Once upon a time, one averagely talented male teen with a head of curly brown hair single-handedly set pop culture history and the next generation of A-list pop stars in motion when he was a shitty boyfriend to two musical young girlies. I’m talking about the one and only Joshua Bassett, of course — the Disney star-turned devout Christian who dated both Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter back in 2019 and 2020. He and Olivia famously starred in High School Musical the Musical the Series together as the Gen Z Troy and Gabriella, respectively (yes, that’s the real name of the show, and no, we did not need a reboot). They fell in love IRL, but Josh swiftly moved on to Sabrina, another Disney star, and so, the scandal began.

In 2024, we live in a world where Olivia and Sabrina are some of the biggest pop stars on the planet, and it all started with this thrilling tale. While all three members of the love triangle have written multiple songs about the situation, Joshua’s Olivia and Sabrina tunes haven’t made the Billboard charts (yet). So, we’re gonna stick to discussing Olivia and Sabrina’s for now. From a gifted pop analyst: Here is every song Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter have written about each other.

All The Songs Olivia Rodrigo And Sabrina Carpenter Have Written About Each Other

Olivia Rodrigo Songs About Sabrina Carpenter

“driver’s license”

The innocent little tune that started it all. When Olivia was 17 and had no idea that she was about to become an A-list star, she pretty explicitly sang about Joshua moving on with Sabrina. “And you’re probably with that blonde girl / Who always made me doubt,” Olivia says in the first verse. “She’s so much older than me / She’s everything I’m insecure about.” This one isn’t rocket science: Sabrina’s the blondest blonde out there, she’s four years older than Olivia, and she dated Joshua after Olivia did. It’s just math.

“deja vu”

I struggled to get my jaw off the floor when I first heard this pop magic. In “deja vu,” Olivia sings about Joshua doing all the same shit with Sabrina that he used to do with her — activities like driving to Malibu, eating strawberry ice cream, watching Glee, singing in harmony, listening to Billy Joel, etc. She sings in the chorus: “So when you gonna tell her / That we did that, too? / She thinks it’s special / But it’s all reused.” Olivia gets more specific about Josh’s new girl in the second verse when she croons, “Another actress / I hate to think that I was just your type.” Oof. If you watched Girl Meets World or Work It, you’re aware that Sabrina is one of the greatest actresses of our time.

(maybe) “lacy”

Okay, it’s a “maybe” because my primary theories about the subject of this song include Sabrina, Gracie Abrams, and Taylor Swift. That being said, I’ll present my case for Sabrina. In the second verse, Olivia sings, “Dazzling starlet, Bardot reincarnate” and also references hair ribbons. If you’ve ever seen photos of Brigitte Bardot and the “Espresso” singer, you know this description fits Sabrina, *a frequent hair ribbon-wearer*, pretty accurately. Taking our analysis a step further, Olivia also says: “You got the one thing that I want.” I dare say, I interpreted the “one thing” as a friendship or mentor/mentee relationship with Taylor Swift. (Olivia and Taylor haven’t publicly interacted since Taylor claimed that “deja vu” sounds like “Cruel Summer” and ended up with 50 percent of Olivia’s royalties from that SOUR track.)

Sabrina Carpenter Songs About Olivia Rodrigo

“Skin”

Love Sabrina, but this song was a choice I don’t even think she stands by. “Skin” is a mid piece of music and a cringe piece of pop culture history. The diss track came out exactly two weeks after “driver’s license” and seemed to be a direct response to Olivia’s hit.

“Maybe we could’ve been friends / If I met you in another life,” Sabrina sings in the first verse. “Maybe then we could pretend / There’s no gravity in the words we write / Maybe you didn’t mean it / Maybe blonde was the only rhyme.” It was brutal because A., Olivia was literally 17 when she wrote that, and B., she couldn’t have predicted Sabrina getting bullied online because of it. Not to mention, Olivia didn’t use “blonde” as a rhyme in “driver’s license,” so that part of “Skin” doesn’t make sense.

In the chorus, Sabrina sings, “You can try / To get under my, under my, under my skin / While he’s on mine,” and it just feels like a low blow. Was it necessary to brag about scoring Joshua after he had just broken teenage Olivia’s heart? Probably not… I think Sabrina feels the same way now, because she never performs “Skin.”

“because i liked a boy”

This song is what I like to call “Skin” (The Adult, Mature, Actually Good Music Version). In “because I liked a boy,” Sabrina directs her pissed-offness at the social media trolls instead of Olivia. The correct target! And the songwriting is A+++. “We bonded over Black Eyed Peas and complicated exes,” she sings in the first verse. (Yes, Olivia is the “complicated ex” in question.) Later in the song, Sabrina recalls Josh telling her that she was “too late” to be his “first love,” another reference to Olivia.

In the chorus, she addresses her haters: “I’m a hot topic on your tongue / I’m a rebound gettin’ ’round stealin’ from the young / Tell me who I am, guess I don’t have a choice / All because I liked a boy.” Yess, call them out. If “because i liked a boy” isn’t on the set list for the Short n’ Sweet tour, Team Sabrina will be hearing from me.