A new single from Olivia Rodrigo? Let's just say the anticipation is palpable. When the 23-year-old pop star announced that she'd be releasing her second single from her forthcoming album, her dedicated fandom erupted with excitement. Rodrigo called "The Cure" her favorite song on the album and one of her favorite songs she's ever made.
The announcement came on Tuesday, when Rodrigo posted a photo of the single's artwork on Instagram: a Polaroid of her holding some red string in a cat's cradle kind of way, aptly spelling out the song's title. But Rodrigo didn't stop there. She continued teasing the forthcoming single, this time with a snippet of the music video that is also set to drop. In the clip shared on Wednesday, women in nurse uniforms and chunky white heels are seen making their way toward powdery pink doors that read "OR" in her now signature curly-girl font. Rodrigo, with her tussled, dark-brown locks, looks to be leading the charge toward the operating room.
So what's the single about? Are there any clues in the Polaroid Rodrigo shared? And what, if any, is the role of Robert Smith, frontman of The Cure? Yahoo is breaking down everything Rodrigo's fandom knows—and is speculating about—ahead of "The Cure" release. Let's dive in...
### Robert Smith's Influence
Rodrigo has made her admiration for The Cure and its frontman, Robert Smith, well known. She described Smith as "perhaps the best songwriter to come out of England" and "a personal hero" of hers—before bringing him out as a surprise guest during her headlining Glastonbury set last June. The duo—who charmingly strummed their guitars and alternated verses on not one but two timeless tracks by The Cure: "Friday I'm In Love" and "Just Like Heaven"—have since maintained a sweet friendship.
Smith told British Vogue for Rodrigo's April cover story: "She calls me up quite a bit to talk about clothes and fashion—and we have enjoyed a couple of memorable nights in the studio together... I can’t wait to hear what she does next!"
So how does this all relate to Rodrigo's upcoming single? Well, the song's title has some fans speculating that Smith himself may have been involved in producing the track. After all, Smith said he’d spent time in the studio with Rodrigo—and Rodrigo name-dropped "Just Like Heaven" in her song "drop dead," singing, "You know all the words to 'Just Like Heaven,' and I know why he wrote them now that you're standing right here." Could one of those studio sessions have been devoted to writing and recording "The Cure"? It's not impossible! And is it just a coincidence that Rodrigo plans to release a track titled "The Cure" on a Friday? (See The Cure's song, "Friday I'm In Love.")
Well, it actually is. During an appearance on iHeartRadio’s Elvis Duran Show on Thursday, Rodrigo said that "The Cure" has nothing to do with The Cure: "It just was a happy coincidence, I suppose."
### Nods to Red String Theory
Another choice that is definitely not a coincidence: The use of red string in Rodrigo's artwork for "The Cure." In an interview with Cosmopolitan last month, Rodrigo coyly confirmed that "the string is important in the themes of the album."
The Red String Theory, also known as the Red Thread of Fate, is a belief drawn from East Asian mythology that says people destined to be in each other’s lives are connected by an invisible red string. It’s the idea that regardless of time, circumstance or place, if you’re meant to meet, you will.
One fan on X speculated about Rodrigo’s track: "Instead of the typical invisible red string that you have with your lover, she is the only one that’s holding it. She now realizes that love can’t fix you unless you yourself are 'the cure.'" Fans can probably count on at least some yearning on the track, as Rodrigo recently told Audacy Music, "I realized all my favorite romantic love songs were beautiful because they had a tinge of fear or yearning in them."
### An Update to the Pink Wall
Rodrigo’s now-famed mural in Los Angeles also got a facelift! While the main, concrete wall still reads, "you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love," it appears to have been repainted in a red, curly font resembling a stitch pattern. Additional lyrics surrounding the main mural have also popped up nearby, including the lyrics "why can’t you come stitch me up?" and "it’ll never be the cure."
One fan wrote of the new mural: "I KNEW IT I KNEW THIS HAD TO BE RELATED TO THE RED STRING THEORY." Another added, "WE ARE NOT READY FOR THIS." Online, fans also think that all signs point to "The Cure" being the final song on you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love. This belief stems from something journalist Amel Mukhtar wrote in the British Vogue cover story she penned after interviewing Rodrigo.
"The final song is about that realization: Love won’t fix you," Mukhtar wrote. The track is "the climax of the record," Rodrigo told iHeart Radio. "It’s just sort of about how when you’re younger, you think falling in love with someone will fix all of your problems, and then, when you face love in reality, you realize that’s not the truth." She added: "It’s just me coming to terms with things that I wanted to fix with myself, or things that I thought that love would solve."
