Why We Love Sabrina Carpenter’s Incorrect Lyrics in Espresso

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Can’t sleep? Blame it on the espresso. No, not coffee, Sabrina Carpenter’s light new single. Since the pop singer released “Espresso” last month, its grammatically incorrect chorus – “That’s me, espresso” – has invaded the brains of pop fans. Carpenter said simply she is espresso or that she gives a specific type of espresso to the men she likes? Or maybe the guy she’s singing about is so hot that she temporarily forgot how grammar worked? On Twitter and TikTok, the song was memorized to death; externally, it quickly announced the start of summer with its rise to No. 4 on the Hot 100.

But why can’t we stop saying “That’s me, espresso,” among the many other strange lines in this song? Vulture asked Ekkarat Ruanglertsilp, a linguistics professor at Hampton University who has done extensive work on language and pop music (and even published an article on the story of Ariana Grande). thank you, more). Although Ruanglertsilp admits that pop lyrics “aren’t supposed to be taken seriously,” he was eager to do so with Carpenter’s latest album.

When you first heard “Espresso,” what stood out to you?
I thought he was cute. It’s fun, catchy and very bubblegum pop. I love this type of music and I’m a fan of Sabrina, so I know it’s her sound. But it’s a little more sensual than his other songs.

“That’s me, espresso” dug into everyone’s head. What do you think of this line?
I’ve always felt that pop music, especially bubblegum pop, isn’t supposed to be taken seriously. So “That’s me, espresso” isn’t grammatically correct, is it? The reduplication of the word that is there to promote a feeling of play, to attract attention. I think it also has to do with the rhyme scheme and the number of syllables, so that each word falls into place.

By repetitionyou just mean repetition?
Yes, reduplication means repeating certain words.

And then there is also the metaphor: it is not espresso, but she compares herself to keeping this guy awake.
This conveys a feeling of power. She has this power to attract her boy, to wrap him around her finger.

What else is going on linguistically in this song?
We use the term conversions when a word changes parts of speech, such as from a verb to a noun. For example, “My fucks are on vacation. » So in this case, you combine them into one word.

This reminds me of another phrase: “I made your dream come true.” » It’s a bit the opposite, taking the noun and transforming it into a verb, isn’t it?
Yeah. It is no longer just a phrase, but in this case it is used as a single word. Or “I perfumed it” from a noun to a verb. I’m not really sure about “Mountain Dew it to you” in this case. I was like, Oh, it might be something that can quench someone’s thirst. There could also be a semantic change here, where the original meaning is changed a bit. “I do it for you” could now mean something other than just soda. In this case, it could be caffeine, an energizer or something like that.

The line “I work late because I’m a singer” seems funny to me because that’s where the song isn’t accessible to everyone – we’re not all pop singers. But it’s also one of the lines people cling to the most.
I analyzed it more in terms of gender roles. This shows me that she has a non-traditional role as a woman. Actually, I’m a singer. I am not only subject to the domestic domain. So that also shows some power. Then “My bee, come and get this pollen” – this can also be interpreted as a sexual innuendo. It’s a form of female empowerment: taking ownership of your sexuality.

Some lines that aren’t grammatically correct remind me of other pop songs, like in “Break Free,” when Ariana Grande says, “Now that I’ve become who I really am.” These are often the catchiest lines in the song. Why is that?
I’m not really sure. In 2007, there was this Timbaland song called “The Way I Are.” At the time, I was still learning English and I said to myself: Um, that’s interesting. That’s not how I learned English. But it could also be related to a non-standard English problem. If you’re talking about dialects, for example African American English in particular, they have their own set of grammar rules. And sometimes these linguistic features are appropriate.

I also associate grammatical quirks in pop lyrics with Max Martin, who co-wrote “Break Free,” and Swedish songwriters. Martin has previously said that this comes from approaching English as a non-native speaker and thinking about how something sounds versus what it means. There wasn’t a big Swedish hitmaker in the room for “Espresso,” but it also feels like a nod to something like that.
It made me think of “…Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears. I think the meaning of the hook was very different from what Max Martin originally had. It depends on how the public perceives it. Originally, “hit me” meant “call me.”

You talked a lot about “Espresso” in terms of empowerment. I feel like this goes against this silliness that Sabrina herself plays, especially as a conventionally attractive blonde woman. So some people received this song, like: Oh, there’s not much going on here. But you say it’s quite the opposite: there’s a lot going on.
Another way of looking at things: could she be considered a femme fatale here? I mean, it’s not a new concept. Many pop artists have already done it: Britney, Madonna, Beyoncé, Ariana Grande. So when you just listen to the lyrics without being critical, it might mean describing this woman as a bimbo or something like that. But if we Really look at the lyrics – if we look at the social ideologies behind these words, behind these linguistic strategies – we can see that Sabrina is the one with the power.