Shrineiana Grande

Ari's debut studio album! I'd say "the one that started it all" but truthfully I was already stanning for 3 years by the time this came out. I served TIME in the TRENCHES for this album. She was only 20 years old!

Sonically, Yours Truly is heavy on doo-wop and r&b influences which ties into the lyrical themes of young love in a nostalgic, retro fantasy. 50's meets 90's meets 2013. And somehow still timeless.

This album is so ridiculously dear to my heart. I know it front to back and have listened countless times. It ranks up high for me in terms of her discography. Top 3 depending on when you ask me.

Ariana worked on this album for like 2 years before its release and took her fans with her all the way. We were foaming at the mouth for this album!

In 2011 Ariana released Put Your Hearts Up, a song that, unless you are a dedicated Ari stan or used to be back in the day, you're probably not familiar with. You definitely never heard it on the radio and it did not chart, though as of today it is certified Gold because we fans put in the WORK. This was her very first single and was meant to be on this album and ultimately didn't make the cut. It was more of a bubblegum record geared toward young fans of VicTORIous fitting her character on the show, Cat Valentine more than it fit Ari the person and did not reflect the more mature r&b sound she really always wanted to do. There is an ANCIENT demo she did when she was like, idk 14 or 15 called Higher that shows that's always the direction she wanted to go. The lyrics in this song are INSANE for a child to have been singing lmao but I used to have this on REPEAT back in the day. Her influences are after all Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, India.Arie, and Imogen Heap. Ariana later admitted that Put Your Hearts Up was really just not her vibe sonically and that though she has appreciation for the song and that she thinks it would've been better for someone else. It was just a weird time in her career. It took some time but I'm glad she ended up pivoting. It was obviously the right choice, though I'm glad she made it available again after a few years of having it scrubbed from Youtube LOL. A "now I listen and laugh" moment. I like to revisit it sometimes for nostalgia's sake.

In fact, there were a lot of songs that Ariana shared and performed and promised would be on the album that ended up ultimately scrapped, like Pink Champagne, Voodoo Love, Do You Love Me (i remember her sharing clips!!) and Boyfriend Material. The fetus songs. Represents that transition from being recognized for her character on Victorious to Ariana herself being the draw.

Because the album took SO long to make, with Ariana telling us "soon" for what ended up being years, she afterwards vowed to only ever use the word "soon" to mean 10 days or less. 6 months out or so would be "near future." To this day she keeps her promise, and always chooses her words carefully when discussing timelines for upcoming projects.

The album was accompanied by her first tour The Listening Sessions, which was exclusively in small, intimate venues. I would kill to go back in time and experience it.

This era was so fun. The fandom was still niche and Ariana was super interactive with her fans. This was a golden era of stanning Ariana.

The year was 2014. I was a junior in high school. I had a brand new driver's license, a Volkswagen Beetle to call my own and this album blasting in it on repeat. I cannot help but feel nostalgic as hell for this time in my life.

While Yours Truly was fairly successful and received nearly universal critical acclaim, this was the era that solidified Ariana into main pop girl status. As you may have noticed from the tracklist, this era was marked with TONS of collaborations. The lyrical matter became more, shall I say grown-up? though it's still quite tame compared to her later works.

The singles from this era were MASSIVE. If you listened to the radio or kept up with pop culture at all during 2014 you'll likely remember. I'll get into that more on the track-by-track.

This was an era where it seems like her team was laser-focused on commercial success (which they achieved) as I get the feeling it's markedly less personal than Yours Truly was. This along with Dangerous Woman is the least personal, most commercial of the discography. A pretty good chunk of these songs I typically skip and some of the singles just don't have the longevity and relistenability beyond that summer in 2014. Ariana's admitted herself that during this 2 album stretch she was doing half the songs for herself and half to guarantee a hit. Well girl it certainly worked!

This album continues the themes of the ups and downs of young love.

This era gave us her first semi-major scandal: DonutGate, where surveillance footage revealed she licked multiple donuts on the counter of a donut shop and was super rude about the existence of the donuts as a concept, with the iconic line "I hate Americans. I hate America." She was on her Worst Behavior but LMAO. This is one of the funniest scandals ever. I just keep wondering if she hates the donuts and people who eat them so bad why was she in the shop in the first place?

