Who Are Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet Songs About? Exactly Which Tracks Dissed Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello

“Taste”

Subject: Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello

“Taste,” the first song from Short n’ Sweet, is believed to be about Carpenter’s ex, Shawn Mendes, who she dated briefly in February 2023, to Mendes’ on-again, off-again girlfriend, Camila Cabello, whom he got back together with in April 2023 before they split again in June of that year. “Taste” serves as a warning to her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend and how she’ll “taste” her whenever they kiss. 

“I heard you’re back together and if that’s true / You’ll just have to taste me when he’s kissin’ you”

• Mendes and Cabello first dated from 2019 to 2021 before getting back together briefly in 2023, just two months after Mendes’ split from Carpenter.

“I’ve been there, done that once or twice”

• Carpenter was also involved in a love triangle with her ex-boyfriend, Joshua Bassett, and his ex-girlfriend, Olivia Rodrigo, in 2020, which was the inspiration for Rodrigo’s debut album, Sour. 

“Yeah, I know I’ve been known to share”

• Another lyric that references Carpenter’s love triangle with Bassett and Rodrigo.

“Please Please Please”

Subject: Barry Keoghan

“Please Please Please,” the second song and single from Short n’ Sweet, is believed to be about Carpenter’s current boyfriend, Barry Keoghan, whom she was first linked to in late 2023. Carpenter also seemed to confirm this theory by casting Keoghan as her love interest in “Please Please Please.” The song is about how Carpenter’s heard negative things about her new boyfriend and how she hopes he doesn’t embarrass her by her choosing to love him anyways. 

“I heard that you’re an actor” 

• Keoghan is an actor who’s best known for starring in movies like Saltburn, The Banshees of Inisherin, and Eternals. 

“I tell them it’s just your culture / And everyone rolls their eyes”

• Unlike Carpenter, who’s American, Keoghan is Irish, who are often described as having a more harsh and playful sense of humor, according to Reddit. 

“Good Graces”

Subject: Possibly Barry Keoghan

“Good Graces,” the third song from Short n’ Sweet, is about Carpenter warning her boyfriend to not wrong her so he could stay in her “good graces.” Though it’s unclear who “Good Graces” is inspired by, it’s possible the song could be about Carpenter’s relationship with Keoghan based on lyrics that relate to another song on her album.

“You should stay in my good graces / Or I’ll switch it up like that so fast / ‘Cause no one’s more amazin’ / At turnin’ lovin’ into hatred”

• Carpenter also references hatred in “Please Please Please,” which is widely believed to be about Keoghan, in the lyric: “Don’t make me hate you prolifically.”

“Sharpest Tool”

Subject: Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello

“Sharpest Tool,” the fourth song from Short n’ Sweet, is also believed to be about Mendes and Cabello. The song is about Carpenter’s boyfriend sending her mixed signals.

“I know you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed”

• “Not the sharpest tool in the shed” is a phrase used to describe someone not smart—or dumb. Another song believed to be about Mendes from Short n’ Sweet is “Dumb and Poetic.” Because both titles reference someone dumb, it’s speculated that “Sharpest Tool” is also about Mendes.

“Found God at your ex’s house, always”

• Mendes reunited with his ex-girlfriend, Camila Cabello, two months after his relationship with Carpenter. He’s also been open about his spirituality and his relationship with God. “Whether or not you’re religious or believe in a god. sometimes you gotta scrunch up your face and listen to someone sing realllll good from deep in the soul. Medicine for a tired heart,” he captioned an Instagram post in August 2024 of him listening to gospel music.

“Coincidence”

Subject: Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello

“Coincidence,” the fifth song from Short n’ Sweet, is also believed to be about Mendes and Cabello. The song is about Carpenter’s boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend took him back once she found out he had moved on. 

“Now her name comes up once, then it comes up twice / And without her even bein’ here, she’s back in your life / Now she’s in the same damn city on the same damn night”

• Two years after their breakup, Mendes and Cabello sparked reunion rumors when they were seen kissing at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April 2023. 

“Your car drove itself from L.A. to her thighs / Palm Springs looks nice, but who’s by your side? Damn it, she looks kinda like the girl you outgrew / Least that’s what you said ”

• It’s believed that the reference to Palm Springs, which is about 24 miles (or a 31-minute drive) to Indio, California, where Coachella is, is another reference to Mendes and Cabello’s reunion after their split.

‘Bed Chem”

Subject: Barry Keoghan

“Bed Chem,” the sixth song from Short n’ Sweet, is believe to be about how Carpenter and Keoghan first met and their sexual chemistry with each other. 

“I was in a sheer dress the day that we met” & “Who’s the cute boy with the white jacket and the thick accent?”

• Carpenter and Keoghan both attended Givenchy’s Paris Fashion Week on September 28, 2023. Keoghan wore a white jacket with a tie and black pants, while Carpenter wore a sheer black dress. Keoghan also has an Irish accent.

