"Short n' Sweet" by Sabrina Carpenter: An Album Review

 “Short n’ Sweet” may be Sabrina Carpenter’s funniest, cheekiest album yet, but still includes some of her most vulnerable songs.

“Oh, I leave quite an impression, five feet to be exact.” This line opens the album, describing Carpenter herself, as she is just under 5 feet tall. The track list contains 12 songs and at 36 minutes long and is, in fact, “Short n’ Sweet.” This play on words previews Carpenter’s sense of humor sprinkled throughout the album.

The lyricism on “Short n’ Sweet” varies from humorous, unserious songs to heartfelt ballads. With the help of writers Amy Allen, Julia Michaels, and others, Carpenter wrote or co-wrote every song on the album.

“Bed Chem” and “Juno” include jokes such as “Come right on me/ I mean camaraderie” and “Whole package, babe/ I like the way you fit/ God bless your dad's genetics.” Carpenter’s ability to use innuendos is unapologetically sexual without being crass, and one can only dance and sing along.

Track five, “Coincidence,” is a more sarcastic song, and Carpenter narrates a story of suspected infidelity in a relationship. She sings, “Now she’s in the same damn city, on the same damn night/ And you’ve lost all your common sense.” Her response to these instances: “What a coincidence!”

Beyond dirty humor, songs like “Dumb and Poetic,” and “Lie to Girls,” include the most vulnerable lyrics on the album. “Dumb and Poetic” describes a man, who Carpenter sings, messed with her head “like it’s some kind of fetish.”

The lyrics in “Lie to Girls” say “You don’t have to lie to girls, if they like you they’ll just lie to themselves.” Many can relate to the sentiment of creating a perfect, untrue image in their mind of someone they love. The song ends with Carpenter repeating the lyrics “Girls will cry and girls will lie and girls will do it 'til they die for you,” gasping for air every few words to mimic the feeling of sobbing.

The production is varied throughout the album, with each song having a distinct sound. Producers John Ryan, Jack Antonoff, and others, are to thank for the different styles. Even with the differences in style, the album is still rather cohesive.

It begins with “Taste,” which has a pop-rock live band feeling with the classic drumkit and electric guitar, produced by Julian Bunetta, who is known for working with One Direction and others. There is some Dolly Parton-inspired twang and acoustic guitar in “Slim Pickins” and “Sharpest Tool,” and colorful synths are found in “Juno,” “Good Graces,” and “Espresso.”

It’s no secret that the lead singles of the album “Espresso” and “Please, Please, Please” were smash hits. “Is it that sweet?/ I guess so!” “Espresso” was sweet enough to be blaring out of car radios all summer long and was nominated for record of the year at the 2024 Grammys.

In “Please, Please, Please,” Carpenter showcases her vocal range, singing very high and very low notes throughout the song. The unique message, begging a man not to become an embarrassment, makes this song even more memorable.

The album’s closing song is “Don’t Smile.” It plays on the phrase “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” Carpenter instead sings, “Don’t smile because it happened,
cry because it’s over,” and describes an all-too-familiar feeling of heartbreak that feels eternal.

“Short n’ Sweet” captures many emotions including love, lust, heartbreak, and more. Carpenter’s cleverness makes this album stand out and keeps listeners coming back to listen over and over again to catch new jokes and references each time. 

Substance Abuse and Family Relationships

Addiction is a disease of the mind and body that can complicate relationships between family members. Eugene O’Neill’s autobiographical play “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” tells the story of a family that experiences these relationships. The mother, Mary, has recently relapsed back into her morphine addiction that began after giving birth to her youngest son, Edmund. Mary’s use of morphine is used as an escape from her miserable reality and allows her to dwell on happy memories of the past. Throughout the play, she becomes increasingly inebriated, ending the play in a completely delusional state. She uses blame to deflect suspicion, and the other family members blame each other for her illness. This causes relationships in this family to be strained, as it does for many families who experience similar things.

Marriage is one of the most complex, fulfilling relationships one can create. Mary and Tyrone’s marriage has become strained over the years, partially due to her addiction. This is the cause of some fighting between them. For example, Mary tries to go upstairs during an argument and Tyrone says, “Up to take more of that God-damned poison, is that it? You’ll be like a mad ghost before the night’s over!” This also foreshadows the end of the play. In response Mary denies this, saying, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, James. You say such mean, bitter things when you’ve drunk too much. You’re as bad as Jamie or Edmund.” Here, we see Mary switching the focus of the conversation to how much Tyrone and the boys drink. She blames his cruel words on the use of his substance of choice: alcohol. This example of the ‘blame game’ is one of many that shows how much tension is created within a couple as a result of addiction. Along with this, Tyrone says to Mary, “When you have the poison in you, you want to blame everyone but yourself.” Again, emphasizing how blame is transferred from one person to another in this family.

