The pop music world went into a frenzy after Olivia Rodrigo released her debut single “Drivers License,” which named-dropped a particular “blonde girl” who had swept away her ex-boyfriend Joshua Bassett. Shortly after the single’s release, Sabrina Carpenter, apparently the “blonde girl” in question, released her own song “Skin.” Though Carpenter’s song seemingly responded directly to lyrics in Rodrigo’s song, the singer claims that was not the case. Now, she’s brought the single to late-night television with a performance on The Late Late Show With James Corden.
Carpenter gave a dazzling rendition of the soulful song in an abandoned warehouse. She started her performance with a delicate piano and her soaring lyrical delivery. Eventually, Carpenter moved to an area that was pouring down rain, evoking the act of washing away her critics.
Just ahead of the performance, Carpenter sat down with Corden and addressed the drama surrounding the single, saying that people have misinterpreted its meaning:
“I genuinely was coming from a place as a 21-year-old that is navigating her feelings and was going through a lot in my personal life. The reoccurring theme was that I was allowing people to get under my skin. So I wrote from that place, knowing that there’s so many experiences that will continue to happen to me in my life where I have to remind myself that people can only get to you if you allow them to. […] People will make a narrative out of something always. I think this was a really interesting song for people to misinterpret and make it into something that it really wasn’t supposed to be in the first place. But I’ve just been enjoying making music.”
Watch Carpenter perform “Skin” and chat about the single with Corden on The Late Late Show above.