. The song became available for digital download on the album, which was released on September 8, 2023. Following the release, it garnered attention due to the mysterious character of its subject matter. When asked about the inspiration, Rodrigo responded: "All my songs are about me and about how I feel, I don't know!" On September 29, she performed "Lacy" at the Bluebird Café. Rodrigo sang an acoustic version of the song at the Grammy Museum on October 4, 2023. She reprised it at the Ace Hotel Los Angeles five days later, in a concert exclusively for American Express cardholders. Rodrigo performed "Lacy" on a lavender acoustic guitar with a choir as the third song during a Tiny Desk concert in December 2023. The song was included on the set list of her 2024 concert tour, the Guts World Tour.

Composition
"Lacy" is two minutes and 57 seconds long. It was recorded at Amusement Studios in Los Angeles and Electric Lady Studios in New York City. Nigro provided production and vocal production, and he engineered the song with Dani Perez and Chris Kasych. He plays drums, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, and synthesizer. Mitch McCarthy mixed the song at the Wheelhouse Studios in Vancouver, and Randy Merrill mastered it at Sterling Sound in Edgewater, New Jersey.

"Lacy" is an acoustic ballad which has the same folk-pop sound included in some songs on Sour, with influences of theatrical folk. Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times believed the song has an indie folk sound reminiscent of the work of Gracie Abrams. Rodrigo initially sings in a sarcastic tone and delivers her vocals with a contemptuous whisper. It has layered vocals, which recall the work of Lana Del Rey according to Beats Per Minute's Lucas Martins, and lead into an electronic/synthesizer brandish.

The lyrics of "Lacy" depict Rodrigo experiencing jealousy. She describes a female figure called Lacy, who has "skin like puff pastry" and "eyes white as daisies". Rodrigo continues complimenting her during the second verse, calling her "sexy" and referring to her as a reincarnation of French actress Brigitte Bardot. She goes on to detail being tortured by her obsession and constant thoughts about Lacy. Later in the song, Rodrigo changes almost every line from the first hook and calls Lacy "made of angel dust". She confesses to experiencing self-hatred due to her envy towards its climax: "I just loathe you lately / And I despise my jealous eyes and how hard they fell for you / Yeah, I despise my rotten mind and how much it worships you." Critics likened the song's lyrical theme to Dolly Parton's 1973 single "Jolene". Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone described it as "a mournful lament about falling under the spell of a femme fantasy ideal".

The real identity of "Lacy" was a subject of speculation, with fans suggesting the song might be about Taylor Swift, Abrams, or Sabrina Carpenter. Time's Moises Mendez II noted the positive descriptors, including the Bardot comparison, as potential references to Swift. The plausible LGBT implications of the lyrics also received critical analysis; Outs Bernardo Sim and Prides Rachel Kiley believed the song could be about Rodrigo's romantic attraction to a woman. Critics thought the lyrics simultaneously describe adulation, envy, and resentment, muddling the difference between jealousy and a sapphic infatuation. Responding to the speculation, she stated that she appreciated the "more creative answers to who Lacy is — like it's a past version of myself or the voice in my head telling me I'm not good enough."

Critical reception
The lyricism of "Lacy" received positive reviews from music critics. AllMusic's Heather Phares thought the song delves into the complexities of envy and longing with a subtlety that would be impressive from songwriters of any age, and Jason Lipshutz of Billboard believed the chorus's mutating lyrics displayed a "songwriting triumph". Writing for MusicOMH, John Murphy favorably compared it to Lorde's second studio album, Melodrama (2017). Variety Chris Willman described "Lacy" as Swift's 2015 single "Bad Blood" if it was transformed into a slower beautiful ballad with a more ambivalent and self-reflective tone rather than pure anger. On the other hand, Poppie Platt of The Daily Telegraph thought the song was "downright bad" and criticized the lyric comparing Lacy's skin to puff pastry: "since when was the best way to describe a beautiful face as possessing the sheen of a sausage roll"?

