When I think of Canadian pop singer Carly Rae Jepsen, my mind immediately goes to her award-winning smash “Call Me Maybe.”
That song’s combination of catchy lyrics and upbeat tunes is exactly what most people have come to expect from Jepsen–and she’s done it again. Her latest single, “Beach House,” is an earworm and continues to climb the charts as Jepsen reminisces on failed relationships and the frustration she’s found in dating.
Carly says that “boy number one” was promising, until she found out that his mom “made the food” they were eating on their date. And it seems that no matter how many men she dates, she feels she’s on “a carousel” of empty promises where she’s bound to get hurt (“I just want to believe that/When you chase a girl, it’s not just huntin’ season/’I can see the future/Say it like you mean it’”).
Some of those hurts are of her own making, like her interest in a man who was married (“I highly agreed to go back to his place/His wife really had some impeccable taste”). But others are either too needy (“Brought up his ex and he started to cry/Told me he loved me the very first night/Oh no”), too inconsistent (“I got big plans to take care of you/I just need ten thousand dollars”) or act like they could be serial killers (“I got a lake house in Canada/And I’m probably gonna harvest your organs”).
Anyone who has entered the dating world knows what a wild ride it can be, no matter how cautious you are. That’s the picture I see when I hear Jepsen’s new tune. She seems to genuinely want a reliable, stable man, but according to her often suggestive lyrics, it’s not clear whether she’s willing to do the work it takes to get there.
Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).