Olivia O’Brien Didn’t Write Songs about Ex Boyfriend Todd Smith
"It hurts, but it's true. I wish you'd heard me too, but we both know it's something you're never [going to] do," Olivia O'Brien said in her unreleased single 'I'm No Good.'
During an appearance on Zach Sang Show, O'Brien admitted that this song was directed towards her former boyfriend, Todd Smith. However, a few lines of discussion concluded that the song was more about her not being able to handle a relationship with a nice guy than it was about Smith.
Earlier in the show, the hosts brought up an Instagram announcement O'Brien made where she mentioned she would never write songs about Smith—an assessment she corroborated.
O'Brien Keeps a Tally
Immediately after her relationship with Smith came up, the songstress, age 21, drew everyone's attention to the tally mark tattoos she had on her left forearm. Apparently, each of those lines was symbolic of guys that had, in her words, ruined her life.
As of the February 2020 video, she had three tally marks etched onto her skin. But, possibly to spare those guys from fan outrage, she did not disclose any names.
Still, she revealed that the first marker was from 2016 or 2017, the next one from 2018, and the final one was from the time she tattooed herself when she was drunk in her room. She also made it clear that those tattoos were not for Todd. In fact, she had never dated any of those guys.
She Dated Smith to Give the Nice Guy a Chance
Circling back home, she explained she had always been attracted to guys who treated her like "garbage," and did not like her at all.
"That's what all these are," she said, pointing towards her tally mark tattoos.
In that regard, her relationship with Smith was unique. O'Brien added she got into a relationship with Smith because she wanted to give the nice guy a chance and accept love from someone, something she had never done before.
After explicitly communicating that Smith was a nice and sweet guy one more time, she accepted that her relationship with him simply wasn't right. Despite knowing for a fact that the relationship wasn't going anywhere, she "let it happen" for a while before ultimately breaking up.
She Didn't Have Enough Emotions to Write a Song
O'Brien outrightly admitted that she was the one who broke up with him. However, she wrote nothing about it because she didn't have enough leftover emotions to write a song. She added,
I wrote one song called 'I'm No Good' about him. It's about me being like an [expletive] and not knowing how to treat nice guys and making people cry.
O'Brien couldn't deny that Smith didn't deserve a tally mark because she broke his heart and not the other way around. She was unhesitant when she announced that she really cared about him and always would.
Also, she acknowledged that the breakup did not have that big an impact on her. However, it was implied that the feeling was not mutual. O'Brien revealed she had received more than a few drunk texts from Smith.