Sara Olsen: Live fan performance of Dove Cameron’s “Breakfast”

Due to “Breakfast” being released very recently, in 2022, there hasn’t been much time for alternate versions or covers to have been done by Cameron herself or by other artists/fans. However, after some research, I found an acoustic version performed live in London by a fan named Sara Olsen.

“Breakfast” in its original form is a pop song, consisting of “strings with a groovy cello base line” (Barth). Converting it to an acoustic cover provided the song with a more personal feeling, since typically pop songs have an artificial and universal vibe which usually allows such songs to have great success, as the target audience is very general and broad in the musical sense.

The only instrument being used in this cover was the guitar, pushing an emphasis on the vocals and lyrics of the song. Rather than the usual concert experience of jumping and singing along, in this performance, it was quiet around her and felt more like a listening thing only. Her pronunciation of “breakfast” and “necklace” stood out to me, which I wouldn’t have said about the original cover. It had a sort of poetic feel. She also seemed to emphasize “power” and towards the end of the cover, she elongated the word “alive” and put heaps of energy into it.

Watching this cover deepened my understanding of the importance of the lyrics and vocals paired together in this song. While listening to pop songs like this, it becomes easy to not really appreciate the lyrics and what’s being said, and instead just sing along aimlessly. However, hearing the pop song in a not-so-pop setting, interpreting the lyrics as the artist is singing becomes easier.

 

Dove Cameron performs “Breakfast” live in London 

Before the song was fully released on June 24th, 2022, Cameron did a live performance of “Breakfast” in London on April 14th, 2022. This was one of the first times she performed this song for an audience, and seemed to serve as a teaser for the official release of the song in the coming months.

The use of color-changing lights in the background of this performance added to the meaning of the song itself since green is often associated with happiness and new beginnings, whilst blue is often associated with freedom and peace. There are of course several other meanings these colors possess, however, in the case of this song I feel as if these specific meanings are what was trying to be conveyed throughout the performance. The occasional burst of yellow seems to emphasize the power that she and all women are trying to take back.

Since this was before the song was actually released, fans didn’t know all of the lyrics, therefore meaning they couldn’t sing along to the whole song. Yet, one lyric they belched during the performance was “Let me show you power”. This all leads back to one of the main meanings of the song, which is for women to gain back power. Cameron’s mannerisms and facial expressions during the performance, such as her smirking and making hand gestures, further expressed and confirmed this message.