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“Please Please Please” is Sabrina Carpenter’s latest music video featuring her basically brand new beau, Barry Keoghan. It’s a funky, country-adjacent, pop track with high boppability—but more importantly—it’s also startlingly self-aware.
In the video, we see a fresh out of prison Carpenter falling in love with a freshly booked Keoghan. As he’s manhandled into his cell, their eyes meet, sparks fly, and thus begins a reluctant “Bonnie and Clyde”-esqe romance.
The song starts with a brow-raising first verse, with Carpenter singing “I heard that you’re an actor, so act like a stand-up guy. Whatever devil’s inside you, don’t let him out tonight.”
There’s a very long list (which has lowkey become a running gag at this point) of failed relationships between singers and actors, and the girly-pop icon in the making takes an ironic and head-on approach to all the whispers surrounding her latest relationship.
Screenshot from “Please Please Please” MV on YouTube
After picking Keoghan up from prison, they embark on a lovey-dovey drive all the way to a diner—which is apparently a front for the gang her new boytoy is part of. We see Carpenter bear witness to Keoghan committing a number of cute lil’ crimes, from robbing banks and getting into fights, all the way to kidnapping and getting arrested (again).
She stands with him (albeit reluctantly) as a literal and figurative accessory while crooning “Please, please, please don’t prove I’m right. And please, pleasе, please don’t bring me to tеars when I just did my makeup so nice. Heartbreak is one thing, my ego’s another. I beg you, don’t embarrass me, motherfucker.”
In the span of four-ish minutes, Carpenter tells us she knows what we all think. And she’s also aware of the fact that this can go very wrong for her.
View this post on InstagramPrior to the couple’s debut at the Met Gala earlier this year, Keoghan was in a long-term relationship with Alyson Sandro. The exes split not long after Keoghan hit it big with “Saltburn” and a good 15 months after the birth of their child.
She’s aware of his track record, as evidenced by the lyrics and the plot of the music video, and we’re rooting for the best possible outcome: which is that he doesn’t embarrass her on her way to certified icon status.
“Please Please Please” follows “Espresso” as the second single from her upcoming album “Short n’ Sweet,” which is slated to be released on August 23.
We’re hoping for at least another single or music video to keep us fed until then.
Screenshots from “Please Please Please” music video on YouTube