Although I think this a very commercial album, some of the songs on here are some of the best in her discography. I still revist this album quite often, minus the skips. The highs are really, really high. The lows aren't even alll that low. They just don't measure up to a lot of her other work IN MY OPINION. I think Ari'd agree with me. There are some GREAT songs on here. Let's get into it.

Dangerous Woman (2016)

*Tom Kenny french narrator voice* Ah, summer 2016. The proverbial dragon everyone my age (elder gen z, late-stage millennials) is forever chasing. I was a freshman in college. Pokemon Go was captivating the nation. Miss Ponytail had a latex bunnysuit a set of pipes and a dream. As you can see from the cover, she's finally awake lol. But still with the black and white!!! Girl I am TRYING to do distinct color schemes for each era help me out a little?

She was a hit machine this era! Some of her best, most iconic dance tracks are on this album which took an even MORE grown-up turn than the previous, but i have to say this is the other contender with My Everything as most deliberately commercial album. It's not to say that it's not full to the brim with certified bops and bangers. Just look at that gigantic tracklist!

The era began with a false-start single, Focus which didn't make much noise on the charts though it is a fan favorite, and was visually and sonically maybe too similar to Problem. It did great in Japan though! It was supposed to lead us into this era and ultimately didn't make it onto the album.

Similar to Yours Truly, the name of this album was changed shortly before its release after having been teased as Moonlight in promo.

What I find interesting about this era is how the music videos were severely lacking, even when it comes to perfect songs that I adore. The concepts were completely just lingerie looking sexy which is fun but I really don't find myself revisiting the music videos from this era.

This era was accompanied by the Dangerous Woman stadium tour which after an extremely successful run was cut tragically short by the horrifying terrorist attack at her show on May 22, 2017 in Manchester, where 22 people were killed, several of them children, and over 1000 injured.

Initially, Ariana has said that immediately following the attack she couldn't imagine herself ever putting on those costumes and getting on stage and singing those songs again. Shortly after, though, she decided that giving up in that way would be allowing evil and darkness to win and so she put together One Love Manchester, a star-studded benefit concert paying tribute to the victims and raising over £17 million for the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund and the British Red Cross. It was really powerful stuff. Ariana visited the victims in the hospital and worked with their families to personally handle medical and funeral costs. It's heartbreaking that such a fun era was punctuated by such horrific violence.

If the last album solidified Ariana as a main pop girl, this album solidified her as a bona fide global superstar destined to leave a legacy.

Track by track

Moonlight

This is like a parallel of Daydreamin' to me, since they were both would-be namesake tracks and are both doo-wop ballads. Moonlight feels a bit more mature and grown up while harkening back to the young retro love theme of her first album. I love Moonlight. Beautiful and somewhat incongruous start to this dance-heavy record, in a similar vein to opening My Everything with the dreamy choral Intro before transitioning into the power pop.

This sort of starts the prominent moon motif that has followed her through her career. Ariana Grande loves the moon and celesial bodies and space.

I wonder if the album name was changed because she and Ricky broke up and Moonlight was their name for each other? I'm admittedly not too sure about her timeline with Ricky.

I never knew, I never knew you could hold moonlight in your hands 'til the night I held you. You are my moonlight, moonlight

Dangerous Woman

Such a great, sultry pop track. Vocals are insane. So iconic and fun to sing. The music video is lacking though! The one we have is just her in glam looking sexy which I do love but it doesn't do the monumental moment that this song was justice. It seems there was a part 2 of the video planned that was never released. The video says part 1 visualizer so I'm a little sad about what we may have missed there.

Be Alright

Baby don't you know all of them tears gon' come and go, baby you just gotta make up your mind, we decide it, we're gonna be alright

AHHH this is one of her very best songs and one of my favorite songs of all time. This is ALWAYS in my regular rotation. I know the iconic (i know I keep using that word) choreography she does when she performs this life. Deep house and r&b influences, sooo dancey and optimistic. I adore this song. Don't you?

