Sabrina Carpenter's Word Bank | Lyric Analysis

My last post was about creating a word bank upon getting together an idea for a song; this means gathering and thinking about associated items and ideas for the topic you've chosen. It helps to build vivid imagery, which in turn helps the listener to imagine the scenes and make the song more memorable. As you likely know, songwriting is often about expressing a feeling, and I think the best way to do that is to help the listener pull out from their own experience things that provoke that feeling. It also means you're likely to love your first draft more as you know you had some of the best concepts and references to draw from from the beginning. 

As I was listening to music since posting that, it's crazy to notice that many songs exist without ever having a single noun in the lyrics. Instead, it's feelings and verbs. They still manage to tell a compelling story, often because it describes actual events in the songwriter's life. That can provide the content needed for a full song. But when you aren't going off of real events (or the event is a short story long), you may have difficulty writing at least two unique verses, a chorus, and a bridge. It helps to have things to draw from when you've written half a song and feel dried up on ideas for the rest of it.

I had said you can become stuck sometimes using your own typical vocabulary, and one of the best ways to expand it is to borrow from someone else's. We're going to use Sabrina Carpenter as an example. I am aware that Carpenter had help in writing her latest record. Namely, Amy Allen, Jack Antonoff, and John Ryan. So this isn't necessarily the vocabulary Carpenter alone used in the writing process. However, it is the stuff within the world of the record. We're about to analyse the associated ideas and imagery within Man's Best Friend.

We already know the brand and associated images of Carpenter as an artist: Lingerie, the espresso lipstick stain, her perfumes, and Marilyn Monroe hairstyles. But if you listen for the ideas evoked by the album title and cover, you might realise those are really just from her live shows or music videos. If we're just focused on the songwriting, specifically the lyrics in these 12 songs, is that what she's really singing about?

A compilation of images and ideas in Man's Best Friend:

TALKING: communication, paragraphs, apology, what you say doesn't matter, saying a lot of nothing, tell me what I want to hear, making amends, "I love you," "I'm sorry," sweet talking, he said, read the signs,  silent treatment, telling jokes, internalising what they said, agree, conversation, promise, make a metaphor, words, lost in communication, bilingual, shoot the shit (to have a casual conversation), forgive, blaming, I ready know, you've said that before, reach out

PHONE: Calling, call, drunk dialling, broken phone, ring ring, trying different numbers, pick up, call you back

CLOTHES: what a guy wears when a woman doesn't tell him how to dress for the event, slutty pyjamas, Outfit, wearing something as a joke, taking clothes off - go put clothes on, shoes,

DESCRIPTIONS OF MEN: boy/s, stupid, slow, usless, always needing help, brainless, dumb, poor survival skills, incompetent, respectful, hot, self-restrained, obsessed, clingy, loving, stranger, small-minded, baby, honey, fine, deceiving, self-controlled, who they are when they grow up is influenced by their mother, babe, sexy, buddy

ACTIVITIES: self-care, dishes, assembling furniture, offering to do anything, listening, working out, watch the fight, getting new improvements, dreamin', making a decision, having dinner, house tour

THINGS IN RELATIONSHIPS: playing hard to get, being over-dependent, attracting a certain type of person, double take [reconsidering someone], being treated right, taking initiative, being respectful, suddenly they change a lot, putting up wit their moods, feeling unwanted particularly when they find a new hobby, the whole thing being a nightmare, being devoted, being sought after, missing someone, being needed, giving a lot of last chances, being a third wheel, know where you stand, what’s mine is yours, being shot down,

BREAKUPS: being broken up with when you didn't know you were an item, calling it quits, drifting apart, taking a break, bitching someone out, you’re losing me, we said goodbye, you chose goodbye

EMOTIONS: in love, being in touch with you're emotions, having your feelings considered, crying - he made me cry, heartbreak, growing emotionally, a familiar feeling, happy, happiness, at peace, angry, fun, stressed, confident, if I’m feeling that way, numb the pain, disinterested, laughing - comedy, worry, humbled, annoyed, emotional lottery, feeling like a shell of a man, comfortable, proud, reckless, pleasured, feelings changed, wanting to punch someone, a specific feeling, silly, romantic, cute, tired, doubt, sorry

