Vampire (Olivia Rodrigo song)

"Vampire" (stylized in all lowercase) is a song by American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo. Geffen Records released it on June 30, 2023, as the lead single from her second studio album, Guts (2023). Rodrigo co-wrote the song with its producer Dan Nigro. A pop rock tune, "Vampire" is driven by piano and rock instrumentation consisting of electric guitars, synthesizers, and programmed drums. An accompanying music video for the song directed by Petra Collins was released simultaneously.

"Vampire" topped the charts in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, becoming Rodrigo's third chart-topping single in all eight countries. The song also reached the top 10 in Austria, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Norway, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam. It received the nominations for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards. Its music video won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Editing during the 2023 ceremony.

Background and release
Rodrigo stated that her second studio album, Guts, would probably "be a lot happier" than her debut, Sour. On June 13, 2023, she announced "Vampire" as the lead single from the album. Limited edition 7-inch and CD singles featuring a demo version of the song were made available for pre-order, along with its pre-save on streaming platforms. "Vampire" was co-written by her and Nigro. Rodrigo told Billboard that she considered the song as her and Nigro's "version of a rock opera". She revealed it was selected as the lead single because it "felt like an evolution — in a good way that wasn't too stark", besides honoring her "singer-songwriter roots". She further described its creation: "I was upset about a certain situation and went to the studio alone and sat down at the grand piano, and the chords and melody and lyrics just poured out of me — almost like an out-of-body experience." Rodrigo initially intended it to be a piano ballad, though "when Dan and I started working on it, we juxtaposed the lyrics with these big drums and crazy tempo changes. So now it's like a heartbreak song you can dance to." The song was first written by Rodrigo in December 2022 and finished and recorded the following month.

The black-and-white cover art depicts Rodrigo with "a dark lip and purple criss-cross Band-Aids on her neck", based on which Nylon's Steffanee Wang wrote that "it might lean in the gothic, shadow-y pop arena". Some critics thought the Band-Aids indicated the spot where someone would be bitten by a vampire. The artwork also references the poster of the 1968 horror film Dracula Has Risen from the Grave. A 15-second snippet of the song was played when fans called Rodrigo's "Sour Heartbreak Hotline". Rodrigo teamed up with YouTube Shorts to launch "#vampireOR2" on June 30, 2023, an Internet challenge exclusively on the platform.

Lyrics and composition
"Vampire" is three minutes and thirty-nine seconds long. Nigro produced the song and provided drum programming. He plays guitar, percussion, piano, bass, and synthesizer, Benjamin Romans plays piano, Paul Cartwright plays viola and violin, Sam Stewart plays electric guitar, and Sterling Laws plays drums. Recorded at Amusement Studios in Los Angeles, Serban Ghenea mixed it.

"Vampire" is a goth-esque pop and pop rock song. It starts as a piano ballad, similarly to "Drivers License" according to Billboard's Jason Lipshutz, and eventually transforms into "a pop-rock epic full of jittery percussion and wounded, dramatic vocal runs".

In the song, Rodrigo uses critical language towards an unidentified person, including "bloodsucker, fame fucker, bleedin' me dry like a goddamn vampire." "Fame fucker" is replaced in the clean version of the song with "dream crusher", and "goddamn" is shortened to "damn". Rodrigo makes several references to vampires, and at one point, sings "I should've known it was strange you only come out at night". She recalls how a several-years-older man she dated exploited her: "Went for me and not her/ 'Cause girls your age know better".

Rodrigo stated there was "a lot of vampire lore to be played with" and she found "fun songwriting fodder" in it. She also revealed her and Nigro's vision for the song was how it "crescendoed the entire time and reflects the pent-up anger that you have for a situation".