“Said you’re not in my timezone, but you wanna be”

• Keoghan lives in London, United Kingdom, which uses Greenwich Mean Time, while Carpenter resides in Los Angeles, California, which uses Eastern Standard Time. 

“Who’s the cute guy with the wide, blue eyes”

• Keoghan is known for his large blue eyes, which had many closeup shots in Carpenter’s “Please Please Please music video.

“Espresso”

Subject: Shawn Mendes 

“Espresso,” Carpenter’s first single and seventh song from Short n’ Sweet, wasn’t believed to be about anyone specific when it was first debuted in April 2024. However, after the release of Short n’ Sweet, which is speculated to mostly be about Carpenter’s fling with Mendes, based on one lyric. 

“Too bad your ex don’t do it for ya”Several songs on Short n’ Sweet, including “Taste” and “Coincidence,” are about Carpenter’s love triangle with Mendes and Cabello. Though this “Espresso” lyric seemed innocuous at first on its own, now with the context of what the rest of the album is about, it’s believed that “Espresso” could be about the start of Carpenter and Mendes’ situationship two years after his split from Cabello.

“Dumb & Poetic”

Subject: Shawn Mendes

“Dumb & Poetic,” Carpenter’s eighth song from Short n’ Sweet, is believed to be a diss track about Mendes and his fake poetic way of talking during their relationship. 

“Every self-help book, you’ve already read it / Cherry-pick lines like they’re words you invented”

• In 2022, Mendes shared Gregory David Roberts’ Shantaram, a fictional spiritual novel, on his Instagram as a book that was a “life-changer” to him.

“Jack off to lyrics by Leonard Cohen”

• Mendes is a well-known fan of Cohen and even covered his song, “Hallelujah,” several times throughout his career. He most recently shared an X video of him performing it on August 20, 2024. 

“And I promise the mushrooms aren’t changing your life”

• Mendes revealed he experimented with mushrooms at a concert in London in August 2024. “I simultaneously really do know who I am, but I also have no fucking   clue. I’m just figuring that out,” he said. “I was going through a lot and exploring things. I don’t know if anyone here has ever tried mushrooms but it’s a crazy thing.”

“Slim Pickins”

Subject: Shawn Mendes

While “Slim Pickins,” Carpenter’s ninth song from Short n’ Sweet, is about her dating life and her struggle to find The One, Carpenter does seemingly reference her love triangle with Mendes and Cabello at the end of the song.

“Since the good ones call their exes wasted”

• The line is one of several lyrics on Short n’ Sweet that took aim at Mendes reuniting with Cabello soon after their situationship. 

“A boy who’s jacked and kind”

• Though this lyric could be about anyone, Mendes is known for his physique and even modeled for a Calvin Klein underwear campaign in 2019.

“Juno”

Subject: Possibly Barry Keoghan

“Juno,” the 10th song from Short n’ Sweet, is about Carpenter’s attraction toward a love interest and how she’s attracted to him so much that she wants him to make her Juno, which is a reference to the 2007 movie about a teenager who gets pregnant. It’s possible the song is about Keoghan based on a few clues, though it’s hard to confirm.

“Wanna try out my fuzzy pink handcuffs?”

• Carpenter handcuffed Keoghan in her “Please Please Please” music video, which could’ve been an Easter egg to this lyric.

“I might let you make me Juno / You know I just might Let you lock me down tonight / One of me is cute, but two though?”

• Keoghan is already a father to his son, Brando, with his ex-girlfriend, Alyson Sandro. He welcomed Brando in 2022.

“Lie to Girls”

Subject: Unknown

It’s unclear who “Lie to Girls,” Carpenter’s 11th song from Short n’ Sweet, is about, however, the song seems to be inspired by an ex-boyfriend lying to her and displaying red flags but her choosing to ignore them. “You don’t have to lie to girls / If they like you, they’ll just lie to themselves.” However, it’s possible that the song is about her current relationship with Keoghan based on other songs on Short n’ Sweet about the warnings she received about him that she looked past, though there aren’t enough lyrics to confirm that.

“Don’t Smile”

Subject: Possibly Shawn Mendes

It’s also unclear who “Don’t Smile,” Carpenter’s 12th song from Short n’ Sweet is about, however, based on the narrative of the rest of the album, it’s speculated that the song could be about her missing Mendes after their breakup and his reunion with Cabello. 

“Oh, you’re supposed to think about me / Every time you hold her”

• Mendes reunited with Cabello two months after he was first linked to Carpenter. Carpenter also references him thinking about her while with Cabello on other songs on Short n’ Sweet, including “Taste.”

“Pour my feelings in the microphone”

• This lyric could be a poetic reference to how Carpenter’s situationship with Mendes inspired most of Short n’ Sweet.