After a three-year drought of straying away from the music scene, the pop princess is back with her brand new album, “eternal sunshine.” Ariana Grande released her seventh studio album March 8. The album outlines what Grande has been dealing with the past couple of years. With themes of love, self-awareness, heartbreak, truth and acceptance, Grande beautifully tells the story of healing through her shortest album to date. She proves that 35 minutes is all she needs to have fans hanging onto every word and note she sings.
The beginning tracks
In typical Grande fashion, the album begins with an impactful interlude entitled “intro (end of the world).” Grande proposes the question “How can I tell if I’m in the right relationship?” as her opening lyrics, giving headway to listeners about what they may be hearing throughout the album.
Grande wrote the second track of the album, “bye,” with inspiration from her mother. In an interview on the Zach Sang Show, Grande mentioned this track was the hardest for her to write.
“I wanted it to be rooted in self-awareness. That’s why I put it after the “intro (end of the world),” because it asks a question that takes accountability and is self-aware, and going into “bye,” it prefaces that. My biggest fear with songwriting, in general, is that even if the concept is strong… making sure that it is kind and leads with empathy. I didn’t want it to sound like any kind of harshness that isn’t in my DNA, “ said Grande
She expressed how growing up, she always “craved that happily ever after.” Through this writing process, Grande realized that she wants “ to be so much more like her [Grande’s mother] than I am. I want to have the strength to say ‘bye,’ kindly when something isn’t right.”
After “bye,” the album continues with “don’t wanna break up again.” In this song, Grande expresses what the track’s name implies. Fans speculate that the song is about her relationship with her ex-husband, Dalton Gomez. However, as with speculation about the subject of any artist’s songs, the public can never be sure.
The middle
Moving forward with the album, Grande uses “Saturn Returns Interlude” as a gateway into her title track, “eternal sunshine.” This references the hit movie,“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” The song sadly and beautifully depicts the ending of a relationship, feeling unseen and stuck in a relationship that once brought immense joy and feeling guilty for the way things have concluded. It also hints at infidelity.
Following “eternal sunshine,” listeners can hear a shift in energy and attitude in the album with “supernatural,” which implies that Grande is happily and excitedly falling for someone new.
Her truth
It’s no secret Grande began seeing her “Wicked” co-star Ethan Slater. However, the public had a lot to say about it. With this next section of music, Grande addresses a new possible romance and her public image. However, she does this in a manner that is true to her and her songwriting style.
Whether this next track is about anyone in particular or not, Grande starts “true story” in a bold way. She gets to the point with the beginning lyrics, “This is a true story about all the lies. You fantasize about you and I.” This concept stays consistent throughout the song and leads into her next track, “the boy is mine,” which is about staying true to her desires and wanting a boy to be hers, even if it’s wrong.
Lead single
Heading into the release of “eternal sunshine,” Grande started this new era by choosing “yes, and?” as her lead single. “Yes, and?” serves an upbeat, poppy vibe and is the longest track on the album. The song has had extreme success on the charts, as it hit No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100. This became Grande’s sixth song to debut at the top of the charts. Furthermore, she and Taylor Swift now share the record for most No.1 debuts for any female artist.
The second single
In the latter half of the album, Grande proposes her second single, “we can’t be friends (wait for your love).” This stunning song explores the final stages of a relationship. It emphasizes the grieving process for something that once was and accepting that this person can no longer be involved in your life. With this song, listeners can hear the pain in Grande’s voice and lyrics. This is especially true with a meaningful lyric like, “Just wanna let this story die, and I’ll be alright.” Considering this, there’s no better song on the album to represent the importance of healing and how life must go on.
Finishing it off
The last ending tracks tie together wonderfully. Directly following “we can’t be friends (wait for your love),” Grande continues with the theme of grieving a past relationship in “i wish i hated you.” With this song finally comes the death of a past relationship. She explains how it would be easier to move on if her heart was full of hatred for this person, but it’s not. She accepts that her heart full of love says more about her than the recipient of it.
Moving forward with her life, in “imperfect for you,” Grande refers to her possible new romance. She suggests this new person brought out a new “delightful” side of her that hasn’t been seen in a while. She understands that she doesn’t have to be perfect for someone, and that is what makes the relationship perfect.
The answer to the beginning question
In a true poetic sense, the last track, “ordinary things,” answers the question Grande proposed in her first interlude. However, Grande herself does not answer it; her Nonna does. So, according to Nonna, the key to knowing if you’re in the right relationship is to “Never go to bed without kissing goodnight. That’s the worst thing to do, don’t ever, ever do that, and if you can’t, and if you don’t feel comfortable doing it, you’re in the wrong place, get out.”