The hard times are golden cause they all lead to better days, we're gonna be alright

Into You

So baby come light me up so baby I'll let you on it a little bit dangerous but baby that's how I want it. A little less conversation and a little more touch my body cause I'm so into you into you into youuuuu

CAN YOU SAY POP PERFECTION? No seriously. She put crack in this song. Pure, career-defining perfection in every way. Anthemic and oh-so-danceable. This song is best listened to as loud as humanly possible. An absolute landmark!! And UNFORTUNATELY with a (in my opinion) boring and lackluster video!!! Damnit!!!

Side to Side

The first of many collabs with Nicki! This was a fun radio hit at the time. Catchy sexy fluff. Really fun song I don't find myself returning to as much anymore but was definitely a major moment. Possibly the best of her music videos from this era. This I'd say is one of the comedy-injected ones.

I been here all night, I been here all day, and boy got me walkin side to side

Yesss girl been there!

Let Me Love You feat. Lil Wayne

Yesss this song is great Ariana really shines when she leans more heavily into r&b. Prechorus is perpetually stuck in my head. Love Lil Wayne's verse. Underrated asf.

She grindin on this grande oh lord!

Greedy

GREEDAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY! HOO!

Lol, this song is so loud. I loved it back in 2016, it's very DIVA very BELTY. I don't revisit this as much now but def still a bop.

Leave Me Lonely feat. Macy Gray

So underrated. Why are we sleeping on a Macy Gray feature? Do we get how awesome that is? Soulful swelling sensuous.

When you walk out that door DON'T YOU COME BACK NO MOOOORE

Everyday feat. Future

This song cracks me UP the lyrics are so funny but I can't help but dance to this song. I don't have the heart to skip it!

Heeee givin me that goood shit that make me not quit, that gooood shit, oh he give it to me everyday

Sometimes

THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES. Chill reggae vibes with such a pretty melody. Another severely underrated one. I'm obsessed with singing this and playing it on guitar. One of her best. Such a good melody.

I ain't even think of leavin' sometimes, I ain't even think of letting go, I ain't ever thought of goin' nowhere, I don't even see it down the road, Cause we're collecting moments, Tattoos on my mind

I Don't Care

Ehhhhh I'm sorry skipiana not bad just not my fave kinda boringgg.

Bad Decisions

This one also gives me a chuckle but at the end of the day it's a bop and a half.

We got that hood love We got that good love We got that hot love We got that I don't give a what love

GIRL LMAO.

Touch It

The production on this is so crazy I can listen to this song over and over it truly puts me INTO A ZOOONE. My relationship with this song has changed over time. I used to think it was boring and so did Ariana and I still understand why this may be boring for her to sing but the whole song really comes together spectacularly. Sooo good to listen to super fucking loud in the car.

Knew Better/Forever Boy

This is a solid little r&b bonus track.

Thinking Bout You

Skipiana zzzzzz i'm sorryyyy. I feel like I feel the same way about this song as Better Left Unsaid from Yours Truly. They can't ALLL be winners.

Step On Up

This is kinda a hidden gem it has like a similar vibe to Focus imo but so much better. The prechorus is where it shines.

What you need, babe, is a work of art. What you need, babe, come get it, I got it

Jason's Song (Gave It Away)

Another jazzy bonus track. The shade at Scooter Braun (her manager) all to go back to him... messy boots!!! This is a fan favorite. Arianators love to be like "what do you know about Jason's Song?" yep. Singing about taking control over her creative endeavors and not letting the industry make all the decisions. You'll see she stayed true to this and subsequent albums are much more creatively driven by Ariana herself.

Sweetener (2018)

Sweetener came out my senior year of college when I was hopelessly in love. This immediately became my favorite of her albums and one of my favorites all time. As time has passed and she's made so much more music the #1 spot is a lot harder to pin down for me, but I adore this album to the moon and back. No skipianas here whatsoever. Also finally some color on the cover! I can work with this!

This album was produced by Pharrell and has a more experimental sound than her previous work. She spends a lot less time belting and more time in her lower, sweeter, sultrier register. Ariana had more of a hand in the songwriting process on much of this album, at least more than the previous two. It was during this era she had "baby's first protools" session which was the seedling to her having a much larger hand in the production process as well moving forward.

