Sabrina Carpenter knows what she wants on latest single …and it’s definitely not a “Manchild”
Sabrina Carpenter has no time for a dufus who refuses to grow up. Think of this track as a more-savage version of Kelsea Ballerini’s “Peter Pan”.
Sabrina Carpenter - “Manchild” (Official Video)
After dominating summer 2024 with her bouncy pop hit “Espresso”, the pint-size pop star is poised to dominate this summer as well with her scathing new single, “Manchild”.
Carpenter begins the song by taking a deep breath, exhaling a tense, “Oh boy…” as if she’s been holding this in for some time contemplating, “Where to even begin?” This girl’s already seen too much.
In the pre-chorus, the popstar goes through a mental checklist of possibilities why this mystery guy (fans already speculate guy in question is ex-boyfriend, Saltburn star Barry Keoghan) is so damn immature; she can’t quite put a finger on it …is he: “Stupid / Or is it slow? / Maybe it's useless? / But there's a cuter word for it, I know”.
The chorus finds Sabrina asking, “Man-child / Why you always come a-running to me? / F*** my life / Won't you let an innocent woman be? Man-child / Why you always come a-running, taking all my loving from me?” in a country-esq. twang while quipping, “Half your brain just ain't there”.
The former Disney star then asks him, “Why so sexy if so dumb? / And how survive the Earth so long?” At the end of the day, she chalks it up to, “I choose to blame your mom”, as she seems to say it with a shrug.
In the bridge, Carpenter tells listeners, “Oh, I like my boys playin' hard to get (Play hard to get) / And I like my men all incompetent (Incompetent)”, cleverly flipping between the words “boys” and “men”. Sabrina continues by insisting, “And I swear they choose me, I'm not choosin' them (Not choosin' them) / Amen (Amen), hey, men (Hey, men)”. The singer makes a point to make this bridge the exact same as the outro. No matter what, these immature guys continue to fall for Sabrina.
And for whatever reason, Carpenter herself can’t seem to stay away.