SEX: [premature ejaculation], wet, foreplay, initiating sex, being in bed, feeling hot, touching, not being touched, loving, get over here, makeup sex, using your right hand, using your lips, abstinence, naked twister, back door, sleeping with you

PATHOLOGY: PTSD, Multiple personalities, agoraphobia, drunk, fainted, it hurts - in pain, in a coma, pull the plug

OBJECTS: charger, prize, wallet, money, apartment, flowers, a white flag of sarendre, a switch - dimmer, windowpane, sun, schedule, plant, bone, horse, Zeus’ lightning bolt (here called a light rod), car - self-driving car, air freshener, insurance, gun, fortune, invitation,  a twenty-foot pole,

FOOD & DRINK: drinking, Miller Light, liquor, GoGo juice, shots, an ounce, Chips Ahoy (cookies), have your cake and eat it too, pineapple, sugar

BODY PARTS: thigh, tears, hand, right hand, big tits, mouth, lips, head, mind, brain, ass, waxed, wide-eyed, running, dancing

LIFE & ABSTRACT IDEAS: It’s a big world, things die, only God knows, big world, having an epiphany, at the end of the rainbow, thank the Lord for good things, on your big journey, purpose 

PEOPLE: we, me, mother, son, baby, my man, the boys, Lord God, a neighbouring bitch, my friends, ugly kid, John, Larry, [Dylan], villain, Devin, a girl who’s been dumped, someone, other girl, the one who..., an innocent woman, nobody

LOCATIONS: your place, rodeo, I know where you live, prospect convention, walking in your [friends] direction, a party, the club, in town, driving home, inside, first - second - third floor, the couch, pretty girl avenue, my house, a place where your dreams come true, at the back door, the floor, at my door, I'm right here, in the land

TIME: forever - for life, never, happy hour, day, night, when I woke up, AM/PM, 10 o’clock, Tuesday, the whole week, every minute, every other minute, perfect timing, when I do, 40 minutes, had a great time, if you have time, Saturday, overnight, now, not anymore, three weeks, on the flip side, yesterday, busy, working

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I've attempted to be comprehensive, although I missed out most verbs. The point is to focus on the objects that can have associated meaning or build a picture in the mind of the listener. So, was it what you expected? Considering what Sabrina Carpenter looks like and how she portrays herself on stage and in her videos, are you surprised by what's actually in the songs? I would say I am... a little. She's known for being spicy; however her most referenced topics are communication, relationships, and emotions.

This is mostly a reflection of what vocabulary was used in the album, but I suggested borrowing from someone else's vocabulary to enrich your own songwriting so I suppose I should try doing just that.

The recommended way I would now encourage you to use this is to pick 2 or three items in a category you want to use as a lyric and expand it based on other items you feel are connected. That way, as you are forming the lines of your song, you'll have more references to build the picture and hold the listener in the moment you're describing for longer. It'll help you to expand past the things you would have thought to say or write about.

The other way is to simply write from this word bank, using it as inspiration to create your own song from the same references. Many songs are written with the intention to pitch them to a certain artist or just to have your own song that sounds like them. Using the same words from their world helps to write a song they could have helped with.

That's what I'm going to do; I'll just start with "My house" from locations and just see where it goes...

You stepped into my entryway without an invitation, 
Standing there and yabbering for so long I felt faint
I prayed to the good Lord that you'd finally say, "Goodbye" 
It's clear to me that this boy is not reading my face         (the signs)

Dreaming to return to my oh so   comfy couch 
and calling my friend with the story, she'll remember you no doubt
I can only blame myself that you know where I live            (reversed)
just wish that I said that I was working early, how much more must I listen?

Now, this doesn't really rhyme yet, and I [didn't] know where it's going. This is an interesting experience like trying to cook only with some given ingredients that you haven't used before, but that limitation is what forces you to be creative. I forced myself to see where I can go with the given list of ideas.

There's another strangeness to it too, because without the original artist in the room it can be like you're just misquoting them, making them say something they didn't. And you can't know if they would really say that or be offended by the suggestion. Unless you can ask them, you have to put that aside and write your own song whether or not the main idea is something they'd sing or not.

I hope this has been useful. Happy songwriting! If you do use this list, I would love to see what you come up with, even if it's just a few lines.

xxo Beka

Photo by Castorly Stock