It’s not quite summer yet, but when “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter is played, it seems to whisk me away right to the beach and the boardwalk. The track has been a major hit because of its confident, cheeky lyrics and light breezy tune.

While many fans believe this is Carpenter’s first hit song, she has led up to this moment by opening Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and releasing singles with similar energy, including “Nonsense” and “Feather.” These have all added to her cute, flirty persona that she has leaned into in “Espresso.”

In “Espresso,” Carpenter embraces her confidence and power in keeping someone awake at night because he’s thinking about her. The lyrics “Now he’s thinkin’ ’bout me every night, oh/Is it that sweet? I guess so,” emphasize how, like a shot of espresso, she can keep someone awake. Later in the chorus, Carpenter sings, “Say you can’t sleep, baby, I know/That’s that me espresso,” a catchy punchline about how she knows she is cooking, and we’re all hungry.

Still, many listeners have been puzzled by this lyric, since “that’s that me espresso” doesn’t follow normal grammatical rules. However, the meaning is quite simple: Carpenter is singing that she is addicting, just like coffee, and worth obsessing over. The reduplication of “that” makes the song even more sonically pleasing and hard to stop singing.

In the fast and upbeat pre-chorus, Carpenter cheekily references other caffeinated beverages, singing, “I Mountain Dew it for ya.” This casual yet bold pun is rhymed with other lines about how she knows she “dream-came-trued it for ya” and “brand-newed it for ya.” The fun, rhythmic bop of these lyrics hooks listeners and gives them a taste of Carpenter’s confident and playful personality.

Social media platforms have also been using clips of Carpenter’s song, especially the lyrics “I’m working late ’cause I’m a singer.” Other popular singers, such as Katy Perry, Selena Gomez, and Charlie Puth sing along, relating to staying up to work on songs. Another hard-to-forget lyric that has been trending is “I can’t relate to desperation/My give-a-f***s are on vacation,” which features a slower, relaxed tune as well as another interesting choice of syntax. It’s as if Carpenter knows she has the listener’s attention, so she’s taking her time, emphasizing her breezy and carefree attitude.

In addition to the song itself, the fun and energetic music video of “Espresso” sets the scene for the song well. The cute outfits, vintage color scheme of the video and aesthetic choreography add to the vintage summer vibe. Furthermore, after leading global charts with “Espresso,” Carpenter recently served five hot new versions of the song that each embody the whimsical feeling of a warm summer day, featuring creative titles such as “Double Shot,” “On Vacation,” “Decaf,” “Mochapella” and “Espressooooo.” Each title represents a unique version of the song, which are sped up, karaoke, slowed down, extended, or a cappella.

Carpenter’s “Espresso” is a pop song that is truly worthy of screaming in the car with the window rolled down and is without doubt the “song of the summer”. After all, that’s that her espresso.

This story was originally published on tjTODAY on May 29, 2024.