Sabrina Carpenter laughs at romantic heartbreak on ‘Man’s Best Friend’
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Dating sucks, and Sabrina Carpenter knows that well.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MANCHILD")
SABRINA CARPENTER: (Singing) Manchild, why you always come running to me?
FADEL: Just a year after her last record, Carpenter is out with a new one. It's called "Man's Best Friend." And the lyrics sound like the unvarnished way women actually speak to each other about dating and toxic relationships.
CARPENTER: It kind of sounds like women speaking to each other because it is...
FADEL: Yeah.
CARPENTER: ...Women speaking to each other.
FADEL: The album is full of the double entendres and sexual themes Carpenter is known for. And a heads up, we get into that in this interview. She describes this album as a party for heartbreak and a celebration of disappointment.
CARPENTER: How can I be so self-aware and yet so blind and so stupid at the same time?
FADEL: Yeah.
CARPENTER: Like, women are the smartest and the dumbest, in my experience. You know what I mean? It's like they're dumb exactly when they want to be.
FADEL: Yeah.
CARPENTER: And I think that that's kind of a theme that I tackle throughout the whole album just because it's a little bit more about the reflection of my own choices and these relationships and how I get into them and how I get out of them. And this one may be a little bit more like slightly, 2% more gracefully than the last. So...
FADEL: What do you mean 2% more gracefully?
CARPENTER: Because I think even with my last record, it was sort of like there was a little bit more spite towards people that hurt my feelings. And I think this one was, like, a little bit more like - you know what? - can't be that mad because I am putting myself in these positions to kind of experience these things. So, yeah, I think it's just like I said, like 2% healed, which gives me a lot more room to grow (laughter).
FADEL: I love that because I was thinking, I mean, these are - heartbreak for all of us, no matter how old we are, it's really painful and hurtful. And the way you write about it is very honest but also hilarious. Like, one of my favorite songs - I don't know if we can even. I think we can put "Never Get Laid" on MORNING EDITION.
CARPENTER: I hope so. You liked that one?
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NEVER GETTING LAID")
CARPENTER: (Singing) Baby, I'm not angry. Love you just the same. I just hope you get agoraphobia someday.
FADEL: So funny because you're saying, like, I'm not angry. I love you just the same. I just hope you get agoraphobia and never go outside, and nobody ever loves you again.
(LAUGHTER)
FADEL: Can you tell me about this song?
CARPENTER: That song was like my sliver of hope, I think, in terms of maybe experiencing an ending that doesn't have to be all that bitter. But then you realize, like, when you look deeper in yourself, like, ask yourself the thing that you're actually afraid of, it's not really that, like, you hope that they, like, never experience happiness again. It's that you hope that they don't experience the same love with someone else or a better love with someone else. So I think it was just the most blunt way to say, like, I want you to be happy from the inside of your home.
FADEL: (Laughter).
CARPENTER: Forever. And I think that that's just as nice as saying, like, I wish you all the best.
FADEL: (Laughter).
CARPENTER: I don't wish you all the best, but I wish you some of it, you know?
FADEL: Some of the best.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NEVER GETTING LAID")
CARPENTER: (Singing) Wish you a lifetime full of happiness and a forever of never getting laid.
FADEL: The album cover, which came out a bit ago, sparked quite the controversy. It's you on all fours with a man out of frame pulling some of your hair. And some people saw it as demeaning for women. Were you surprised at all by the reaction?
CARPENTER: Yeah, I was surprised. I think mostly because when I thought about making this album cover, I was really inspired by a man, like, sort of delicately playing with my hair, because I think there was a lot of metaphors between this dog and me emotionally. You know, a man's best friend and sort of all the implications that that comes with. And I think the power in dominance and submission. When I saw it, you know, obviously for me, it checked all the boxes. And between my friends and family, it just felt like what the music sounds like.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TEARS")
CARPENTER: (Singing) Oh.
FADEL: I mean, this whole album just made me laugh, as I said.
CARPENTER: Oh, thank you.
FADEL: And "Tears" kind of made me giggle as well because some of the lines. A little respect for women can get you very, very far. Remembering how to use your phone gets me oh so, so hot.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TEARS")
CARPENTER: (Singing) A little respect for women can get you very, very far. Remembering how to use your phone gets me oh so, oh so, oh so hot.
FADEL: Tell me about this song. I mean, you're talking about basically a guy who can build a chair and be...
CARPENTER: (Laughter).
FADEL: You know, just be normal (laughter).
CARPENTER: Well, I think that was the humor in it, being like, isn't it funny how when you're young, you're like, I want them to be tall. I want them to be handsome, I want them to be funny, I want them to be smart. And then you get older and you're like, I want them to be nice, you know?
FADEL: Yeah, a job.
CARPENTER: It's like it's sort of - just have a job, you know, like, decent self-respect, emotional maturity. Like, it starts to get pathetic almost. We're definitely getting to a point where we're just asking for the bare minimum but, you know, acknowledging it.
FADEL: (Laughter) I mean, speaking to you from the future, I'm not going to say it gets better. But anyways...
CARPENTER: Oh, jeez, thank you.
FADEL: Sorry, Sabrina.
CARPENTER: That's lovely.
(LAUGHTER)
FADEL: But there's also some funny moments where you're more talking to the mom. Like, who did you raise?
CARPENTER: Yeah, there's a few moments in the album.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NOBODY'S SON")
CARPENTER: (Singing) That boy is corrupt. Could you raise him to love me, maybe?
It sort of feels like you're just, like, poking fun. You're like, hey, could you not have helped me out here a little bit, like, with the raising of this person?
FADEL: (Laughter).
CARPENTER: But never in a way that's like, you know, you ruined - it's never putting the full blame. It's, like, obviously said as a joke. But I think about that sometimes, just being like, hey, mom, could you help me out? Because I'm struggling. Maybe you can get through to this one.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NOBODY'S SON")
CARPENTER: (Singing) There's nobody's son, not anyone left for me to believe in.
FADEL: You talked about your music changing between this album and the last album, that you're 2% healed.
CARPENTER: (Laughter).
FADEL: Can you imagine a time when you're writing an album 50% healed or 100% healed or in a totally different space?
CARPENTER: Absolutely. I can't say I know what that'll be like or sound like.
FADEL: Yeah.
CARPENTER: But I really try to, like, grow and take something with me each year of my life that I am experiencing, friendships and relationships and just life. So we'll see. I'm excited what she's like.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GOODBYE")
CARPENTER: (Singing) Goodbye.
FADEL: Sabrina Carpenter. Her new album is "Man's Best Friend," and it's out now. Sabrina, thank you so much and congratulations on the new album.
CARPENTER: Thank you so much. And I just have to say you have the most calming speaking voice in the world.
FADEL: Oh, thank you. So kind of you.
CARPENTER: (Laughter) You're welcome.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GOODBYE")
CARPENTER: (Singing) And that's when you'll be holding hokey flowers, standing at my door.
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