Sabrina Carpenter is airing it all out on her new album, emails i can’t send. The singer-songwriter faced immense online hate back in 2021 after the internet declared her the “blonde girl” who stole Joshua Bassett from Olivia Rodrigo on Rodrigo’s No. 1 hit “drivers license.” The song and drama surrounding it caused quite the stir on social media, unsurprisingly tainting the budding relationship between Carpenter and Bassett.
Now, Carpenter is addressing the impact those trolls had on the start of their relationship on the emails i can’t send cut “because i liked a boy,” which shot into the Top 5 on the Genius Top Songs chart following the album’s release. Co-written by Carpenter, producer John Ryan, JP Saxe, and Julia Michaels, “because i liked a boy” contrasts the reality of her romance with the public’s perception of the relationship.
On the first verse, we see how innocent her relationship was from the start. Like any other love, it involved cuddling, bonding over shared interests, and adorable acts of kindness.
Who knew cuddling on trampolines
Could be so reckless?
We bonded over Black Eyed Peas
And complicated exes
On the chorus, we see how the public reacted to the relationship. The hate from “drivers license” apparently got so bad, she was subjected to demoralizing names and death threats.
Now I’m a homewrecker, I’m a slut
I got death threats fillin’ up semi-trucks
Later in the hook, we also get Carpenter’s favorite line in the whole song. It’s a bit tongue-and-cheek and very true to her experience.
Tell me who I am, guess I don’t have a choice
All because I liked a boy
“My favorite lyric in the song is ‘Tell me who I am, because I don’t have a choice,’” Carpenter explained to Rolling Stone. “It’s obviously sarcastic, but in the way that people can’t tell you who you are. Only if you allow them to, like really get under your skin, but truthfully, you know who you are.”
On the second verse, we learn a bit more about just how bad the situation was for Bassett, whom “drivers license” is rumored to be about, though neither he nor Rodrigo ever confirmed it. Carpenter recounts when Bassett was hospitalized for septic shock—aka heart failure thought to be induced by stress—shortly after the release of his 2021 single “Lie Lie Lie.” Carpenter stayed by his side through it all, despite the internet’s quest to tear them apart.
I’m not catastrophizing
Everything’s derailing
Was only tryna hold you close
While your heart was failing
On the bridge, the relationship seems to be in Carpenter’s rearview, and she’s able to share the lesson she learned from the whole experience.
Dating boys with exes
No, I wouldn’t recommend it
Though “because i like a boy” is rooted in Carpenter’s tabloid love triangle, she’s confident the song will resonate with others too. “I’ve had so many people that have heard it tell me how much they relate to it in their own way,” she told Rolling Stone. “Like, ‘I went through years where people were believing all these things that people were saying about me that weren’t true.’ People have experienced that similar situation in a completely different way than I’ve experienced it.”
You can read all the lyrics to “because i liked a boy” on Genius now.
