The Meaning Behind “Sofia” by Clairo and What She Sings About Her Famous Crushes

A teenager posting music on the internet is so ubiquitous it’s easy to forget how terrifying it must be to “upload” your feelings to the world.

Clairo began her career online, like so many others. Though she was young, it became obvious something heavy buoyed her songwriting. However, the lo-fi bedroom pop Clairo created as a teen hid something in plain sight. This wasn’t just another kid with music software. There were traces of Joni Mitchell’s confessionals. Some of it recalled Motown.

Timeless, moving, not the kind of thing one usually finds in a lo-fi bedroom studio. Clairo’s defining song “Sofia” shares the innocence of her early homemade productions. But it’s more fully realized, honed—an expansion of the possibilities she hinted at in her early songs.

A First Crush

Clairo posted on X that “Sofia” is about her “first ever crushes on women I saw in the media.” She listed director Sofia Coppola and actress Sofía Vergara as examples.

She added, “This was my way of making a celebratory song about this discovery while maintaining the cheesy/corny lyrics you’d normally find in songs where you profess your love.”

I think we could do it if we tried
If only to say you’re mine
Sofia, know that you and I
Shouldn’t feel like a crime

“Sofia” tackles a general fear of opinions and “feelings about sexuality.” It’s about being “scared to reach out for it.” “It” being a relationship with a woman. But the anxiety is no match for her heart.

You know I’ll do anything you ask me to
But, oh my God, I think I’m in love with you
Standing here alone now
Think that we can drive around
I just wanna say
How I love you with your hair down
Baby, you don’t gotta fight
I’ll be here till the end of time
Wishing that you were mine
Pull you in, it’s all right

Turn up the Guitars

“Sofia” is the third single from Clairo’s 2019 debut Immunity. She worked with producer and co-writer Rostam Batmanglij, famous for being a founding member of Vampire Weekend. (Batmanglij left Vampire Weekend in 2016 to pursue solo projects and production work with other artists.)

The production recalls the propulsive and stabbing chords of The Strokes but with guitars carried atop the bouncy French arpeggios of Phoenix. (Thomas Mars, the singer of Phoenix, is married to Sofia Coppola, unintentionally fulfilling synth-pop destiny or indie kismet.)

Clairo called the distorted guitars “one of the most exciting parts of the album.” Though “Sofia” barely cracked the Billboard Hot 100, the track has achieved nearly 750 million streams on Spotify after going viral on TikTok.

Early Days

At age 13, Clairo, born Claire Cottrill, recorded cover songs she’d nervously post on Facebook. She began using the name Clairo in high school while uploading music to Bandcamp. Her luck and life changed with the algorithmic winds of the internet. Soon, she had an online hit.

In 2017, Cottrill, then 19, uploaded her song “Pretty Girl” to YouTube. After the song went viral, The Fader magazine offered a record deal and released her EP Diary 001 in 2018. Immunity arrived in 2019 featuring Danielle Haim on drums and Batmanglij behind the board.

Her first full-length combines synth-pop with soft rock but still sounds very much of the time. Much of the album, like “Sofia,” is warm, welcoming, restrained, yet deeply honest. You might not associate warmth with synth-pop but Cottrill’s music is inviting, even in its most unsure moments.

Cottrill sings with aloofness but has clear and poignant instincts as a songwriter. Batmanglij does what he did with Vampire Weekend, wrapping catchy and seductive hooks in vividly lush textures.

True Love

The synths on “Sofia” have a seasick quality. They offset the disco beat with a slightly unsettling intonation. The woozy modulation could represent Cottrill’s ambivalence in expressing true feelings. It might also be the dizzying freedom she feels by revealing honest intentions.

However, it’s not until near the song’s end that Cottrill’s singing reaches above her speaking voice. “Sofia” feels like a three-minute build to having the guts to say what you mean out loud.

Honey, I don’t want it to fade
There’s things that I know could get in the way
I don’t want to say goodbye
And I think that we could do it if we tried

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