Sabrina Carpenter explains the meaning behind her favourite lyrics | PopBuzz Meets

17 April 2023, 12:13

Sabrina Carpenter Breaks Down Her Favourite Lyrics | PopBuzz Meets

By Sam Prance

From 'Because I Liked a Boy' to 'Nonsense', Sabrina Carpenter reveals all about the inspiration behind her music.

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Sabrina Carpenter is one of the standout lyricists of her generation but what are her favourite lyrics and what do they mean?

Over the course of her career to date, Sabrina Carpenter has won over millions of fans with her incisive and relatable lyrics. From 'Sue Me' to 'Skin', Sabrina has a song for everything and her fifth studio album Emails I Can't Send is overflowing with lyrical gems. Songs like 'Because I Liked a Boy' and 'Skinny Dipping' showcase what a remarkable talent she is.

Ahead of the release of the deluxe version of Emails I Can't Send, we got Sabrina to reveal her favourite lyrics and discuss the meanings behind each of them. From 'Tornado Warnings' to 'Decode', here are just a few of her iconic explanations.

Sabrina Carpenter explains the meaning behind her favourite lyrics | PopBuzz Meets. Picture: PopBuzz

Because I Liked a Boy

'Tell me who I am, guess I don't have a choice / All because I liked a boy'

"I wrote this song in New York after a lot of reflection and coming to a conclusion of how one thing can become such a big thing over something so miniscule. I think all any songwriter ever wants is to speak their truth and speak closest to their own voice. I feel like that song perfectly captured a really interesting time in my life and I feel really summed up a lot that I wish I could have said for a really long time.

"So that song's really special to me and I love seeing how it's related to people all over the world. I think when I wrote it I didn't think anyone would relate to it in the way that they have which has been really nice."

Sabrina Carpenter - because i liked a boy (Official Video)

Tornado Warnings

'I deserve an hour in a week to focus on my thoughts / Not so obsessed with yours, I can't hear myself speak'

"This is probably one of my favourite lyrics on the album Emails I Can't Send. It was just such a real thought at a time in my life where I felt like I was giving so much of the space in my mind to other people and other things and not myself at all. I was just begging for even just the smallest amount of time that I could dedicate to myself and my own thoughts.

"It's quite literal in that sense but every relationship is so different and sometimes you need to learn the lesson yourself and to take all the time that it takes to learn it. There's no, 'You have to do this and this is the only right way'. I think if anything I've learned that every situation is so specific and individual. Sometimes all it does take is communicating and working things out. And other times it's really good to step away from people and step further away and then take more steps and then never again."

Sabrina Carpenter - Tornado Warnings (Official Audio)

Decode

'Being myself, did that emasculate you? / Learning from you that I can walk away too'

"Whenever I'm playing shows, I feel like the girlies just scream this lyric from their gut a little harder. I can hear them losing their voices when they scream this line which is really awesome. The fact that that can give anyone a sense of maybe sort of clarity from where they're at in their life and a situation that isn't good for them.

"I think 'learning from you that I can walk away too' is another one of my favourites on the album because it took me a long time to learn that lesson so and I still learn it all the time. You gotta be reminded, sometimes I gotta listen to my own album."

Sabrina Carpenter - decode (Official Audio)

How Many Things

'You used a fork once / It turns out forks are fucking everywhere'

"What can I say. There's a lot in between the lines. So forks are super common and they're like really popular 'cause you only have a few options. It's like a fork, a spoon, a knife and then like a spork in some territories. In this case, I was like, 'Oh it's so dumb, like he used to eat with a fork'. I literally said that as a joke and I was like, 'What if it was a lyric?' And then they let me put it out.

"I mean if I'm gonna take myself seriously. I'm an artist. I can do it I swear. Sometimes at the end of something really painful, it's like the smallest thing in the world can set you off and the smallest thing in the world can remind you of them. That's what I was trying to capture. It can be anyone or anything or any little miniscule detail and fork just did it.

"Now my fans bring forks to shows, which i'm a little concerned about because they're waving forks at me. It looks like pitchforks, that's why I feel like I'm being almost attacked. But so peaceful! They just wave them."

Sabrina Carpenter - how many things (Official Audio)

Skinny Dipping

"'It'd be so nice, right? Right / If we could take it all off and just exist / And skinny dip in water under the bridge'

"I think this has to be one of my favourite metaphors on the whole album. It all started with 'skinny dip in water under the bridge', feeling like you can shed yourself of your past and just be okay with the fact that things happen and let it be and not be so hard on yourself for making mistakes and going through the motions of feelings. It's really important to feel every aspect of life whether that's good, bad, happy, sad, everything in between.

"I also just think it was funny because it's not a song that I immediately heard and was like, 'That's a smash single'. I just felt like it was something that was taking a bit of a left turn from maybe some of the stuff in the past, setting a foundation for everything that was coming."

Sabrina Carpenter - Skinny Dipping

To find out the other songs that Sabrina discussed, what gives her the ick and what her advice is to men who are intimidated by women, watch the video at the top of this page.

What's your favourite Sabrina Carpenter lyric? Tweet @popbuzz to let us know.