Go Go Juice

Album: Man's Best Friend (2025)
Charted: 24
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Go Go Juice" is Sabrina Carpenter's ode to that ancient human tradition of pouring something amber and intoxicating into a glass and then wondering, about 40 minutes later, whether it might be wise to call an ex. It's a witty, country-inflected pop song from her Man's Best Friend album, and like so many drinking songs, it begins with heartbreak and ends with questionable judgment.
  • As Carpenter drinks, her imagination grows fuzzier and more reckless until she starts mentally spinning the Rolodex of old flames:

    Could be John or Larry, gosh, who's to say?
    Or the one that rhymes with 'Villain' if I'm feeling that way


    This is where pop music turns into a kind of parlor game. Fans immediately began mapping these names to Carpenter's real life: "Larry" is read as Barry Keoghan, "gosh" as Joshua Bassett, "John" as Shawn Mendes, and "villain" possibly as Dylan O'Brien – or if we try hard enough, villain can sound like Keoghan. This is a possibility given his villainous roles (Saltburn, The Batman) and his habit of popping up as the actual villain in her music videos.
  • The song was written by Carpenter with Amy Allen and John Ryan, and produced by Carpenter with Jack Antonoff and Ryan. This particular brain trust is responsible for much of Man's Best Friend.
  • On "Go Go Juice," Carpenter plays banjo, Amy Allen chips in percussion, and then Jack Antonoff enters like a one-man marching band: keyboards, synths, percussion, 12-string acoustic, electric guitar, drums, mellotron, mandolin, and glockenspiel. (He may not have played the kitchen sink, but one gets the sense he considered it.)

    John Ryan adds guitar, bass, percussion, and programming, while Antonoff's Bleachers band - Mikey Freedom Hart (slide guitar), Sean Hutchinson (percussion), Michael Riddleberger (percussion), Evan Smith (flute, saxophone), and Zem Audu (saxophone) - round out the lineup, joined by fiddler Bobby Hawk and trumpeter Tatum Greenblatt, the one non-Bleachers in the bunch.
  • The gang vocals on "Go Go Juice" are performed by Sabrina Carpenter, Jack Antonoff, John Ryan, Amy Allen, and Antonoff's Bleachers band. The ensemble bring a boozy communal sound to the chorus and outro, layering harmonies and group shouts reminiscent of the stage energy of Bleachers.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

James Bond Theme Songs

James Bond Theme SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the 007 theme songs?

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)Songwriter Interviews

"Come On Eileen" was a colossal '80s hit, but the band - far more appreciated in their native UK than stateside - released just three albums before their split. Now, Dexys is back.

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")Song Writing

Wes Edwards takes us behind the scenes of videos he shot for Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley and Chase Bryant. The train was real - the airplane was not.

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," Kiss

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," KissSong Writing

After cutting his teeth on hardcore punk videos, Paul defined the grunge look with his work on "Hunger Strike" and "Man in the Box."

Spooner Oldham

Spooner OldhamSongwriter Interviews

His keyboard work helped define the Muscle Shoals sound and make him an integral part of many Neil Young recordings. Spooner is also an accomplished songwriter, whose hits include "I'm Your Puppet" and "Cry Like A Baby."