Olivia Rodrigo released a new non-album song, "Serena Joy," on Friday as an ultra-limited CD single, with just 500 copies pressed and sold exclusively at Analog Music Shop in Tustin, Calif. The store reported Friday night that all 500 units had sold out. The song's title references a character from "The Handmaid's Tale" who comes to regret her complicity in a repressive patriarchy.
The release comes just before Rodrigo's all-female music festival, Daisy Chain Fields, set for next Saturday in California's Orange County, near Tustin. According to Analog Music Shop, Rodrigo's plan is to send "Serena Joy" out wide to the world on Monday — three days after the store's exclusive CD drop.
Analog Music Shop, which the source describes as the only outlet for official information about the track, posted about the release on Friday morning. "When we heard that Olivia Rodrigo was bringing an all-women music festival to Orange County, we were honestly just excited to see something this special happening right here in our hometown," the shop wrote, adding that it wanted "to find a way to support Daisy Chain Fields." The post continued: "We knew Olivia had a track record of supporting record stores, but we were still taken aback when we heard the news... And the best part… She's giving it to us 3 DAYS before anyone else can hear it... An artist building a stage for women in music and raising funds for women and girls."
The song's lyrics were printed on the CD's front cover and circulated by the shop, and the audio itself later leaked online despite takedown orders. The lyrics never mention the Serena Joy character directly but include lines such as, "Yeah, it's all for the cause / For the good of us all / And if you close your eyes / Then it can't be your fault," and "Here's a tower we built / Painted gold on the walls." A recurring refrain states, "If they do it to them / They'll do it to you / If they do it to them / They're gonna do it to you."
Rodrigo first confirmed the song's existence in June, after fans spotted its title among 18 tracks listed in a studio photo during work on her album. In an Etalk interview two months ago, she said, "I actually really love ['Serena Joy']. It didn't fit on the album. The record was very much a chronicle of a relationship — beginning, middle and end. But I hope that it'll be a part of something else down the line."
Reaction on the song's Genius lyrics page leaned into its political tone, with one fan writing, "Forget hot girl summer we're entering our dystopian propaganda era," and another adding, "Hot girl summer into fascism fall."
Photo: Live Shows & Concerts! Shows y Conciertos en vivo!, CC BY 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
