Conan Gray has never been shy about writing songs that feel like reading your high school diary at 2 a.m. with the lights off. But with Caramel, he’s gone full Willy Wonka heartbreak mode. It’s sticky, it’s messy, and it’ll rot your teeth if you’re not careful, because this track proves that love can taste sweet going in and still leave you with cavities of regret.

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Sweet on the Outside, Burnt on the Inside

At first listen, Caramel feels like a dreamy ballad dipped in sugar, but then Conan hits you with lyrics that sting like biting into a candy apple and cracking a tooth. It’s smooth, glossy, and oh-so-addictive, but the aftertaste? Pure pain. He’s basically saying, “Yeah, we looked good together, but inside we were one emotional root canal away from disaster.”

The production itself is soft and slow, like honey dripping off a spoon, but underneath the sweetness is a bitterness that makes you wince, in the best way. It’s the perfect soundtrack for staring out your window, pretending you’re in an indie film while your DoorDash driver texts, “I’m outside.”

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Heartbreak, But Make It Dessert

What makes Conan special is how he takes something as soul-crushing as love gone wrong and wraps it in imagery that makes you want to laugh-cry. Comparing heartbreak to caramel? Genius. Because caramel is literally sugar that’s been burned. It’s a metaphor and a snack, Shakespeare could never.

And let’s be real: Caramel is for everyone who’s ever convinced themselves their situationship was “different,” only to realize you were just another limited-time seasonal flavor. You thought you were a forever sundae, but nope, you were McDonald’s ice cream machine all along, broken and unavailable.

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Gen Z’s Breakup National Anthem

The internet has already started claiming Caramel as the ultimate soundtrack for crying while making a snack run. TikTok edits of people dramatically unwrapping candy bars to Conan’s chorus are all over the feed. And Twitter (or X, if you’re feeling cursed) has turned lines from the song into captions for when your crush views your story but still doesn’t reply.

It’s melodramatic, yes, but that’s exactly why it works. Conan Gray knows Gen Z lives for over-the-top emotions, because honestly, if your breakup doesn’t feel like a cinematic collapse, did it even happen?

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Final Sugar Rush

Caramel isn’t just a song; it’s a dessert course for your emotional breakdown. Conan Gray takes the sting of love lost and makes it feel like the slow burn of sugar turning golden in a pan, delicious, dangerous, and destined to stick with you. It’s the kind of track that’ll have you swearing off love like you swear off junk food after a binge, only to come crawling back the next weekend.

Conan didn’t just drop Caramel. He dropped the most relatable PSA: love might be sweet, but baby, it’ll ruin your teeth, and your trust issues.

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