Sabrina Carpenter's "because i liked a boy" & the Olivia Rodrigo & Joshua Bassett Drama

Ever since Skin, I've felt like Sabrina Carpenter has a way with words - and simultaneously - a way of dealing with problems, that hyper impressive.

While a lot of people seemed to view Skin as an insulting comeback to Olivia Rodrigo, I could never see it that way.

I felt like it struck the perfect blend of honesty and acknowledgement of the pain she felt from the situation unfolding so catastrophically for her, and holding responsibility just enough where it belonged in that pretty flawless line:

"Maybe then we could pretend
There's no gravity in the words we write"

She doesn't think state that she's the victim. Doesn't try to take away Olivia's voice in any of this. She just, as she states, tries to tell her side:

"And I'm not asking you to let it go
But you been telling your side
So I'll be telling mine (mine)"

Considering how much drama unfolded after Skins was released, reporters trying to force Sabrina to admit the song was about the "love triangle" and specifically about Olivia Rodrigo, who had just blown up thanks to drivers license, I didn't actually expect Sabrina to confront the issues in another song.

But boy was I wrong when because i liked a boy was on her new album.

And yet again, Sabrina didn't disappoint. Not for a second.

Instead she turned the situation on it's head, forcing us to see her side of the situation, which is that all this hate and all this drama that was directed at her, since she didn't cheat, Joshua Bassett was out of a relationship with his ex, and she was ethically in the complete clear, boils down to her world derailing because she liked a boy with an ex.

That's it. That was her only crime.

Oh yes and, in Sabrina Carpenter style, this song is a smash bop. Let's have a look at all the lyrics for a second:

[Verse 1]
I said I wanted Thin Mints and you said you knew a guy
You showed up with a boombox and stars in your eyes
Who knew cuddling on trampolines could be so reckless?
We bonded over Black Eyed Peas and complicated exes

[Pre-Chorus]
Fell so deeply into it
It was all so innocent

[Chorus]
Now I'm a homewrecker, I'm a slut
I got death threats fillin' up semitrucks
Tell me who I am, guess I don't have a choice
All because I liked—
I'm the hot topic on your tongue
I'm a rebound gettin' 'round stealin' from the young
Tell me who I am, guess I don't have a choice
All because I liked a boy
[Post-Chorus]
Ah, mmm

[Verse 2]
I'm not catastrophizing, everything's derailing
Was only tryna hold you close while your heart was failing
It's not internet illusion, just two kids going through it
You said I'm too late to be your first love, but I'll always be your favorite

[Chorus]
Now I'm a homewrecker, I'm a slut
I got death threats fillin' up semitrucks
Tell me who I am, guess I don't have a choice
All because I liked—
I'm the hot topic on your tongue
I'm a rebound gettin' 'round stealin' from the young
Tell me who I am, guess I don't have a choice
All because I liked a boy

[Post-Chorus]
Ah
Ah
Ah
All because I liked a boy

[Bridge]
Fell so deeply into it
It was all so innocent
Dating boys with exes
No, I wouldn't recommend it

[Chorus]
I'm a homewrecker, I'm a slut
I got death threats fillin' up semitrucks
Tell me who I am, guess I don't have a choice
All because I liked a boy
And all of this for what?
When everything went down, we'd already broken up
Please tell me who I am, guess I don't have a choice
All because I liked a boy

[Outro]
Ah (A boy)
Ah (A boy)
Ah
All because I liked a boy

Meaning Behind Sabrina Carpenter's because i liked a boy & How It's About the Olivia Rodrigo & Joshua Bassett Drama

Let's jump into a quick analysis:

"I said I wanted Thin Mints and you said you knew a guy
You showed up with a boombox and stars in your eyes"

Let's be honest, she's referring to weed here. She wanted weed, he said he knew a guy. Then he showed up high (stars in his eyes) with "a boombox" - which I honestly doubt was a real boombox, probably just his phone and a speaker so they could listen to music together while high. Stupid cute.

"Who knew cuddling on trampolines could be so reckless?
We bonded over Black Eyed Peas and complicated exes"

A summary of how the couple got cuddly in the beginning. They were getting snuggled up on trampolines listening to the Black Eyed Peas, talking about their ex boyfriends and girlfriends. Sharing stories. Getting closer. Bonding. As you do.

"Fell so deeply into it
It was all so innocent"

To her, why would there have been any drama? He'd broken up with his ex, she was falling for him, he was falling for her, there was nothing to it than that and so it would make no sense that it was anything from innocent from her point of view. She was just falling for a newly single boy.

