Big expectations, big expectations, ooh you and me we got big expectations ahhh…
[Video]
[8.46]
Julian Axelrod: Sometimes it takes a straight girl, her lesbian friend and the ghost of Ric Ocasek to craft a freaky new wave bisexual anthem about raising your standards a few inches off the floor. This is what allyship looks like.
[8]
Joshua Lu: I initially struggled with this remix because of how perfectly the original track plays its role in its parent album. “Expectations” is essentially a manic episode, where Rodrigo goes through a bad breakup and decides to overhaul her entire dating approach. This overcompensation is lost slightly in translation with the complete replacement of the second verse; the half-spoken original (which pointedly mirrors the structure of “Drop Dead”, a similarly manic song but for falling in love and not out of it) explicitly outlines how her plan is doomed, which sets up the album’s closing song. This remix instead has Roan basically rehashing the same disappointment, now with a gender flip and an underwhelming closing line. Thankfully the bones of the song are still great: walloping Talking Heads-esque new wave that intensifies Rodrigo drawling criticisms, and two killer voices that meld surprisingly well. The remix thus still stands on its own, as a vaguely bisexual anthem against disappointing men and women, and the original can easily be enjoyed separately.
[8]
Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: These kinds of stitched-together remixes always have me doing obscure pop optimization problems — does gaining Chappell’s ad-libs and harmonies on the outro make up for losing the original version’s excellent second verse? Does Chappell’s punched-in verse add much of anything to the song as a whole other than the noble goal of empowering straight-lesbian karaoke duets? Is Dan Nigro a genius or just a really good hang? After spending a month doing various Moneyball exercises here, I’ve come to the perhaps boring conclusion that “Expectations” is so undeniably a banger that even a somewhat awkward remix can’t capsize it.
[8]
Alex Clifton: “The Cure” is the best song on You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, but “Expectations” is my favourite. Rodrigo does sadness well, but I am a sucker for her more upbeat numbers; I yelped when the Devo synths kicked in. I admittedly had my reservations about a remix; nothing against Chappell Roan, but these kinds of remixes tend to bore me. I shouldn’t have worried. I do miss the original snark-talk of the second verse, but Roan brings her A-game with a sexy verse about an LA girl, and turns this into an anthem for bisexuals. She also gets her own whole chorus! Most remixes like this just give the guest artist a few lines and has them as harmony on the final chorus, so it was a thrill to hear Roan so fully integrated. I also have to note that Rodrigo continues to use her power for good by getting David goddamn Byrne to hop around for the music video. If I were her I, too, would take any and all opportunities to hang with my new wave idol. A sparky jolt of pop to liven up what’s been a largely boring year on the charts.
[10]
Al Varela: “Expectations” was already a surprising delight after a run of heartbreak songs on the album, but it really is elevated by adding Olivia’s gay bestie to the song. These are two artists who absolutely love making music, and they cherish every buzzed out synth and blissful harmony they get. It’s also a great track to separate itself from the album, more an ode to chasing that high of a good relationship even as they’re repeatedly disappointed. And it’s not just the overconfident loser men either, the flaky LA sapphics can be just as underwhelming! They could dwell on the swing and a miss of that hookup, but Olivia and Chappell have too much fun being desired and knowing that they can and will do better.
[9]
Charlotte Gaze: If I’m being totally honest, Chappell Roan’s addition does a lot more in terms of marketing than it does musically. It was all worth it for the music video though.
[7]
Alfred Soto: Chappell Roan’s presence is better felt in the video than on this re-make/re-model. Nevertheless, “Expectations” remains a banger in either form: a Cars synthesizer severs subject from object as Rodrigo-Roan demand more than zero stipulations from a lover not worth the tune. For all this trouble, I would’ve liked a new David Byrne verse.
[8]
Hannah Jocelyn: I love a song between a queer woman and straight girl that isn’t homoerotic. Early on in transition and up until early this very year, I felt that all friendships were a little homoerotic, but that feeling burned me out, the blurriness growing tedious instead of exciting. I became a holding pattern, a Class S friendship before women of all orientations (!) got into real relationships and I never heard from them again, like platonic closeness is just a trial for the real thing. There’s none of that weirdness here, even if Chappell insisted Olivia should just date women instead after guesting on a song showing why that’s not necessarily easier. The “Expectations” remix works because it’s so low-stakes: It’s just two women talking shit about avoidant, passive people who won’t commit — and more importantly, showing solidarity with one another instead of debating who has it worse. Of course I’d love a Gen Z “Telephone” worthy of Roan and Rodrigo’s talents, but like close friendships, “Expectations” doesn’t need to be anything else to be meaningful.
[8]
David Allun Jones: Bring back big pop acts actually taking a break between projects. A little over a year removed from “The Subway”, I, non-shadily, had honestly forgotten all about Chappell Roan. So it was a genuine thrill to hear that voice again on the cheeky intro. On that same note, bring back remixes actually elevating the original. “Expectations” 1.0 was already a fun romp – I love that I continue to mishear “I am so evolved” as the not-quite-wrong “I am Cyndi Laup” – yet Chappell makes her “special guest star” status count, fitting hand-in-glove in Dan Nigro’s new wave Devo squiggles and perfectly complimenting Olivia’s wry stamp with open-throated arias and a queer-eye spin that charmingly continues to feel like a big deal for how it doesn’t feel like a big deal. I wish they had found a way to also get a Roan take on the original’s second verse talk-rap, but you can find me carving OR + CR = Superb on the nearest tree.
[10]
Nortey Dowuona: olivia: dating men is such a drag, they all suck
chappell: dating women is such a drag, they can be insincere
me: dating is hard, have you considered celibacy and aromanticism?
both: have you considered no is a complete sentence?
me: yeah.
[9]
Callie Petch: I feel about this the same way I felt about Charli xcx’s “Guess” ‘remix’ with Billie Eilish. A [10] original whose second verse has been find+replaced by the queer guest artist, it was great for our mainstream representation, but otherwise doesn’t add all that much to the song. Unlike the “Guess” remix, which at least was only replacing a repeat of Charli’s first verse, Chappell’s contribution cuts out Olivia’s second verse in the process. That means losing “I hit the new year like a single girl at a Vegas bar,” “don’t think my future husband’s at this bar in Silver Lake,” the melody switch-up, and the brief gang vocal on “LOSE MY FAITH!” To be fair, Chappell’s verse is solid, painting a vivid picture of a failed hook-up in just a few lines, and you do get the sense that she and Olivia had a blast working on this even if they likely weren’t in the same room during recording. Most of the things that made “Expectations” v. 1.0 a standout are still here too; the fuzzy late-90s pop synths, the chimes in the background, the monster chorus, Dan Nigro’s cartoonishly flat affectation of “she’s got real big expectations” on the bridge (justice for when he did the same thing on Chappell’s underrated “The Giver”). But I just don’t ever see myself choosing this over the original and I hope that it avoids “Guess”‘s fate of becoming the canon version, fun as it is to hear Chappell go “not kissin’ no boy, NO BOY!” to get ahead of all our obvious jokes.
[7]
TA Inskeep: Now this is more like it. Taking “Expectations,” polishing it up shinier and more buoyant and — especially — inviting Chappell Roan to the party to give it a Sapphic twist (a la Billie Eilish on Charli XCX’s “Guess” remix)? And it works in all of the ways it should. One of the year’s best pure pop parties.
[9]
James M Errington: My expectations were exceeded.
[9]