Sabrina Carpenter Explains The Real Meaning Behind Her 'Espresso' Lyrics

17 July 2024, 14:51

Sabrina Carpenter teases the Espresso music video

By Sam Prance

What are Sabrina Carpenter's 'Espresso' lyrics about? Here's what Sabrina has said about the song.

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Sabrina Carpenter is officially back with a new song and fans are losing it over the wild meaning behind her 'Espresso' lyrics.

Ever since, Sabrina released Emails I Can't Send in 2022, fans have been desperate to see what she does next. In the time since, Sabrina has dominated the charts with her smash hits 'Nonsense' and 'Feather'. She's also supported Taylor Swift on her record-breaking Eras Tour, released a Christmas EP and regularly gone viral with her filthy 'Nonsense' outros.

Now, Sabrina has launched a brand new era and 'Espresso' is a hot girl anthem that puts her unique sense of humour front and centre. What is the song about though? Well, Sabrina has opened up about the writing process behind 'Espresso'.

Read more: Sabrina Carpenter 'Short n' Sweet': Release Date, Tracklist, Theories And News About Her New Album

Sabrina Carpenter explains the real meaning behind her Espresso lyrics. Picture: Taylor Hill/FilmMagic, Island Records

In 'Espresso', Sabrina sings about being so hot that someone is addicted to you like 'Espresso' and there's a lot of hilarious sexual innuendo. In the chorus, Sabrina sings: Now he's thinkin' 'bout me every night, oh / Is it that sweet? I guess so / Say you can't sleep, baby, I know / That's that me, espresso / Move it up, down, left, right, oh / Switch it up like Nintendo.

Sabrina gets even more cocky in the first verse by adding: I can't relate to desperation / My "give a f--ks" are on vacation' and then in the pre-chorus, she sings: 'Soft skin and I perfumed it for ya / I know I Mountain Dew it for ya / That morning coffee, brewed it for ya / One touch and I brand-newed it for ya. The queen of euphemisms strikes again!

Describing the song in an interview with Apple Music, Sabrina revealed that she wrote 'Espresso' while she was in France and stated: "There was something really exciting about the fact that there was so much personality throughout the entire song, because those are the ones that are really, really fun to sing live with a crowd."

Sabrina then continued to say: "Those are the ones that people, I think when they don't know my music or who I am or anything, they can just tune in to a single song and kind of leave with a better idea of my sense of humour."

What do the lyrics to Sabrina Carpenter's 'Espresso' mean? Picture: Getty

Sabrina added: "This was one of those times in my life where it was just like, I just thought I was the sh-t in the moment. And I think you don't always feel that way, so you kind of have to capture those moments that you do because that's how you find those little..."

She ended by saying: "For me, equating it to caffeine and that addiction was really fun and I definitely have a caffeine addiction as it is. So it really ends up being a full circle for me."

In a separate profile, Sabrina also told Vogue: "The song is kind of about seeing femininity as your super power, and embracing the confidence of being that bitch." She also told Rolling Stone that the taglines of the song are inspired by |old school vintage ads".

Despite the clear explanation of the song (Sabrina is like espresso; addictive, gets your heart rate going, gives you energy, keeps you awake etc) some people are only just realising what the innuendos in the song actually mean – and that's it not about coffee.

In one viral TikTok video breaking down the lyrics, one user responded: "My face when I realised about the Nintendo bit".

Replying to another creator, someone else said: "I mean, the 'left right up down switch it up like Nintendo' was all but spelling it out!"

A third simply asked: "No way people aren't getting it when the choreography couldn't be more BLATANT?!"

Sabrina Carpenter - 'Espresso' lyrics

VERSE 1
I can't relate to desperation
My "give a f--ks" are on vacation
And I got this one boy and he won't stop calling
When they act this way, I know I got 'em

PRE-CHORUS
Too bad your ex don't do it for ya
Walked in and dream-came-trued it for ya
Soft skin and I perfumed it for ya (Yes)
I know I Mountain Dew it for ya (Yes)
That morning coffee, brewed it for ya (Yes)
One touch and I brand-newed it for ya

CHORUS
And now he's thinkin' 'bout me every night, oh
Is it that sweet? I guess so
Say you can't sleep, baby, I know
That's that me, espresso
Move it up, down, left, right, oh
Switch it up like Nintendo
Say you can't sleep, baby, I know
That's that me, espresso

POST-CHORUS
Holy shit
Is it that sweet? I guess so

VERSE 2
I'm working late 'cause I'm a singer
Oh, he looks so cute wrapped 'round my finger
My twisted humor make him laugh so often
My honeybee, come and get this pollen

CHORUS
Now he's thinkin' 'bout me every night, oh
Is it that sweet? I guess so
Say you can't sleep, baby, I know
That's that me, espresso
Move it up, down, left, right, oh
Switch it up like Nintendo
Say you can't sleep, baby, I know
That's that me, espresso (Yes)
Thinkin' 'bout me every night, oh
Is it that sweet? I guess so (Yes)
Say you can't sleep, baby, I know
That's that me, espresso (Yes)
Move it up, down, left, right, oh
Switch it up like Nintendo (Yes)
Say you can't sleep, baby, I know
That's that me, espresso