Short N Sweet Part 3
- Emily Kay
- Mar 24
- 10 min read
Season 1, Episode 45. 03/24/2025
Intro~
Add clip “Intro Music” to episode
Summary
This episode of RAW-tism is the third part of my deep dive into the Short N Sweet album by Sabrina Carpenter. The full version is available now on my Patreon.
Like I’ve said in previous episodes, these episodes are to help me schedule ahead so that I have less to do while taking my first graduate class for my Autism Spectrum Disorder certification. giggles I hope to have time to write episodes as I’m learning so y’all can learn with me, but these episodes will create a cushion so that I can skip a week or two, if needed, to keep up with my studies.
Content warning: First of all, this episode is more about my fascination with these songs than autism. Special interest! Second, this episode will use explicit language in the lyrics of these songs. I usually bleep out the “adult” words when I’m talking, but clips of Sabrina Carpenter singing would be more complex to do so with.
Track 9. Slim Pickins
The ninth track on the album, “Slim Pickins,” describes how Sabrina feels like there isn’t a man out there that is right for her. The phrase “slim pickings” refers to having not much to choose from or little success in getting what was chosen. This perfectly aligns with Sabrina’s point; he’s not that picky. All she asks for is a jacked, kind, nice guy who breathes air and doesn’t call his ex while he’s wasted.
Guess I'll end this life alone
I am not dramatic, these are just the thoughts that pass right through me
All the douchebags in my phone
Play 'em like a slot machine, if they're winnin', I'm just losing
A boy who's jacked and kind
Can't find his ass to save my life
This song is the shortest on the album so the slowed tempo helps spread it out. That being said, it sounds much slower than it is. Singing it at karaoke had me breathing heavily.
Oh, it's slim pickins
If I can't have the one I love, I guess it's you that I'll be kissin'
Just to get my fixins
Since the good ones are deceased or taken
I'll just keep on moanin' and bitchin'
This is how a lot of people feel, even how I felt before I met my husband — I was 19 when we started dating, so I didn’t really have that much trouble finding my one and only — but there’s people who go their whole lives looking for the one they love. That journey differs per individual but quite a few contain flings just to get fixings followed by moaning and bitching.
Jesus, what's a girl to do?
This boy doesn't even know the difference between there, their, and they are
This line is everything. Using the wrong “there” or “your” bothers me to the ends of the universe. The funniest part is that I had no idea which order the first two were in until I sang this at karaoke. Luckily, she didn’t contract “they are” to make it a bit easier.
Yet he's naked in my room
Missin' all the things he's missin', God knows that he isn't livin' large
Here’s an example of getting her fixings but not yet finding her person.
A boy who's nice that breathes
I swear he's nowhere to be seen
sarcasm Wow, Sabrina, you want a boy who breathes? That’s so picky and shallow. laugh
Since the good ones call their exes wasted
And since the Lord forgot my gay awakenin'
Then I'll just be here in the kitchen servin' up some moanin' and bitchin'
This is a great ending and I love how it all tied together but it’s also sad to know that Sabrina is officially not gay. Oh well, I’m married and she has no idea I exist. It’s not like I was looking to get together with Sabrina Carpenter, but it would’ve been cute to see her with a girlie.
Ad Break~
Track 10: Juno
For the tenth album track, “Juno,” the lyrics website Genius.com explains its message perfectly.
Desiring to become pregnant simply due to the way her partner makes her feel, “Juno” cheekily references the 2007 film of the same name, starring Elliot Page as the titular Juno, a teenager who suddenly also being pregnant. She ultimately dreams of ending up like the Juno inside the movie, pregnant by someone who truly cares about her and her future concept of having a family.” (For anyone confused, Elliot is a trans male actor who was female presenting at the time of the film.)
I would also like to note that while I could not find any confirmed connection between the song and the Roman goddess Juno (Hera in the Greek form), I came to my own conclusions. Juno is the goddess of love and marriage, and Sabrina is singing about wanting her love to make her pregnant and connect them for life, just like the idea of marriage. Pretend divorce doesn’t exist and boom, connection!
