2021, The Year Of The 'Sad Girl'

Between Adele's new album"30," Taylor Swift's re-release of "Red," and a new song from Mitski, it's been quite a month for so-called "sad girl" music – a category of female artists whose searing, poetic lyrics about breakups and heartache accompany us through our days.Even before November, this year has been dominated by a bevy of sad girls – from Olivia Rodrigo to Julien Baker, and from Phoebe Bridgers to Billie Eilish. But what really is sad girl music? Is it anything new? And what makes it so resonant right now? Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find us on Twitter @1A.