Some critics praised the intensity of Rodrigo's performance and the production of "Lacy". The Independent's Helen Brown believed she sang with vigor, similarly to Tori Amos, and Wood thought her "breath [sounded] almost uncomfortably hot on the microphone". Sowing of Sputnikmusic praised the vocal layering as beautiful and opined that Rodrigo sounded divine on the song. Its production was described as airy, delicate, and dreamy, with The New York Times's Jon Caramanica drawing comparisons to Swift's 2020 album Folklore. Matthew Kim of The Line of Best Fit thought the strummed guitars and ascending vocals created an intimacy that surpassed all of her previous work.

Wood believed "Lacy" was among the most majestic songs on Guts. Sheffield ranked the song as Rodrigo's 16th-best in September 2023, describing it as one of the most puzzling and mysterious tracks on Guts. He picked his favorite lyric: "I despise my rotten mind, and how much it worships you." Willman and Steven J. Horowitz placed it at number six on Variety list of the best songs of 2023; Willman remarked that "Rodrigo makes poetry out of insecurity like nobodys business", called the chorus "drop-dead gorgeous, and its melody “Bardot reincarnate”.

Commercial performance
"Lacy" debuted at number 23 on the US Billboard Hot 100 issued for September 23, 2023. In Canada, the song entered at number 24 on the Canadian Hot 100 issued for the same date and was certified gold by Music Canada. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number 26 on the Official Audio Streaming Chart and number 24 on Billboard. "Lacy" received a silver certification in the United Kingdom from the British Phonographic Industry, and the Official Charts Company declared it her 19th-biggest song in the country in February 2024. In Australia, the song entered at number 25. It debuted at number 16 in New Zealand. "Lacy" charted at number 20 on the Billboard Global 200. Elsewhere, the song reached national record charts, at number 18 in Ireland, number 52 in Portugal, and number 65 in Greece.

Noah Kahan cover
Rodrigo performed a cover of American singer-songwriter Noah Kahan's 2022 single "Stick Season" at BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge in October 2023. He responded favorably and sang a live cover of "Lacy" during the same segment on November 23, 2023, alongside a band and Tiny Habits. Kahan chose the song because he believed it highlighted his favorite aspects of Rodrigo's songwriting and its spirited nature made listeners "feel an emotion we've all experienced before". He later described it as one of the most difficult songs he had ever covered "in terms of finding ways to accent the words without overpowering them with your voice".

The rendition received positive reviews from music critics. Billboards Ashley Iasimone and American Songwriters Alex Hopper described it as lulling and gentle. Sadie Bell of People believed the cover made "Lacy" a "slowed-down lovelorn ballad", infusing it with longing and sorrow and being tender yet brimming with emotion. Describing the rendition as heartfelt in Consequence, Jo Vito wrote that Kahan used a gentle falsetto while navigating the rise and fall of the melody, and the consistent backbeat, strumming banjo, and layered harmonies merged to create a folksy and robust soundscape during the climax. Uproxx's Lexi Lane believed he emphasized the quieter notes of the song, making it more emotional, and the second verse had an up-tempo folk instrumentation. On the other hand, Eli Ordonez of NME thought the cover had influences of country music. Geffen, Mercury, and Republic Records released a 7-inch colored vinyl single with Rodrigo's cover of "Stick Season" and Kahan's cover of "Lacy" as the A-side and B-side, respectively, on April 20, 2024, as part of Record Store Day.

Credits and personnel
Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Guts.
 * Dan Nigro – producer, songwriter, drums, engineer, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocal producer, bass, synthesizer
 * Olivia Rodrigo – songwriter
 * Chappell Roan — background vocals
 * Dani Perez – engineer
 * Chris Kasych – engineer
 * Austen Healey – assistant recording engineer
 * Randy Merrill – mastering
 * Mitch McCarthy – mixing