“Tears” arrives like a wink and a challenge, folding disco-pop sheen into camp horror with a director’s eye for spectacle. Released on August 29, 2025 alongside her album Man’s Best Friend, the song extends Sabrina Carpenter’s playful, razor-clean pop into a darker, cheekier register—desire sketched in neon and eyeliner, self-possession set to a four-on-the-floor pulse.
The video turns that attitude into a mini-movie. Sabrina wakes after a nighttime crash and follows laughter to a house of oddities, where Colman Domingo—done up in glamorous, Rocky Horror-coded drag—presides like a ringmaster. Bardia Zeinali frames the action as pulp cinema: a foggy field and smoldering car, a corridor of crimson hands, a cornfield pole routine, a burlesque finale under hot lights. The palette is lacquered and theatrical, the humor purposely outrageous, and the continuity with her recent videography is unmistakable—another wry twist of fate for a feckless boyfriend, delivered with a smile.
On the audio side, “Tears” leans into satin textures and tight economy: a succinct hook, crisp rhythm guitar, and a chorus that lands with sly precision. Carpenter co-writes with trusted collaborators Amy Allen and John Ryan, the latter also steering the production to keep everything glossy but sharp. It’s brisk and deliberately replayable—perfectly sized for the dance floor and the timeline.
The release rolled straight into a star-turn VMA performance, where the video’s cinema spilled onto the stage: drenched choreography, nods to pop history, and a deliberate spotlight on trans and drag artists. Within days, “Tears” was doing exactly what it was built to do—lighting up feeds, powering playlists, and climbing the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.
Songfacts
Title: Tears
Duration: 2:40
Album: Man’s Best Friend (2025)
Release (single): August 29, 2025
Songwriters: Sabrina Carpenter; Amy Allen; John Ryan
Charting: US Billboard Hot 100 No. 3 (debut); UK Singles Chart No. 3