Don't have to tell your hot ass a thing
Oh yeah, you just get it (get it)
This beginning always hits me with the vibes that elicit a “Yyaaaaaas Queen!” response from me. It’s giving Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” and “Hot To Go” levels of “let’s shout these lyrics” energy.
Whole package, babe, I like the way you fit
God bless your dad's genetics
This line is the word equivalent of Sabrina giving the subject a wolf whistle (sound effect). When I’m dancing to this part, I always do that kick heel up pose. Sorry if you’re only listening, I’m doing the move for the video version and it probably makes more sense that way.
You make me wanna make you fall in love
Oh, late at night, I'm thinkin' 'bout you, ah, ah-ah
Welcome, once again, to another round of pleasing my ossicles (Clip of “ah, ah-ah” part).
Wanna try on my fuzzy pink handcuffs?
Oh, I hear you knockin', baby
Come on up
My favorite part about this line is that it always gives me the mental image of Sabrina Carpenter on stage in her black and silver two-piece outfit holding the pink handcuffs seductively with one finger before giving it away to a fan. Mmmm. If you know, you know…. Laughing at myself …and I had no clue I was gay for the first 20 years of my life. Ooh, honey…
I know you want my touch for life
If you love me right, then who knows?
I might let you make me Juno
You know I just might
Let you lock me down tonight
One of me is cute, but two, though?
The part that makes me just go, “Ugh, yessss,” about this part every time I hear it is how she fits slang from our—yes, mine too—generation. “But two, though?”
Give it to me, baby
You make me wanna make you fall in love (oh)
I showed my friends, then we high-fived (oh-oh)
Sorry if you feel objectified (oh)
Can't help myself, hormones are high
Give me more than just some butterflies
It took me a damn hot minute to understand the implications of this section. I’m just going to say it’s sexual and I don’t want to discuss it. The way she sings “hormones are high,” though, ugh yessssss.
You make me wanna make you fall in love
Oh, late at night, I'm thinkin' 'bout you, ah, ah-ah
Wanna try out some freaky positions?
Have you ever tried this one?
During her concerts, Sabrina uses the time between the two last lines here to get into a “freaky” position before asking if it’s been tried. She has gone many different ones on her Short N Sweet tour, but this one I’ve included below is my favorite. (https://youtube.com/shorts/-YMlPC-S8aU?si=vTUSd3eBaSyN_Mod)
For those of you just listening, the video I showed was a clip of Sabrina’s Halloween show where she was dressed as Tinker Bell and pranked the audience. Some fans were disappointed that they didn’t get a new position, but I personally think this move was GOLD from our ’Brina girl. Not just because I’m obsessed with Tinker Bell (and practically died when I saw my first video of her in that outfit), but also because Sabrina makes it clear that while she may be a performer, that doesn’t stop her from being her goofy adorable self. Not everything has to be about sex; sometimes it’s fun to add a harmless juvenile Halloween prank.
Adore me, hold me, and explore me
Mark your territory
Tell me I'm the only, only, only, only one
Adore me, hold me, and explore me
I'm so fuckin' horny
Tell me I'm the only, only, only, only one
This ending is mmm chef’s kiss. I have no notes for our queen. Always remember that “Jesus was a carpenter.” wink
Track 11. Lie To Girls
In the eleventh track of Short N Sweet, Sabrina describes the dishonesty and deception that plague some relationships. “Lie to Girls” is a critique of her ex and how girls threw themselves at his feet, lying to make themselves seem like his perfect match, while he is just as much of a red flag as those girls, maybe even more.
Don't swear on your mom
That it's the first drink that you've had in, like, a month
No, don't say it was just an isolated incident that happened once
There's no need to pretend
I've never seen an ugly truth that I can't bend
To something that looks better, I'm stupid, but I'm clever
Yeah, I can make a shit show look a whole lot like forever and ever
This entire beginning verse just screams “You know you were like that!” It’s calling me out, man. Working on myself in therapy and getting my autism diagnosis really helped me train myself out of this way of thinking. My bestie likes to call me “Emily 2.0” because of how much I’ve grown into a happier, healthier person since those days.
You don't have to lie to girls
If they like you, they'll just lie to themselves
Like you, they'll just lie to themselves
You don't have to lie to girls
If they like you, they'll just lie to themselves
Don't I know it better than anyone else?
