I don’t know of any elegant way to say this: I find myself really enjoying music that I am probably too old and too male to enjoy. 

I know, I know: We can all love what we love. But artists like Chappell Roan and Olivia Rodrigo are most certainly Not For Me. They’re for my daughters, and I appreciate that, because they’re making good music with good messages and I’m glad my kids have that in their lives. 

When I personally crank “Vampire” or “Good Luck, Babe” in the car by myself as I drive to pick up Chipotle and I just happen to know all the words…I’m not sure what to make of that. Perhaps the less examined, the better. 

Honestly, I just like the songs. There’s a passel of young female artists who have emerged in the past few years that are making honest, smart, popular music that hits in a way that is both broadly appealing and specific enough to be meaningful. The themes may not relate directly to my life, but I can’t deny the craft and I’m drawn in by how great the songs are. 

Sabrina Carpenter’s “Please Please Please” might seem easy to dismiss. It has that soft-focus synth sound that is dominating the pop charts right now, the kind of stuff I could have done on my Casio SK-1 keyboard back in the late 80s. Who knows, maybe that’s what they’re using; it’s probably worth $10K now and we probably pitched one in the trash a few summers ago when we cleaned out the basement of my parents’ house. 

That melody, though! Sturdy as a brick shithouse. There are seven versions of the song on the single released earlier this year, including a sped-up and slowed-down version, which are exactly what you’d expect. But the “acoustic” version takes all of Carpenter’s original vocals and puts a simple fiddle, strings and guitar arrangement behind them. You strip away the bleeps and bloops, and the song still shines; the vulnerability of the vocal is exposed, along with the sly toughness. 

That’s what makes the song really special; it is honest, and funny, and tackles a relatable subject with the kind of detail that suggests lived-in experience, whether it’s “true” or imagined for the sake of a lyric. Springsteen has this interview in an old Chuck Berry documentary where he talks about the specificity of a lyric like “She couldn’t unfasten her safety belt” and how it puts you in the car with that character in that moment, right there with his struggle.

“Please Please Please” has that too; the fear of staining makeup with unnecessary tears, encouraging your doofus boyfriend to settle for the ceiling fan’s fresh air so you don’t have to deal with his bullshit. It’s this mix of firm defiance and an attempt at gentle understanding that says the singer is sick of his bullshit but what the hell, she’ll give it another try. Either she just loves him that much or she’s just trying to get out the door without drama. 

I’ve been playing at an open mic here in town, and I was bullshitting with a guy there who was remembering how he dropped acid and listened to The White Album on repeat for fifteen hours. “You really get a lot out of an album when you listen to it over and over like that,” he said. 

I thought back to the last time I did that with music and I realized it was this song. “Please Please Please” on repeat for an afternoon by myself while I pecked away at work. I did get a lot out of it, thanks for asking.