The children, Edmund and Jamie, have a complex relationship with each other because of Mary’s addiction. Jamie is the oldest, making this dynamic interesting. He says to Edmund, “I’ve had more to do with bringing you up than anyone.” Being the older brother, Jamie probably felt some kind of obligation to protect Edmund from the knowledge of Mary’s substance usage. But at this moment he’s drunk, so he just spews out the truth. Mary started taking morphine after Edmund was born, and this made Jamie slowly resent Edmund. He says to Edmund, “Always jealous of you. Mama’s baby, Papa’s pet! And it was your being born that started Mama on dope. I know that’s not your fault, but all the same, God damn you, I can’t help hating your guts!” Jamie’s strong feelings about Edmund originate around blame. He blames Edmund for Mary’s behavior and her illness. In a way, Jamie could also feel bitter for having to be the first to know about her usage. Knowing and trying to keep such a secret can take a toll on anyone.

Tyrone’s relationships with his sons are also complex. The three of them argue the most throughout the script. One argument between Tyrone and Edmund begins when Tyrone says, “Remember she’s not responsible. Once that cursed poison gets a hold on anyone -” and he’s cut off when Edmund responds, “It never should have gotten a hold on her! I know damned well she’s not to blame! And I know who is! You are! Your damned stinginess! If you’d spent money for a decent doctor when she was so sick after I was born, she’d never have known morphine existed!” One can assume that Edmund feels slightly responsible for Mary’s morphine usage since she started using after he was born. So here, he’s deflecting those feelings of guilt onto Tyrone by saying he should have hired a better doctor. He continues to express this anger by saying, “After you found out she’d been made a morphine addict, why didn’t you send her to a cure then, at the start, while she still had a chance?” Edmund feels that Tyrone is responsible because he didn’t do enough to help treat Mary early on in her substance abuse. Finally, to top it all off, Edmund tells Tyrone, “Jesus, when I think of it I hate your guts!” These arguments between them are a reality for those who have family members who struggle with addiction. Tyrone is likely the person Edmund would expect to take the best care of his mother, and as a son, he probably feels like he doesn’t have as much power or control over the situation as his father does. His frustration comes from him wanting to do more to reverse what he believes he started, but he feels like Tyrone should have been the one to help the most.

Mary’s relationship with her sons has also changed since her relapse. Addiction can violate the trust that people once had with each other. Mary’s use of morphine has compromised Jamie’s ability to trust her. He says, “Because this time Mam had me fooled. I really believed she had it licked. She thinks I always believe the worst, but this time I believed the best. I suppose I can’t forgive her - yet.” Jamie believed she was recovering, but she just masked it really well. This has broken the trust they once had, and will now leave Jamie wondering if she’s actually getting better or if she’s hiding it again. Nothing strains family relationships more than secrets, and typically people who struggle with addiction are quite secretive.

Edmund’s relationship with Mary is also affected in the play. Edmund is diagnosed with Consumption, or Tuberculosis, and tries to tell her about it multiple times. Mary is in denial of his illness and insists that he has a bad cold. When Edmund finally tells Mary about his diagnosis, she is far too delusional to understand or accept what he’s saying. In the stage directions at this moment, O’Neill writes, “(for a second he seems to have broken through to her. She trembles and her expression becomes terrified. She calls distractedly as if giving a command to herself). No! (And instantly she is far away again...)” For just a moment Edmund brings Mary back to reality, but quickly she is back under the grasp of the morphine. Edmund might feel like Mary doesn’t even care about his health issues at all. When a child is sick, the comfort and reassurance of a mother can help them get through it, but Edmund doesn’t receive this. Instead, drugs dictate Mary’s response to this news, which is essentially to ignore that she even heard it.

Morphine is a way for Mary to escape her regrets and her current reality. This is one way that people who experience substance abuse justify their usage. Mary had dreams of becoming a concert pianist or becoming a nun, but instead, she married James Tyrone. She’s experienced trauma in her life, like the death of her second son, Eugene. She also denies Edmund’s illness. In the last scene of the play, she is the most inebriated by the drugs and reminisces heavily on the past, longing for feelings of happiness. She says, “Then in the spring something happened to me. Yes, I remember. I fell in love with James Tyrone and was so happy for a time.” Substances can cause an addict to reminisce and wish their life was different, and in a twisted cycle, reminiscing on the past and regret causes an addict to reach for more of their vice. Morphine allows Mary to experience the last happy memories she had. Her experience is unfortunately not a unique one, and neither are the experiences of her family members.

