This Line From Sabrina Carpenter’s New Song Took Over TikTok

Sabrina Carpenter might just be talking about it all. The singer dropped her latest album, emails i can’t send, on July 15. I’m grateful that she hit the send button on this release, specifically the song “because i liked a boy.” The instrumentation on the track is hushed and a bit subtle. Perhaps more notable, though, is the song paved the way for Carpenter’s descriptive lyrics, which might just be about her rumored relationship with her fellow Disney star Joshua Bassett.

While the rumors have mostly subsided this year, Sabrina’s new tune recalled theories about her love life. It appears she might be opening up about how she handled the drama last year that also involved fellow pop star and Disney regular, Olivia Rodrigo.

If you aren’t aware of the situation, here’s the deal: As Rodrigo’s “Driver License” became a smash hit last year, speculation arose on who the track was really about. It’s commonly believed that the song was about her rumored ex and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series co-star Bassett. Sabrina Carpenter is also theorized to be the “blonde girl” Rodrigo sang about in the song as Bassett was rumored to be in a relationship with Carpenter after dating Rodrigo in 2020; however, their pairing was never publicly confirmed and neither was Rodrigo and Bassett’s.

Still, “because i liked a boy,” alludes to a relationship that sounds similar to the rumors. The dreamy ballad began with Carpenter reminiscing about how “innocent” the beginning of her romance with an unnamed partner was.

“I said I wanted Thin Mints and you said you knew a guy / You showed up with a boombox and stars in your eyes,” she sang.

Carpenter even noted that their shared love of Black Eyed Peas and “complicated exes” strengthened their bond. However, as she eased into the raw chorus, it’s clear that something shifted in the relationship. That once casual and harmless bond turned into a whirlwind of judgment. She coos,

“Now I’m a homewrecker, I’m a slut / I got death threats filling up semi trucks / 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 I because I liked a boy.”

When speaking about the track to Rolling Stone earlier this month, Carpenter said that the track’s inspiration “came from a really real place in [her] life.” “It was very therapeutic to write that song from hindsight and being like, ‘Wow, one thing leads to another and things can really get out of hand,’” Carpenter said. “Just being able to own it at the end of the day, and not let it determine who you are.”

This tone switch remains for the rest of the track. As Carpenter begins to croon in the second verse, she seemed to reference her ex’s health. She sang,

“I’m not catastrophizing, everything’s derailing / Was only tryna hold you close while your heart was failing.”

This lyric is one of the strongest indications that the record could be about Bassett. In a 2021 interview with GQ, Bassett said that he had been diagnosed with heart failure and septic shock. Next in the song, Carpenter continued to recall the disillusion of her relationship.

“Just two kids going through it / You said I'm too late to be your first love, but I’ll always be your favorite,” she crooned.

Near the outro, she wonders why any of the shame she felt occurred in the first place. She sang,

“And all of this for what? / When everything went down, we’d already broken up,” she somberly whispers.

Carpenter’s fans on TikTok immediately gravitated toward this lyric, as well as the ones where she called herself a “homewrecker” and a “slut,” with some noting Carpenter may be owed an apology by those who critiqued her last year. Check out the full lyrics to Carpenter’s “because i liked a boy,” and decide for yourself. Warning: You might need a box of tissue when listening.