"Now I'm a homewrecker, I'm a slut
I got death threats fillin' up semitrucks"

Flash forward to Olivia Rodrigo's drivers licence coming out and she was being hated on by a pretty large mass of people.

Saying she stole Joshua from Olivia, calling her a slut for it, and let's be honest, we probably can't imagine a lot of the other things Sabrina's read about herself in relation to this.

"I'm the hot topic on your tongue
I'm a rebound gettin' 'round stealin' from the young"

The hot topic on your tongue is exactly how we humans treated Sabrina. It's the nature of the Internet and celebrity gossip culture, and you can say it "should be expected" because she's in the limelight, so it makes sense that this happened.

Still, it is what it is and from her perspective, it still sucks to be treated as though she's just a headline and not a human. I'm sure it's not a position anyone wants to be in.

That last line about being a rebound getting around and stealing from the young - Olivia's younger than her, and that's mentioned in driver's licence:

"And you're probably with that blonde girl
Who always made me doubt
She's so much older than me
She's everything I'm insecure about"

The words that were certainly about Sabrina that made her world come crashing down about her.

Ironically, I don't even think Olivia was ever pinning any of the blame on Sabrina - only on Joshua, but the internet does what it wants and it laid the bulk of the blame and hate on Sabrina.

Just wanted to point that out for a second, back to the because i liked a boy breakdown.

"Tell me who I am, guess I don't have a choice
All because I liked a boy"

Sabrina absolutely lost control of her own narrative. She tried to explain how she felt in Skin, she could've cried from the rooftops and explained in every interview (although she didn't) how she felt about the situation, but it was too late and she knew it.

The cat was out of the bag, the internet did what it does, ran with it's favourite version of things, which at the time was to just flat out paint Sabrina as a villain, and there weas absolutely nothing she could do about it. She definitely had no choice.

She got all this hate, not because she cheated with someone, crossed any kind of ethical boundary. From her perspective, which is completely fair, all she did "wrong" was not wrong at all - she just happened to fall for a boy who was newly out of a relationship. Had an ex.

How was that something made her have all this hate over? That's exactly what she wants you to critically think about.

Quickly, let's go over the remainder of the unique lyrics in this song:

"I'm not catastrophizing, everything's derailing
Was only tryna hold you close while your heart was failing
It's not internet illusion, just two kids going through it
You said I'm too late to be your first love, but I'll always be your favorite"

More from her perspective. Her entire life derailing, and it's not in her head. The only reason this began was because he was heartbroken and sad, and she was comforting him - they ended up getting close and wanted to be together.

They weren't together for some kind of drama, to sell more albums and make more money, this wasn't an illusion made for the internet to go wild.

It was just two kids having a moment, sharing that moment together, getting romantically involved because they fell for each other at that point in their lives.

Then she throws out a cute little thing he said - that he told her while he can't be her first love, he'd always be her favourite of the romances she's been in.

And finally, after all this, the conclusion she has to come to:

"Dating boys with exes
No, I wouldn't recommend it"

Let that sink in a minute. Because from her perspective, this is kinda the only lesson she felt she could take away.

That even though everything was Kosher, essentially the world still lost it on her, and so the only conclusion she could draw was "guess I'm not supposed to date boys who have ex-girlfriends."

Obviously, this is not the lesson she took from this. The lesson she took was probably something along the lines of - people are cruel and while you might be a private person about your relationships, other people's drama can blow up in your face, whether you deserve it to or not.

But she wants you to think about it - see things - from her perspective, and from hers, that's the only thing she really could come up with that was even remotely "wrong" or would have caused her the hate. Which is not something bad at all - it is not a problem at all to date people who have exes.

"And all of this for what?
When everything went down, we'd already broken up"

The heartbreaking last lyrics at the very end. I feel like I can feel her pain most in this one last line.

She's not reckless, she probably just thought they'd last, really liked him, and the drama the headache, the hassle - and then when "everything went down" (I assume refers to Olivia's full album dropping), the couple already were broken up.

So all this headache, heartache, all the tears, being called countless things on the internet, being hated by swathes of people - and all for a relationship that dissolved pretty quickly.

This song is a masterpiece. It's probably the best encapsulation of her perspective I could ever imagine condensed into a song.

I do personally believe her song vicious is also about Joshua Bassett, so head over here if you're curious to hear my take on that.