Who Is Sabrina Carpenter's New Song "Manchild" About?
Sabrina Carpenter just dropped her new song "Manchild," which everyone (naturally) assumed would be about her ex Barry Keoghan. However! The singer wrote a note on Instagram that offers some insight into the inspiration behind the song, and the timeline kinda implies it's not about Barry.
Per Just Jared, Sabrina was still dating Barry when she was finishing Short n' Sweet, aka when "Manchild" was written. Meaning the song isn't about him! However, it could be about one of her other exes, aka Shawn Mendes or Joshua Bassett. So...guess there's nothing left to do but read into the lyrics (via Genius), right?
Oh, boyYou said your phone was broken, just forgot to charge itWhole outfit you're wearing, God, I hope it's ironicDid you just say you're finished? Didn't know we startedIt's all just so familiar, baby, what do you call it?StupidOr is it slow?Maybe it's uselessBut there's a cuter word for it, I knowMan-childWhy you always come a-running to me?Fuck my lifeWon't you let an innocent woman be?Never heard of self-careHalf your brain just ain't thereMan-childWhy you always come a-running, taking all my loving from me?Why so sexy if so dumb?And how survive the Earth so long?If I'm not there, it won't get doneI choose to blame your momMan-childWhy you always come a-running to me?Fuck my lifeWon't you let an innocent woman be?Never heard of self-careHalf your brain just ain't thereMan-childWhy you always come a-running, taking all my loving from me?Oh, I like my boys playing hard to getAnd I like my men all incompetentAnd I swear they choose me, I'm not choosing themAmen, hey, menOh, I like my boys playing hard to get (Play hard to get)And I like my men all incompetent (Incompetent)And I swear they choose me, I'm not choosing them (Not choosing them)Amen (Amen), hey, men (Hey, men)Man-childWhy you always come a-running to me? (Always come a-running to me)Fuck my lifeWon't you let an innocent woman be? (Amen)Oh, I like my boys playing hard to get (Play hard to get)And I like my men all incompetent (Incompetent)And I swear they choose me, I'm not choosing them (Not choosing them)Amen (Amen), hey, men (Hey, men)
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50 Years Ago, Elton John Became First Artist to Enter Billboard 200 at No. 1 – Just How ‘Fantastic' Was the Feat?
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A cover story in TIME (May 19, 1958) proclaimed him 'The Texan Who Conquered Russia.' His album topped the Billboard 200 for seven weeks, won a Grammy for best classical performance – instrumentalist and received an album of the year nod. Since the Cliburn album was a little far afield, let's go deeper. The highest that a contemporary pop or rock album had debuted prior to Captain Fantastic was No. 3. That was the debut position for The Beatles' Hey Jude (March 21, 1970) and a pair of Led Zeppelin albums: Led Zeppelin III (Oct. 24, 1970) and Physical Graffiti (March 15, 1975). Three more contemporary pop or rock albums had debuted in the top five prior to Captain Fantastic: the Woodstock soundtrack (No. 4, June 6, 1970), George Harrison's All Things Must Pass (No. 5, Dec. 19, 1970) and Elton's previous studio album Caribou (No. 5, July 6, 1974). Captain Fantastic was Elton's sixth No. 1 album in less than three years. His 1972 album Honky Chateau reached No. 1 in its fifth chart week. 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In calendar year 1975, Elton had three No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 (one a carryover from 1974) and three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 (plus an uncredited, but prominent, featured role on a fourth – Neil Sedaka's 'Bad Blood'); had a cameo as The Pinball Wizard in the hit movie adaptation of The Who's Tommy; made the cover of TIME (the inevitable cover line: 'Rock's Captain Fantastic'); and became the first artist since The Beatles to play a concert (two, actually) at Dodger Stadium. Since Elton's through-the-roof 1975, we've seen such artists as the Bee Gees (1978), Michael Jackson (1983-84) and Taylor Swift (2023-24) experience this same 'how-much-hotter-can-they-get' phenomenon. Captain Fantastic was a loosely autobiographical concept album about the struggles that John (Captain Fantastic) and his longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin (the Brown Dirt Cowboy) experienced in the early years of their careers in London from 1967 to 1969, leading up to John's eventual breakthrough in 1970. Captain Fantastic spent its first six weeks at No. 1 before yielding the top spot to Wings' Venus and Mars and then Eagles' One of These Nights (which had five weeks on top). In late August, Captain Fantastic returned for a seventh week at No. 1. Only two other John albums ever logged seven or more weeks at No. 1: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (eight weeks on top in 1973) and Greatest Hits (10 weeks on top in 1974-75). Captain Fantastic received two Grammy nominations: album of the year (John's third in that category, following Elton John and Caribou) and best pop vocal performance, male. He lost both awards to Paul Simon for Still Crazy After All These Years. 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