After the stunning success of her heartwrenching summer album, “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love,” Olivia Rodrigo has teamed up with Chappell Roan to produce a new iteration of “expectations.”

This summer was an especially exciting one for Rodrigo. In addition to her record-breaking release, she also founded Daisy Chain Fields, a music festival that benefited various female-focused nonprofits and staged only women artists. The girl-power tone and mission of the festival reflects that of “expectations,” the recent album’s confident, catchy, post-break-up pep talk. The new remix with Chappell Roan has its musical achievements, but leaves some thematic quirks to be desired.

Both songs begin with Rodrigo explaining her initial attraction to a romantic interest in sarcastic, nonchalant stanzas. She makes the pre-chorus sound like a therapy session, using terms like “secure” and “evolved” to describe her healing process. At the end of it, she realizes that she can “ask for more and more and more and more and more” in her relationships. The ’80s-inspired synth and bouncy drums fit neatly into Rodrigo’s recent aesthetic and musical shift towards the decade of Joy Division, The Cure, and New Order.

This realization leads into the chorus, a joyous declaration of her newfound standards. Rodrigo accepts her heartbreak as part of her journey, declaring that “Past mistakes are just new information.” In the original song, Rodrigo’s second verse celebrates her courage in trying for love again with lyrics like, “Yeah I’ve got hope, yeah I’ve got drive, I will not lose my faith!” These affirmations are full of self-love, hope for the future, and a growth mindset, making the song a positive pick-me-up for heartbroken lovers.

On the remix, Roan’s verse offers a contrast to the themes of Rodrigo’s first verse, but is distinctly lacking in positivity. Roan — who is known for her unapologetic music and personality — rose to fame after the popularity of her 2024 single “Good Luck, Babe!” She and Rodrigo have been friends since 2018, both working with producer Dan Nigro around that time, and have even collaborated in the past, with Roan opening for Rodrigo on her 2022 “SOUR Tour.” Roan also performed at Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields festival this summer, where she played her most popular hits.

In her contribution, Roan describes a date with a woman who ghosted her in a display of “Classic L.A. behavior.” In the background, Rodrigo notes that instead of ghosting Roan, the woman “could’ve just said no.” In the next chorus, Chappell replaces “boy” with “girl” and “man” with “love,” her lyrics fitting neatly into Rodrigo’s original composition.

However, instead of also offering a queer perspective on post-break-up recovery, Roan simply echoes the first verse in its sarcasm and message. This fact and the parallel choruses make the remix somewhat unifying between queer and straight romantics. Though, the revelation that modern love is disappointing for everyone is not groundbreaking, and Roan’s verse comes at the expense of a poignantly strong point about growth after heartbreak.

Where the lyrics lack, the instrumentation and vocals succeed. The original song is already maximalist, with its bouncing guitar riff and electronic, 80s-inspired instrumentation. Roan’s unique and charged voice adds a decisive campiness, and both artists’ vocal riffs and flips at the end are stunningly free and decorative.

The music video plays on ’80s game shows, with bright signs saying “The Big Expectations Show” and “Sister Squabble.” The neon colors and exaggerated snarkiness of Roan and Rodrigo’s characters make the video’s thesis that modern love is like a game more fun and relatable than tragic.

Where the original song inspires proactivity, the remix misses the emotional mark. “expectations” offers an encouraging alternative to other popular break-up songs. Instead of giving up on love a la “Be My Own Boyfriend” by Olivia Dean, or tearing herself apart like Noah Cyrus in “July,” Rodrigo is growth-focused and full of self love. The remix has the same rollicking, upbeat sound, but the thematic choices in Roan’s lyrics take away from the original song’s positivity.