In hope ur ok, Olivia reminisces about old friends, presumably part of the LGBTQ+ community. Despite losing contact, she reminds them that nothing is as bad as it seems, wishes them well, and assures them of how proud she is of what they’ve become.

lyrics

I knew a boy once when I was small
A towhead blond with eyes of salt
He played the drum in the marching band
His parents cared more about the Bible
Than being good to their own child
He wore long sleeves ’cause of his dad
And somehow, we fell out of touch
Hope he took his bad deal and made a royal flush
Don’t know if I’ll see you again someday
But if you’re out there, I hope that you’re okay

My middle school friend grew up alone
She raised her brothers on hеr own
Her parents hated who shе loved
She couldn’t wait to go to college
She was tired ’cause she was brought into a world
Where family was merely blood
Does she know how proud I am she was created
With the courage to unlearn all of their hatred?
We don’t talk much, but I just gotta say
I miss you and I hope that you’re okay

Address the letters to the holes in my butterfly wings
Nothing’s forever, nothing is as good as it seems
And when the clouds won’t iron out
And the monsters creep into your house
And every door is hard to close

Well, I hope you know how proud I am you were created
With the courage to unlearn all of their hatred
But, God, I hope that you’re happier today
‘Cause I love you
And I hope that you’re okay

olivia on ‘hope ur ok’

I think all of my songs are just my personal life but with a little bit of imagination, because if I wrote my personal life verbatim people would be like, “That’s boring” … One of the songs on the record, it’s called hope ur ok is written from the perspective of my friends. I don’t actually know some of the people that I talk about in the song. But there are stories [in it] that I had accumulated from different friends, so stuff like that I do all the time.

hope ur ok is […] a super special song to me and I love the stories it tells. I wrote most of it in my living room in early 2020, drawing inspiration from some of my favorite country and folk artists. I think my favorite lines I’ve ever written are “Hope he took his bad deal and made a royal flush” and “Hope you know how proud I am you were created with the courage to unlearn all of their hatred.” I had so much fun making it and I hope it gives optimism to someone out there just like it did for me.

It’s obviously in the title, but I feel like [hope ur ok] is super hopeful, and SOUR is a very sad, angry, emotional record. I wanted to end it with a song that was like, “We’re all gonna be alright, y’all. We’re gonna get over it. Everything’s gonna be okay, and we have each other.” You know what I mean? It was really important for me to end this somber record on that note.

lyric video