Can't Blame a Girl for Trying (song)

"Can't Blame a Girl for Trying"
Single by Sabrina Carpenter
from the album Can't Blame a Girl for Trying
Released	March 14, 2014 (2014-03-14)
Format	Digital download
Recorded	2012 - 2013
Genre	Folk pop
Length	2:49
Label	Hollywood
Songwriter(s)	Meghan Trainor Al Anderson Chris Gelbuda
Producer(s)	Brian Malouf
Sabrina Carpenter singles chronology
"Can't Blame a Girl for Trying" (2014) "The Middle of Starting Over" (2014)
"Can't Blame a Girl for Trying" (2014) "The Middle of Starting Over" (2014)
Music video
"Can't Blame a Girl for Trying" on YouTube

"Can't Blame a Girl for Trying" is the debut single by American singer Sabrina Carpenter. Released by Hollywood Records on March 14, 2014, onto iTunes and was premiered a day before exclusively on Radio Disney,^[1] it was recorded for her 2014 debut EP, Can't Blame a Girl for Trying as the lead single and the track appears at her debut studio album, Eyes Wide Open,^[2] released a year later. The song was produced by Brian Malouf and written by Meghan Trainor, Al Anderson and Chris Gelbuda. It is a pop folk song with influences of pop and lyrically speaks about being foolish in love and making mistakes, but never blaming those who make them. The song won a Radio Disney Music Award in the category "Best Crush Song" in 2015.^[3]

Background

Meghan Trainor wrote the song in 2012 along with Al Anderson and Chris Gelbuda and she first performed the song at Durango Songwriter's Expo in 2012.^[4] Later, Meghan shared a video at her official Facebook account about the song but she deleted.^[5] In 2013, Sabrina gets the role of Maya Hart in the Disney Channel series Girl Meets World^[6] and she signed a record deal with Hollywood Records. In the same year, Trainor gave the song to Sabrina and Brian Malouf produced the track. The song was the first to be recorded to her first EP. "Can't Blame a Girl for Trying" was realesed as the debut single of Sabrina's career at 14 March 2014 onto iTunes and was premiered a day before exclusively on Radio Disney.^[1] The song was also inclueded to Sabrina's first studio album, realesed in 2015.

Recording and composition

"Can't Blame a Girl for Trying" is a two minutes and forty-nine seconds acoustic guitar-driven pop folk song with pop influences. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com.^[7] The song is composed in the time signature of common time with a moderate rate of 144 beats per minute. It is written in the key of C major and Sabrina's vocal range spans from the low note A3 to the high note of F#5, giving the song almost two octaves of range. The tempo is moderately fast, with a Swing feel. Lyrically, "Can't Blame a Girl for Trying" talks about making mistakes and being foolish in love. Sabrina said the song "perfectly described being a 13-year-old girl and being a teenage girl".^[8]

In addition to producing "Can't Blame a Girl for Trying," Brian Malouf played keyboards, did the drum programming and the mixing at the Cookie Jar Recording in Sherman Oaks, California. Eric Boulanger did the audio mastering at The Mastering Lab, Inc. in Ojai, CA. Jim McGorman played the acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, glockenspiel and he made the hand production and Chris Thompson engineered the track.

Music video

Background and release

The music video was directed by Kinga Burza. It was premiered on Vevo and YouTube on March 28, 2014 and the behind the scenes of the music video was premiered on May 23, 2014 in the same platforms.^[9] A lyric video was premiered on July 18, 2014 and it features various scenes of her behind the scenes music video, her photoshoots, her live performance on Disney Playlist Sessions and her Disney Channel events.

Synopsis

The video begins with Sabrina sleeping in her bed, next to her bed there is a bedside table with an alarm clock with books underneath, a lamp and a glass of water. Her alarm clock rings, but when she turns it off, her alarm clock turns into a cactus; Scared, Sabrina takes her hand off and hits the glass that falls on the floor. She gets up, but when she gets up she watered the foot and then the water turns into glitter. She wears her robe and makes up her bed, while she was tidying up her bed she pushes a sheet and turns it into a table towel. The next scene shows Sabrina in a red dress spinning to sit on a chair, but instead of sitting on a chair, she sits on a couch. Leaving a door, Sabrina takes off the dress she was wearing at the last scene and it shows a shirt with jeans behind it; She sits down on the couch and starts playing several "instruments" like a guitar, a tennis racket and an ukulele.

When she ends up singing the first chorus, it shows a scene when she was tying her Converse in her bedroom, she leaves the chair she was sitting and her Converse turns into roller skates; later, in the final scene of the video, she falls and takes off the curtains and drops in her bed. Sabrina opens an umbrella at home and when she opens the umbrella, she appears outside the house spinning the umbrella near to an orange tree. She appears using a bunch of hats, sunglasses and making fruit as objects. One of the last scenes is Sabrina answering a phone call but the phone turns into a banana. In all the video, it shows a scene where Sabrina is sitting and singing the song.

Critical reception

Anna Marie of A Kid's Point of You sayed "The EP kicks off with the title track / hit single , “Can’t Blame A Girl For Trying.” Flawless vocals, an undeniably sophisticated edge, and an effortless ability to inspire listeners makes this song a feel-good anthem (not to mention the adorable music video). This is a cute song about an innocent love story, and it speaks to the girls who make mistakes, but keep trying".^[10]

Live performances

Carpenter first performed at the 2014 Radio Disney Music Awards along with "The Middle of Starting Over" ^[11] and a few time later she performed at Disney Playlist Sessions along with the other songs of her EP and a cover of "Radiocative".^[12] A few time later, she performed at the All American Concert. She performed the song on City at BT Studio where she was wearing a blue dress.^[13] She performed an acoustic version of the song on Perez TV along with "The Middle of Starting Over".^[14] She performed the song at D23 Expo in 2015 along with "Take on the World", "We'll Be the Stars", a cover of "FourFiveSeconds", "The Middle of Starting Over" and "Eyes Wide Open".^[15] In 2016, Sabrina performed the song on the Honda Stage at the iHeartRadio Theater LA along with some covers and songs from his first and second album.^[16] The song was part of her debut headline tour, being the sixth song to be performed.^[17] The song was included on The De-Tour being the eleventh song to be performed.

Credits and personnel

Recording and management

• Mixed at Cookie Jar Recording (Sherman Oaks, CA)
• Mastered at The Mastering Lab, Inc. (Ojai, CA)
• Year of the Dog Music (ASCAP), a division of Big Yellow Dog, LLC administered by Words & Music; International Dog Music (BMI), a division of Big Yellow Dog, LLC/Bucked Up Music (BMI), administered by Words & Music; National Dog Music (SESAC), a division of Big Yellow Dog, LLC administered by Words & Music

Personnel

Credits adapted from Eyes Wide Open liner notes.^[18]

Awards and nominations

Release history

References