Long Day’s Journey Into Night explores these familial relationships that become complex as a result of substance use and addiction. We see each family member blaming others for this disease that has afflicted Mary’s life for so long. With all the blame being thrown around, one is left to wonder, who is to blame? Is it the spouse of the addict, who could have helped find the best medical care? Is it the child of the addict, whose birth was the start of the addiction? Or is it the addicts themselves? These questions are not answered in this play, nor can they be answered simply. Addiction is not a simple issue. Many complexities plague the addict and their family. One thing is for certain, passing around blame did nothing to help Mary’s addiction. If anything, it strained the family’s relationship that much more. Love, support, and kindness are some of the only remedies that families can provide to their loved ones struggling with addiction. 

Machinal: Specific Sound, Set, and Stage Directions

Machinal is a play that demonstrates very well what it feels like to be trapped in a cycle or a ‘machine’. The play describes many machines, such as patriarchy, religion, prison, marriage, working, and more. The main character is a young woman, and we learn late in the play that her name is Helen. Helen’s experience helps the audience experience a woman’s point of view in the machines of life. The unique nature of this play would make it difficult to direct. However, the playwright, Sophie Treadwell, gives us many tools and specific stage directions to help. With these specific instructions, there are ways to overcome these challenges and produce a play that anyone can enjoy and understand.

One unique thing about this play is that Treadwell wrote very specific directions for the play at the beginning of the script. She tells us the plot, the plan, and the hope of the play, as well as instructions on how to light and stage it. This gives us great insight into what the play is meant to accomplish. In the paragraph titled ‘The Plan’, she writes, “The Plan is to tell this story by showing the different phases of life that the woman comes in contact with, and in none of which she finds any place, any peace... Business, home, marriage, having a child, seeking pleasure - all are difficult for her - mechanical, nerve-nagging.” We know from this introductory paragraph that she wants the audience to see and understand the life of a woman stuck in the machinery of life and that she doesn’t find any peace. She also says, “The Plot is the story of a woman who murders her husband - an ordinary young woman, any woman.” It’s interesting that she specifies that the plot of this story is meant to portray “any woman.” This makes it easy to cast, and all of these instructions would help the actor who plays the young woman know how to portray her.

One interesting, but crucial part of this play is the various and overlapping sounds throughout the show. Many scenes have confusing dialogue, lines spoken from offstage, sound effects, and music. But Treadwell gives us specific instructions on how to do this logistically and the reasoning for it. She says, “Then there is, also, the use of many different sounds chosen primarily for their inherent emotional effect... but contributing also to the creation of a background, an atmosphere.” From this direction, we know that these sounds are part of the world in which this story takes place. The sounds are also meant to envelop the audience in the story. One example of this is in Episode One: To Business. The directions at the beginning of the scene say, “Sounds: office machines: typewriters, adding machine, manifold, telephone bells, buzzers.” This opening scene can leave the audience surrounded by sounds, but this is exactly what Treadwell wants. The many sounds leave us confused and overwhelmed, much like the Young Woman feels at the end of the scene, which we see from her monologue that finishes the scene.

Because of the expressionistic nature of the play, the sets and lighting are a big part of how we tell the story. Treadwell writes, “Scenically this play is planned to be handled in two basic sets,” and she goes on to describe the sets. These descriptions are very specific and helpful to us in how the sets are made and how the actors will enter and exit from the stage. It also paints a picture in our minds of how it should look. In regards to props, she says, “There is a change of furniture, and props for each episode - only essential things, full of character.” From this, we know that few props are used in the show and that every prop is essential to the story. Logistically this is helpful because we have few props to keep track of and to get on and offstage. Treadwell also writes which props are used at the beginning of each scene. The lighting is described as “concentrated and intense. - Light and shadow - bright light and darkness.” The lighting adds so much to the story because of the simple nature of the set and props. As an audience member, being in the darkness during the transitions and hearing the changes in music or sounds enhances the feelings of confusion and helps us get into the mindset of the young woman.

The specific instructions that Treadwell gives us help us tell the story. She even tells us what the hope of Machinal is. She says, “The Hope is to create a stage production that will have ‘style,’ and at the same time, by the story’s own innate drama, by the directness of its telling, by the variety and quick changingness of its scenes, and the excitement of its sounds, to create an interesting play.” If I were to direct this show, I’d hope the audience experiences more than ‘an interesting play’. I’d hope for the audience to leave feeling the effects of the machine(s) described: the expectation for women to be perfect homemakers, the pressure involved in sexual relationships, religious machines that claim to only want what’s best for you, and more. More than anything, I would hope that the people in the audience feel seen, especially women, and that they feel empowered to leave the machines they feel trapped in (without committing violent crimes of course). I hope all audience members leave with a better understanding of the machine and how to end cycles in their own lives.