Decode is my favorite song out of Sabrina Carpenter’s discography. I know that I just made a bold statement to all Sabrina fans but I love decode. The first I listened to the somber but beautiful song, I teared up immediately and it was one of those experience where you listen to a song and it almost feels like it’s yours in a way.
I did feel that way after I listened to Don’t Smile by Sabrina Carpenter off her latest album Short N’ Sweet. Yet, that’s a song analysis for another day and we are here to analyze decode by Sabrina Carpenter:
You're good at the falling, not the staying there
You're good at the giving too much then getting scared
You're good at impersonating someone who cares
And you had me for a minute there
But now I wonder why
I let your confusion keep me up at night
I'm so tired
We see there that Sabrina is in a tricky situation with someone who seems to give her the impression they care about her but at the end of the day they leave her confuse. She’s tired of their confusion keeping up her at night.
Re-read every single undertone and I
Overanalyzed it, front, back, and beside it
Where else can we go?
There's nothing left here to decode
Done lookin' for signs in the gaps and the silence
It's just getting old
There's nothing left here to decode
Mm-mm-mm
Now, we know Sabrina is done overanalyzing the situation. She’s done looking for any clues or signs as to why the other person did what they did to her. Yet, at this point there’s nothing left for Sabrina to decode.
There's a weight off my shoulders now that I don't chase you
Being myself, did that emasculate you?
Learning from you that I can walk away, too
And you had me for a minute, too
But now I wonder why
I let your indecision keep me up at night
I'm so tired
Unpacked every single word you wrote and I
Overanalyzed it, front, back, and beside it
Where else can we go?
There's nothing left here to decode
Done lookin' for signs in the gaps and the silence
It's just getting old
There's nothing left here to decode
Mm-mm-mm
There's nothing left here to decode
Mm-mm-mm
We’ve now seen that Sabrina was chasing the person and a weight is off her shoulders now that she’s not chasin them anymore. She re-iterates the chorus but now with a bit more strength and personal confidence coming across.
(chorus repeats)
Now I wonder why
I let your confusion keep me up at night
I'm so tired
Re-read every single undertone and I
Overanalyzed it, front, back, and beside it
Where else can we go?
There's nothing left here to decode
Done lookin' for signs in the gaps and the silence
It's just getting old
There's nothing left here to decode
There's nothing, there's nothing
There's nothing
There's nothing left here to decode
There's nothing, there's nothing
There's nothing
There's nothing left here to decode
I wanna make a video to our future selves
In the very last bit of decode, a faint video of Sabrina laughing can be heard as she softly says “I wanna make a video to our future selves”. As far as I know of, the story of that video is unknown and how it fits into the song is up to the listener. If you’re asking me, this piece of the song is Sabrina’s way of saying she can look forward to the future even though she’s spent so much time decoding the past.
When I analyzed “cowboy like me” by Taylor Swift, there was an active story being portrayed and told by Taylor. The story is provided through detailed lyrics but is also up to interpretation by the listener.
Sabrina Carpenter’s story here is different in the sense that she is telling you there’s nothing left to decode. At times, you have to let a situation go especially when you keep looking back and there’s nothing left for you to look back at. It’s a very powerful yet personal message left to anyone who does not want to be stuck in the same story forever.