Songfacts®:

• In "Pretty Isn't Pretty," Olivia Rodrigo describes the ever-shifting fashion and beauty standards that have girls running on a hamster wheel. She highlights the pressure-cooker of social norms and media hype that make even the coolest chicas feel like they're constantly one step behind.
• Rodrigo lists the tricks society plays on young women: makeup to look pretty, skipping lunch to stay skinny, even popping pills to manage the stress. She offers no easy solutions for those lurking insecurities that sneak up with every mirror check or phone glance.
• When the chorus hits, Rodrigo exposes the exhausting chase for a beauty ideal that's like chasing a unicorn. She serves us some real talk, like when she belts out:
  
  I could change up my body and change up my face
  I could try every lipstick in every shade
  But I'd always feel the same
  'Cause pretty isn't pretty enough anyway
• Rodrigo also sang about the unreasonable standards placed on young girls on her 2021 track "Jealousy, Jealousy," where she sang:
  
  Cause all I see are girls too good to be true
  With paper-white teeth and perfect bodies
• Rodrigo co-wrote "Pretty Isn't Pretty" with her producer Dan Nigro and the songwriter Amy Allen. Maine native Amy Allen has worked with a number of high-profile artists, including Halsey ("Without Me"), Harry Styles ("Adore You") and Selena Gomez ("Back to You").