5 Sabrina Carpenter Songs That Aren’t ‘Skin’
You might have heard of Sabrina Carpenter and know her from her movies, The Hate U Give, Tall Girl or Work It. You might have seen her on Broadway’s Mean Girls, or you might have seen her open for Taylor Swift’s 2023 Eras tour. Or you might know her as the 1/3rd of one of the famous love triangles in pop history.
Recently, Carpenter’s getting a lot of attention, especially after releasing her sixth album, Short n’ Sweet. While her song “Skin” gained attention because of speculation it’s a diss track aimed at Olivia Rodrigo’s“driver’s license,” Carpenter has other standout songs. Here are five of them—enjoy!
Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso”
Of course, we’ll start the list with “Espresso,” the lead single of her Short n’ Sweet album. Carpenter co-wrote the song with Steph Jones, Amy Allen and Julian Bunetta. The song’s lyrics talk about Carpenter comparing herself to espresso (and Mountain Dew) because that’s her effect on boys: “And now he’s thinkin’ ’bout me every night, oh/Is it that sweet? I guess so/Say you can’t sleep, baby, I know/That’s that me espresso.”
Carpenter told Apple Music (via Just Jared) that the song is about “seeing femininity as your superpower, and embracing the confidence of being that b—.” She added, “This was one of those times in my life where it was just like,I just thought I was the s— in the moment. And I think you don’t always feel that way, so you kind of have to capture those moments.”
Sabrina Carpenter’s “Please Please Please”
Nominated for Song of the Year at the 67th Grammy Awards, “Please Please Please” is Sabrina Carpenter’s second single from Short n’ Sweet. The song’s lyrics describe being with someone despite the warnings from others because they might be a walking red flag: “I know I have good judgment, I know I have good taste/It’s funny and it’s ironic that only I feel that way/I promise ’em that you’re different and everyone makes mistakes.”
The music video features Carpenter’s “on and off” boyfriend, Barry Keoghan. In an interview with Vogue (via J-14), Carpenter said, “I ended the last video getting arrested, so naturally I thought it would be satisfying to start the ‘Please, please, please’ video in jail. I liked the idea of falling in love with a convict and being shocked and embarrassed every time he commits crimes. I was sooo lucky to get Barry Keoghan in the video cause he is just magic on screen.”
Suffice it to say, that the song is not about Keoghan. Carpenter just featured her in the video. The perks of having an actor/boyfriend at your disposal.
Sabrina Carpenter’s “Taste”
It seems Carpenter has a knack for finding herself in love triangles. Aside from her involvement in the Olivia Rodrigo-Joshua Bassett drama, her song “Taste” seems to reference her involvement in another love triangle with Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello. Fans speculated it was about Mendes and Cabello; the lyrics were quite easy to decipher: “Well, I heard you’re back together and if that’s true/You’ll just have to taste me when he’s kissin’ you/If you want forever, and I bet you do (I bet you do)/Just know you’ll taste me too,” the first line about Mendes and Cabello’s on-again, off-again relationship.
The music video featured Jenna Ortega and was inspired by the 1992 movie Death Becomes Her.
Sabrina Carpenter’s “Feather”
“Feather” is Carpenter’s song from her fifth album, Emails I Can’t Send. The song’s lyrics seem to hint at it as a post-breakup song: “I feel so much lighter like a feather with you off my mind (Ah)/Floatin’ through the memories like whatever, you’re a waste of time.”
Music critics described the song as “a neo-disco bop,” “pop gem,” and “a masterclass in 2020s pop music.” The music video, however, sparked controversy. A priest got demoted for letting the pop princess shoot her music video in a Brooklyn church (although the priest was also accused of mishandling the parish’s $2 million funds which might also have contributed to his demotion), per NPR.
Sabrina Carpenter’s “Nonsense”
“Nonsense” is a song that will make you feel giddy, which is likely Carpenter’s intention. In an interview last year, Carpenter mentioned, “There’s a lot of humor infused in the song, which is very similar to how I feel when I’m kind of crushing on somebody the first time.”
The lyrics will remind you of your youth when you’re crushing on your neighbor: “I’ll be honest/Lookin’ at you got me thinkin’ nonsense/Cartwheels in my stomach when you walk in/And when you got your arms around me/Oh, it feels so good.”
During a concert in Los Angeles, Carpenter changed the song’s outro to clear the speculations that the song is about Joshua Bassett. The changed outro became: “I’ve got a great personality but no t–s/This song is not about Joshua Bassett.”
