Sabrina Carpenter - Please Please Please
Guest contributor Beth Lisogorsky keeps the earworms new and poppy. With a special secret bonus pick at the end!
Today we have a guest contributor to Earworms and Song Loops!
A few weeks ago
, who writes the excellent TV/Film Substack newsletter , posted on Notes (the Substack-based social media network) that she had a couple of sticky earworms running through her head, and perhaps I could write about them.I suggested that she take on the task, as they were her looping songs, and she said: “You’re on!”
I was thrilled that Beth chose to write about the current teen/early-20s pop music scene, as it’s an arena I know nothing about. Or knew nothing about, as I’m now a little bit more in the loop after having watched the videos and listened to the albums of the artists Beth explores below. I feel secure that the future of Lady Gaga-style adventurous pop music is in great hands (and voices).
Take it away, Beth!
Without a doubt, the Summer of 2024 pop sound can be best summed up by a three-peat of a single word and its resounding echo: “Please Please Please.” Sabrina Carpenter’s glorious rebellious irreverence has ushered in a career reinvention for the pint-sized (4’11”) pop star.
Ugly Narratives & The Ultimate Revenge: Success!
I first became familiar with Sabrina Carpenter a decade ago when she was cast in the 2014 reboot of the hit ‘90s TV show Boy Meets World, retitled Girl Meets World. More recently, her name has reappeared in the pop culture zeitgeist largely in negative connotations: through rumors of being the alleged homewrecker in the Olivia Rodrigo and Joshua Bassett romance, so beautifully drawn out in Rodrigo’s 2021 breakout single, “Driver’s License.”
And you're probably with that blonde girl
Who always made me doubt
She's so much older than me
She's everything I'm insecure about
For context, Rodrigo and Bassett were the ‘it couple’ in the High School Musical reboot (High School Musical: The Musical: The Series) though it was never confirmed if they were actually dating in real life. They were for Gen Z, what OG HSM’s Troy (Zac Efron) and Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) were for late Millennials.
Casting Carpenter as pesky interloper Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale in the original films) felt about right, especially at a time when we so often blur the lines between reality and performance.
It should be noted that both Bassett and Rodrigo never refuted the rumor, doing much to amplify it across social media and harming Carpenter with their passivity in the process. The whole affair felt opportunistic and contrived, though I’m a huge fan of Rodrigo, so I can give her a pass. Bassett, though, needs to start creating some good solo tunes — then I may be able to forgive him too.
Carpenter creatively shot back at the “homewrecker” accusations in the song “Because I Liked a Boy” from her 2022 album, Emails I Can’t Send.
I said I wanted Thin Mints and you said you knew a guy
You showed up with a boombox and stars in your eyes
Who knew cuddling on trampolines could be so reckless?
We bonded over Black Eyed Peas and complicated exes
Fell so deeply into it
It was all so innocent
Now I'm a homewrecker, I'm a slut
I got death threats fillin' up semitrucks
Tell me who I am, guess I don't have a choice
All because I liked—
I'm the hot topic on your tongue
I'm a rebound gettin' 'round stealin' from the young
Tell me who I am, guess I don't have a choice
All because I liked a boy
I was ready to throw Sabrina out with the bathwater too, but then my 12-year-old daughter – who often introduces me to some really talented female artists (Laufey, Lyn Lapid) – added Carpenter’s 2024 single, “Espresso,” to one of our family Spotify playlists and it started circulating.
Then came “Please Please Please” and I finally saw the light. It didn’t hurt that Carpenter toured with Taylor Swift, which validated her via the pop icon’s vouching. But I learned something valuable in the process. Whereas I can be quick to judge at times (I am a critic), it’s important to keep an open mind and allow for a new narrative to take shape. Having my culturally savvy daughter guide me, demonstrating a positive, unbiased approach to music and celebrity, proved worthwhile, per usual. She teaches me more than I teach her most days.
Please Please Please
Between touring with Taylor Swift, collaborating with producer Jack Antonoff (Swift’s longtime producer and producer of such artists as .fun, Panic at the Disco, Lorde, St. Vincent, and many others), and the popularity of her earwormy hit single, “Espresso” (in which she did society a solid by teaching the world how to pronounce the oft-mispronounced coffee drink), Carpenter has been experiencing a meteoric rise as a solo artist. Audiences from Gen X to Gen Z highly anticipate her soon-to-be-released Short n' Sweet album on August 23.
(EW&SL: I would bet a few boomers are also eager to hear her new album.)
But I want to talk about her follow-up single, “Please Please Please,” which I think is the banner song of the summer. Whether you gravitate to the tune’s ‘80s pop stylings or hear it more as pop-country with a sprinkling of glorious synth, what’s not debatable is its catchiness and the sultry elements of her video.
According to Wikipedia:
The music video for "Please Please Please" serves as a sequel to the "Espresso" video released earlier in 2024. In the music video for "Espresso," Carpenter gets arrested at the end. "I ended the last video getting arrested, so naturally, I thought it would be satisfying to start the 'Please Please Please' video in jail," said the singer.
