Following a personal loss and failed engagement, what does Ariana have to say?
It’s been a rough few years for Ariana Grande. In 2015, she was exposed to be a donut-licking health-code violator. In her 2017 Dangerous Woman tour stop at Manchester, a terrorist attack led to the death of 22 concert goers and parents, injuring hundreds. In 2018, she ended her two-year relationship with Mac Miller and subsequently became engaged to Pete Davidson which ended in six months, following shortly after her ex-boyfriend’s death. Oh, and people took to social media to blame Mac’s accidental drug overdose on her. Rough years, to say the least.
Following her personal loss and failed engagement, Ariana buried herself in the recording studio. Two weeks later, an album was born. Less than six months since her last album, Ariana Grande officially released Thank U, Next.
While the predecessor, Sweetener, has higher highs and lower lows than Thank U, Next, the follow-up is her most cohesive album to date with, arguably, no filler.
The lead single, “Thank U, Next,” allowed Ariana to spin the highly publicized fallout of her engagement into gold — err, platinum. She name-drops four of her exes, but sings of three lessons: “One taught me love/ One taught me patience/ And one taught me pain.” The mismatch in number of exes and lessons learned is intentional, preventing rabid fans from connecting dots and demonizing her ex-boyfriends, which in turn would’ve reflected poorly on her. Name-dropping her famous exes caught our attention, but it was the message of learning from failed relationships and self-love that skyrocketed the song to the top of Billboard Hot 100.
They say, “Which one?” I say, “Nah, I want all of ‘em”/
Happiness is the same price as red-bottoms. (7 Rings)
Also debuting at #1, “7 Rings” was a confusing single for anyone paying attention to the pop singer. It didn’t help that Sweetener was released not too long ago. When the empowering “No Tears Left to Cry” or the cathartic “Breathin” are still circulating in the public’s mind and Spotify playlist, a song about bragging her net worth feels much more insular and deafening. We can all just keep on breathin’ and breathin’ and breathin’, but we can’t all keep throwing away money at retail therapy to save our mental health.
“NASA” is an infectious, space-themed ode to ‘we all need a little me-time.’ As catchy as it is, the lyrics lean on the generic side and stretches out the space-metaphor in a clumsy way (“I would orbit around you”). She quickly saves it with a reference lyric to Sweetener’s “Pete Davidson.”
“Pete Davidson”: Look how they align/ Universe must have my back/ Fell from the sky into my lap.
“NASA”: You’ll be my rise and shine soon as them stars align.
“Bad Idea” is another catchy tune that delves into Ariana’s psyche. She’s aware of the public perception when she became engaged only a month into a relationship: it’s a bad idea. Yet when she sorrowfully sings “forget about it, yeah, forget about him, yeah/ Forget about me,” we can’t blame her.
Ariana tweets “Ghostin” took the longest to write and record, and it shows through the vulnerable lyrics. Crying over the death of Mac Miller while her fiancé is lying in bed next to her is an all too real picture for her audience to imagine, albeit not a common one.
Ariana paints another picture, but it’s one she deluded herself into making. “In My Head” is a powerful song of disillusionment. It’s easy to see what we want to in a significant other or as Ariana eloquently puts it, “They see Cain and I see Abel.” However, the track could do without the random skrrt, skrrt at the end of the chorus when there’s not even a car reference.
Speaking of pictures, Ariana accidentally portrays a disturbing one in “Bloodline.” No one is confused by the intended meaning of “I don’t want you in my bloodline” in the context of her failed engagement. But to anyone who has a decent grasp on English, the unsettling nuance of saying “bloodline” when she really means “family tree” doesn’t escape the listener’s ears readily.
“Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored” is the final — and second most puzzling — song on the album. The track replaced “Remember,” a song Ariana teased but felt it was too personal to release. Instead, she gives us a good reason for ending the album on a sly note
It rings hollow at first, but that is the point. Instead of leaving us with shining optimism, having built sympathy through Sweetener and the previous songs on TU, N (with the exception of “7 Rings”), she immediately burns it with another “bad idea.” This is her version of self-care. She doesn’t know the next chapter of her story. And that’s okay. The girl just wants to have fun.
Break up with your girlfriend
Yeah, yeah, ’cause I’m bored
You can hit it in the mornin’
Yeah, yeah, like it’s yours
I know it ain’t right
But I don’t care
The song’s message is buried deep within the context of the album and, at least, she still has the courtesy to tell him to break up with his girlfriend first and not cheat.
In a glance, “I’m so fuckin’ grateful for my ex” could’ve been the perfect punchline to end the vulnerable project. Listeners might say to “Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored,” thank you, next.
And the album is playing once more.
