When Vodka Cranberry arrived as the second single and third track from Conan Gray’s upcoming album Wishbone, it already felt like a bruised continuation of This Song, a hazy night remembered in pieces, patched together by unfinished drinks and conversations that say too much and not enough.
Released on July 11, 2025, the single folds naturally into Conan’s unfolding story of love that frays slowly, always staying just raw enough to keep singing about.
Where This Song drifted like an old memory you revisit to feel warm for a second, Vodka Cranberry leaves you sitting in the thick of it.
That shift from “you know that I love you” to “I know you hate me” feels like the same confession turned inside out, said at a time of night when the words come out blurred and truer than you’d like.
It’s the kind of heartbreak that doesn’t scream.
It seeps through mundane details, like the timestamp of a breakup that stretched from February to May, or the stolen Polo cap you wish you hadn’t noticed was missing.
Dan Nigro’s production keeps it light on the surface, pop rock with a soft edge, a beat steady enough to make the sadness feel drinkable. Conan’s voice still does the heavy lifting.
There’s a line in the Reddit threads that sums up why it sticks: the way his vocal slips just a little when it should stay steady makes it feel like he’s cracking in real time.
It’s a familiar trick for him, but it doesn’t feel stale. He’s never too polished to remind you this is a diary entry, not a performance.
The music video, again directed by Danica Kleinknecht, stitches this one directly to This Song.
Corey Fogelmanis shows up again as Brando, orbiting Conan’s Wilson like he’s present but already half gone.
Brando plays pool, flirts with other people, pushes Conan’s Wilson away just to be pulled back closer.
One moment he shoves him into the lake, the next they can’t keep their hands off each other, then Brando slips out before dawn, leaving Wilson searching for him on an empty road.
That semi truck creeping down the road near the end? Fans see it as a callback to old moments when Conan wrote about crossing without looking.
Now he stops, like he’s still hoping someone might stop him from letting go.
It’s the first time he uses a gendered pronoun for a love interest so openly.
It’s not forced drama, just a detail that fits the way he’s always told these stories.
Quiet confessions that make sense when you trace the breadcrumbs backwards.
On Fandom, it’s clear people see how Vodka Cranberry latches onto This Song and Alley Rose, the same suburban corner store energy replaying in different forms.
You can almost hear the bottles rattling in the back seat from Astronomy too.
The bridge repeats “I will” like a dare. If the other person won’t say it’s over, he’ll do it for both of them, even if he’s the one still calling at three in the morning.
The whole thing is built to feel ordinary and humiliating because that’s the part people skip when they talk about heartbreak.
He makes you sit with it. There’s no final scream, just a night that leaves you nursing your own unfinished drink.
Fans on YouTube keep asking for the trilogy to wrap properly. One comment says it best: “It’s a coming of age film that never ends.”
He’d be smart to turn it into one. There’s already enough symbolism in a single truck and a goodbye that never sticks.
What holds all this together is that same vocal vulnerability that made Heather sting and Memories ache a bit too long.
Even when the words feel plain, crying over a picture, pocketing a shirt, it’s the delivery that twists it.
He’s not afraid to show you the parts you’d rather bury. If you’ve ever whispered something you wish you hadn’t, you’ll hear yourself in Vodka Cranberry.
And you’ll probably play it again tomorrow, just to make sure it still hurts.
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Conan Gray Vodka Cranberry Lyrics
Verse 1
You say we’re fine, but your brown eyes
Are green this time, so you’ve been crying
It’s in the way you say my name
So quick, so straight, it sounds the same
Pre-Chorus
As the time we took a break
February fourth through the sixteenth of May
So strange to be back at your place
Pretending like nothing has changed
Oh-oh-oh
Chorus
Speak up, I know you hate me
Looked at your picture and cried like a baby
Speak up, don’t leave me waiting
Got way too drunk off a vodka cranberry
Called you up in the middle of the night
Wailing like an imbecile
If you won’t end things, then I will
Verse 2
Now I look dumb and you look mean
You casually steal back your T-shirt
And your Polo cap, yeah, I noticed that
Yeah, I notice everything you do
Pre-Chorus
Since the time we took a break
Everybody knows you don’t love me the same
So cruel to be lying to my face
‘Cause I know what you’re too scared to say, oh-oh-oh
Chorus
Speak up, I know you hate me
Looked at your picture and cried like a baby
Speak up, don’t leave me waiting
Got way too drunk off a vodka cranberry
Called you up in the middle of the night
Wailing like an imbecile
If you won’t end things, then I will
Bridge
(Don’t make me do this to you) I will
(Don’t make me do this, but I will) I will
I will
I will, I will, I will
Chorus
Speak up, I know you hate me
Looked at your picture and cried like a baby
Speak up, don’t leave me waiting
Got way too drunk off a vodka cranberry
Called you up in the middle of the night
Wailing like an imbecile
If you won’t end things, then I will