Critical reception
"Vampire" received widespread critical acclaim upon its release. The Guardian's Laura Snapes gave the song a five-star rating and stated the pre-chorus "has a dreamy lightheadedness to it that's quickly become a Rodrigo trademark". Snapes also mentioned it "bears Rodrigo's wounds in a reminder of what's at stake for young women." Pitchfork named the song as the "Best New Track", and Quinn Moreland stated that it proved the "undeniable songwriting chemistry" between Rodrigo and Nigro: "There's an unhurried emotional logic to the track's structure, mirroring a young woman's gradual understanding of her own agency." Moreland highlighted the chorus of "Vampire" as "especially showstopping, even as it indulges in some on-the-nose imagery". Abby Jones and Jo Vito of Consequence thought the song "blossoms into a vehicle for Rodrigo's candid, emotional performance", and "the arrangement opens up to a high-energy backbeat, akin to the more upbeat tracks from Sour" after the second verse. Justin Curto of Vulture called the track a "full performance" that featured "each line sounding more emotionally exhausted than the last". He wrote that Rodrigo's lyrics "keep the charming specificity of her Sour tracks while packing more of a clever punch".

North America
"Vampire" debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, with 35.5 million streams, 26,000 sales (17,000 physical units; 9,000 digital downloads), and 26.3 million radio airplay audience impressions in its first week, ending July 6. The single also debuted atop the Streaming Songs chart. Bolstered by the release of its parent album, the single rebounded to number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at the top for a second week. It tied for the longest gap between weeks at number one in a single chart run (9 weeks), matching the gap of Miley Cyrus' 2013 single "Wrecking Ball".

The song also debuted atop the Canadian Hot 100, becoming her third number-one in Canada.

Europe
The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart in its ninth week and received a silver certification from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), which denotes track-equivalent sales of 200,000 units.

In Spain, following the release of the album, "Vampire" reentered the Top 100 at number 53, becoming its best-performing week in the country.

Music video
On June 27, 2023, YouTube Shorts shared a teaser in which Rodrigo can be viewed resting on a patch of grass before being deluged by a blue-green haze while "a pounding electric guitar-filled snippet of 'Vampire' plays", which Billboard thought was likely from its music video. A later teaser shows her lying under a full moon while a piano-driven instrumental plays. Petra Collins—with whom Rodrigo had previously worked on the visuals for her 2021 singles "Good 4 U" and "Brutal"—directed the video, which was released at 12 a.m. ET on June 30. Hours prior to its release, the artist premiered the video at an exclusive YouTube Space event in Playa Vista, Los Angeles.

Filmed in Los Angeles, the music video for "Vampire" contains references to vampires "without being too on the nose". In the video, Rodrigo performs the song in an ethereal flower field. Once it is revealed that she is actually performing on stage at an awards show, she is hit by a falling light. As the pounding beat picks up speed, Rodrigo, who has a severe gash on her shoulder, keeps performing while spilling blood on her face and white outfit. When security guards surround her and attempt to escort her off the stage, she runs off and begins to feel ambushed as she runs out of the theater. Security continues to chase her into the city, which eventually culminates in her levitating into the night sky.

Live performances
Rodrigo's first live performance of "Vampire", on the piano, was published to her YouTube channel on July 6, 2023. On September 8, she gave the first televised performance of the song along with "Get Him Back!" on Today. She again performed "Vampire" along with the latter at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards on September 8, DayDay on September 26, and Live Lounge on October 2. On October 9, Rodrigo performed an acoustic rendition of the song at her one-off concert, An Evening With Olivia Rodrigo, in Los Angeles. The song was part of her set on the December 2023 Los Angeles and New York City dates of iHeartRadio's Jingle Ball Tour 2023.

In February 2024, she performed the song live again at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards. "Vampire" was included in Rodrigo's setlist on the Guts World Tour (2024).

Credits and personnel

 * Olivia Rodrigo – vocals, songwriting
 * Dan Nigro – production, songwriting, vocal production, guitar, percussion, piano, bass guitar, synthesizer, drum programming, background vocals
 * Benjamin Romans – piano
 * Paul Cartwright – viola, violin
 * Sam Stewart – electric guitar
 * Sterling Laws – drums
 * Serban Ghenea – mixing
 * Bryce Bordone – mixing assistance