It should be noted that Carpenter’s real-life love, Saltburn’s Barry Keoghan, stars in the Please Please Please video.
The most gratifying and relatable line in the song for any woman, single or attached, is likely:
Please, please, please
Don't prove I'm right
And please, please, please
Don't bring me to tears when I just did my makeup so nice
Heartbreak is one thing, my ego's another
I beg you, don't embarrass me, motherfucker
Please, please, please
The catchiness of this chorus qualifies it for any song loop contest.
Would I be loving this song if my Gen Alpha daughter wasn’t so into it? Without a doubt, motherfucker. (I’m referring to the song here, of course.)
But I am beyond grateful to bond with her over these songs and music in general.
A bonus earworm from a soon-to-be pop icon (if she’s not already)
My daughter wasn’t entirely on board with my next superstar pick until she heard the banger I’m recommending below—which she informed me is the title track for ‘Summer of 2024.’
Here’s how I first came to learn about the singer Chappell Roan.
HOT TO GO!
A few months back, while I was working in front of my computer mid-afternoon, I received a text from my friend Rebecca (we reviewed Netflix’s The Crown together - link here). Rebecca is an amazing resource for pop culture recommendations. She told me I had to check out Chappell Roan, a new artist she’d just discovered, then provided links to a couple of her favorite songs for me to get started (“Casual” and “Good Luck Babe!”). I loved those tracks, but the one that I loved the most was “HOT TO GO!”
Chappell’s combination of lyrical feminist themes, riot-grrrl confidence, and catchy, quirky melodies is unlike anything I’ve heard in a long time. She reminds me of 80s-era Madonna but is more modern, less retro, and has a sweet, relatable sensibility. I love her campy, celebratory vibe and drag queen aesthetic.
I’m from the Midwest (Rockford, Illinois, to be exact), so the title of Roan’s breakout album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (2023), hits me in all the right places and makes my heart go pitter-patter.
The video for “HOT TO GO!” features Roan teaching her real-life grandparents how to perform the arm and hand motions to the song. This is direct nod to the 1978 Village People hit “YMCA” and the dance moves that would adorn dance floors, from nightclubs to weddings.
Roan’s musical style is eclectic, varying wildly, from synth-pop to dark pop, indie rock, and straight-up top-40 ballads. The entire album is full of songs primed to be hits. Apart from “HOT TO GO!” my favorites are “My Kink is Karma,” “Casual,” “Femininomenon,” and “Red Wine Supernova.”
The album was released in the fall of 2023, but it’s definitely filled with summer bangers. I highly recommend you listen to the whole thing. I fully expect to enthusiastically endorse Sabrina Carpenter’s new album, Short ‘n Sweet, when it comes out next month.
I want to give a special thanks to my daughter for always keeping me up to date on the latest and greatest in the pop culture zeitgeist.
Beth Lisogorsky is a pop culture critic and published author of a book about “The Apprentice,” and writes about TV and Film on Substack at Beth’s TV & Film Recommendations (🔗 Link). Currently, she’s listening to a lot of Alanis Morrisette, Frente, Taylor Swift, Phil Collins, and The Cranberries.
Are you familiar with either Sabrina Carpenter or Chappell Roan? What are your impressions? Let us know in the comments.
Are there any other new(ish) artists in the current pop scene making your heart go aflutter that you’d like to promote?
This is Steve jumping in here to say that after spending the past few days immersing myself in both Sabrina and Chappell, I have become a huge fan of both. One video I discovered that truly blew me away was Chappell Roan’s NPR Tiny Desk Concert from March of this year. I’ve included it below.
Chappell Roan was the opening act for Olivia Rodrigo on her GUTS tour (2022-23), so both of today’s featured artists have direct connections to Ms. Rodrigo.
Thanks again to Beth for filling in for me this week! My musical horizons have been widened and I feel 20 years younger!
And if you are a fan of intelligent TV series and film discussion and review, please check out Beth’s Substack newsletter. Here’s a link to her latest post.
 | A guest post by
|
Ok NEWSFLASH- Joshua Bassett just released an album!! And the single is a bop “Biting my tongue”
Per Variety: “I’ve been through some of the best and worst years of my life,” Bassett tells Variety. He quickly admits that “The Golden Years” was essentially a form of therapy to cope with the latter. “Music is one of the only ways I can really process my emotions. I wrote a lot of songs in five minutes or less — I’m not saying that to brag, I just got to this place where I could just kind of vomit it out.”
This was great. I loved Beth's writing and how she played with the word mfer. Beautifully done.
I was not familiar with these artists or tracks. Vocally they didn't blow me away (sorry, I grew up with Mariah and Whitney, probably the hardest to beat as far as female pop singers go), but I liked the production in all three of them, especially Espresso. The beat is irresistible.
What I found quite interesting from all three tracks is how "timelessly retro" they feel.
For full disclosure I couldn't even finish listening to Hot to Go (definitely not for me), but Please Please Please and Espresso are two I can see myself playing again, especially the latte(r) 😉 (this pun might not work unless you read it with an English accent, but it was too tempting not to throw it in there).