All of your best excuses
No, they don't stand a chance
Against all the chances I give you
Isn't ideal, but damn
You don't even have to try, turn you into a good guy
You don't have to lift a finger
There are bigger sections in this one because it is fluid, so I don’t have much to say about it. This just reminds me of how many friends I let make me miserable because I rationalized their every move and made myself believe that they were what was best for me in my life. I just lied to myself to get me through life, but not anymore.
It's lucky for you I'm just like
My mother (and my sisters)
All my (all my friends)
The girl outside the strip club getting her tarot cards read
We love to read the cold, hard facts
And swear they're incorrect
We love to mistake butterflies for cardiac arrest
This part is very fun to listen to. I don’t have much else to say about it, but don’t let that discredit the writing. It’s brilliant!
Girls will cry, and girls will lie
And girls will do it 'til they die
And for you, they'll cry
And girls will lie
And do it 'til the day they die (for you)
Girls will cry, and girls will lie (ooh, ooh)
And girls will lose their goddamn minds (ooh, oh)
For you, they'll cry
And girls will lie
And do it 'til the day they die
For you
People will typically lie to themselves to try to make light of a bad situation. This can be one of the reasons why people stay in abusive relationships. They convince themselves that it’s the best they’re going to find or that they can “fix” their abuser. But please hear me when I say that you don’t have to stay if you're unhappy in a situation. Please put yourself first. Taking care of your own mental health is worth breaking the heart of the person hurting you. It will feel awful, but the ends more than justify the means. I promise.
If you or someone you know are in a situation where you can’t leave your abuser for some reason, there are some resources in the description that might help.
Track 12: Don’t Smile
In the final track, “Don’t Smile,” Sabrina describes her bitterness toward her ex moving on with seemingly unhurt feelings. Her longing for him is unrequited, and yet she feels betrayed.
Don't smile because it happened, baby, cry because it's over
This entire song is a play on the old adage, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened,” that basically means to remember the good times before things went wrong. This is a saying usually reserved for those going through a breakup.
My heart is heavy now, it's like a hundred pounds
It's fallin' faster than the way you love to shut me down
Describing the physical feeling of her pain is one thing, but dang, “than the way you love to shut me down” — what a burrrrrrrn!
I think I need a shower, my friends are takin' shots
You think it's happy hour, for me, it's not
I love this line, another play on words. Traditionally, “happy hour” is the time period where most people buy drinks, and sometimes the bar or restaurant will have designated happy hours that come with a discount. Sabrina uses it literally, saying that it’s not “happy hour” for her because she’s not happy.
Don't smile because it happened, baby, cry because it's over
Oh, you're supposed to think about me every time you hold her
Don't smile because it happened, baby, cry because it's over
(I want you to miss me, I want you to miss me)
Originally I thought that line was, “unless you don’t miss me.” I’m just now learning that it’s actually “I want you to miss me,” which makes more sense in the context, but I like my interpretation better. It sounds like a confident taunt rather than just reflecting on something sad. Sabrina is a poetic writer so it fits either way. I just can’t unhear my version of the line. It’s like the line in Taylor Swift’s Blank Space about Starbucks lovers—I mean, list of ex-lovers.
Oh, you're supposed to think about me every time you hold her
(I want you to miss me, I want you to miss me)
My way makes more sense in my head, and I’ll hear it every time I listen to the song, but that’s just my opinion and processing.
Pour my feelings in the microphone
I stay in, and when the girls come home
I want one of them to take my phone
Take my phone and lose your
Number, I don't wanna be tempted
Pick up when you wanna fall back in
You can fake it, but you know I know, oh, I know
This little almost-rap moment before the final repeat of the chorus is such a vibe. It pleases my brain and helps bring the song (and the album) to a satisfying end.
Ad Break
That’s all for this episode! The final part of my thoughts Short N Sweet, specifically reviewing the five new songs on Short N Sweet Deluxe, will be on streaming services next week. If you want the entire episode with all four parts right now, it is available on my Patreon! To sweeten the deal, while regular streaming services will have mostly me saying the lyrics, the Patreon version will include clips from the songs for every line.
Outro~
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