Manchild (Sabrina Carpenter song)

On June 2, 2025, Carpenter shared a cryptic Instagram post hinting at the release of new music.^[5] The singer released a teaser video showing her standing on the side of a road wearing Daisy Dukes, holding out for a truck to drive her home. At the end of the otherwise silent clip, she can be heard saying "oh boy".^[6] That same day, billboards appeared across the United States featuring references tied to a new project.^[7][8][9] The billboards featured various lines from the upcoming song.^[10]

Carpenter officially announced the song on June 3 on her social media, accompanied by the caption "this one's about you".^[11][12] She also shared the artwork, a snapshot taken from the trailer video.^[13] It depicts the singer hitchhiking on the side of the road, wearing a white button-down shirt, with the song title in yellow font on the right side.^[14] Upon announcing the song, it was made available for purchase on a clear transparent 7-inch vinyl, featuring a B-side track titled "Inside of Your Head When You've Just Won an Argument with a Man".^[15] To support the release, fans hosted a drive-in theater experience in New York City on June 6, paying homage to the "cinematic" feel of the project's rollout.^[16]

Musically, "Manchild" has been described as a country-influenced^[17][18] country pop,^[19][20] bubblegum pop,^[21] pop rock,^[22] and synth-pop song^[18] with "feel-good disco energy."^[2] Multiple outlets compared the song to Carpenter's 2024 single "Please Please Please". The song is about a pathetic ex-boyfriend who Carpenter "comically lays into".^[23] The song begins with Carpenter laughing and says "Oh, boy", in a sarcastic tone before it transitions to a synth pop drum beat with a country twang. Throughout the song, she hurls "insults over sweet and upbeat melodies"^[24] and delivers "withering couplets".^[25]

A music video, directed by Vania Heymann and Gal Muggia, was filmed in May 2025^{[citation needed]} in Santa Clarita, California, and released on June 6, 2025. The video, inspired by the fast-paced editing of movie trailers,^[26] depicts Carpenter hitchhiking across the American West with a "diverse crop of men", some of whom use unusual modes of transportation, such as a jet ski, a shopping cart attached to a motorcycle, and a motorized recliner chair.^[3] She is also shown getting into wacky and dangerous scenarios, such as wielding a shotgun, falling off a cliff, and encountering an orca.^[27] In one scene, Carpenter is sitting in a bathtub with two pigs and says, "Hey, men," to them. This scene was the subject of several memes.^[28]

During an interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers on December 8, 2025, Carpenter stated that the video shoot was originally a two-day shoot, but that she requested an additional third day of filming after watching a rough edit of the footage from the first two days and deeming it "not crazy enough yet."^[29]

In the United States, "Manchild" debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100, earning Carpenter her second number-one single, after "Please Please Please", and first number-one debut.^[35] The song also debuted atop the UK Singles Chart, ending the record-breaking 12-week reign of "Ordinary" by Alex Warren and becoming Carpenter's fourth number-one single and second number-one debut, after "Taste".^[36] In Brazil, the song debuted at number 38 on the Brasil Hot 100.^[37] It was less successful in Southeast and Western Europe, debuting at number 87 and after the release of its parent album, it peaked at number 55 in France, becoming Carpenter's second lowest-chart entry after "Taste" in the country,^[38] while peaking at number 48 in Spain and number 97 in Italy.

Carpenter performed "Manchild" for the first time at the Primavera Sound 2025 festival on June 6, 2025. She also performed the song at BST Hyde Park on July 5 and 6,^[39][40] and at Lollapalooza on August 3.^[41] On October 18, 2025, Carpenter performed "Manchild" and "Nobody's Son" on an episode of Saturday Night Live where she served as both host and musical guest ^[42], while also performing the song on February 1, 2026 at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, as well as the 2026 revival of The Muppet Show.

Credits adapted from Tidal.^[43]