Many of these songs are contentious among fans. Sweetener as #1 is not a popular opinion among Arianators, but it was my truth for years and I stand by it! I sometimes question the taste of my fellow brothers in Grande.

This era was fun and messy! Ariana had just recently split with Mac Miller and began dating Pete Davidson in that doomed whirlwind romance that had pop culture in a chokehold.

There is such a naive optimism about love in this album and knowing how everything ends up working out gives it some dramatic irony in hindsight.

In addition to the usual themes of the ups and downs of love, there is also a theme of honoring Manchester woven throughout the record and themes on mental health after experiencing trauma.

This era gave us Blondiana and such iconic outfits and visuals and REALLY stepped up the music videos! We were fed SO well this era. Also, we got a new naming convention with almost exclusively lowercase letters used for song names, album names, and social media posts. Ariana gave up capitalization during this time and to this day has not looked back. It's here that she introduced her now signature "yuh."

Sadly, this era would be cut dramatically short because of the tragic death of Mac Miller and subsequent breaking off of Ariana and Pete's engagement. Sweetener was released in 2018. She would release her next album, thank u, next just 6 months later in February 2019. These two albums are now largely considered sisters and two sides of the same coin, one side dark, one side light. This is the light one. And not a skipiana in sight.

Track by track

raindrops (an angel cried)

Gorgeous sweet haunting a capella intro in honor of manchester victims. The way her voice cracks during the high note feels so raw and emotional. Getting misty thinking about it.

blazed feat Pharrell Williams

Everyone HATES THIS SONG BUT I LOVE IT!! I am an oppressed minority in the Arianator fandom. I understand why this may be an acquired taste but it's so fun and dancey and joyful and a little odd. Justice for blazed! It's hard to pick favorites from this album because I love every song so much but I would put this one up there.

the light is coming feat. Nicki Minaj

This one has the fans polarized. Some love it, some hate it. It took me a couple listens but I'm in the loving it camp. The sample is so BONKERS and the beat is so fun and has a great Nicki verse. Music video was cute. She took a risk and not everybody got it BUT I DID.

R.E.M.

This is such a beautiful chill song with r&b and doo wop influences. My girl can never put down that doo wop! It was originally written for Beyonce who did record a demo you can find online. Classic and timeless. She would name her beauty brand after this song.

God is a woman

This was such a gag at the time. The music video, the live performances, she was ruling the world with this song. This might be the only sort of skipiana now just cause it feels the most distinctly 2018 to me.

sweetener

CLASSIC ICONIC TITULAR TRACK. Unorthodox fun little chorus. This song is so great. The lyrics are a little odd which kind of becomes a charming signature of Ariana's from here on. If you get it you get it!

successful

Upbeat fun catchy fabulous. Nothing to not like about this song. Pop excellence.

everytime

One of the two cynical breakuppy toxic relationship songs on the album in the sea of hopeless optimism. This is a great chill r&b classic. Just solid.

You get high and call on the regular, I get weak and fall like a teenager, why oh why does god keep bringing me back to you

breathin

Super successful single about trying to stay grounded when experiencing intense anxiety and PTSD. Solid pop, beautiful vocals, crazy fun to sing.

no tears left to cry

This was the single with which she led us into this era. I remember where I was when I first heard it and I was like, Ariana is about to come for our NECKKSSS. One of her very best music videos. Such an interesting turn for her sound. One of her best choruses. Pop perfection to the highest degree. Unfortunately and unbeknownst to Ariana, she did, in fact, have lots more tears to cry.

borderline feat. Missy Elliott

THE FANS HATE THIS SONG AND I DONT UNDERSTAND. While some of the other contentious songs among fans I can understand why they might be an acquired taste and not for everyone I TRULY DONT SEE WHAT THERE IS NOT TO LIKE ABOUT THIS SONG??? Sorry I'm yelling. This just drives me crazy! This song is great! Do they not like the lyric about ice cream? I really truly just think it's gotta be a lack of taste. Justice for borderline!!!!! It's literally one of my favorites!

better off

You keep me in your armpit orbit

LMAOOOO jkjk. Another sad one about being better off without someone even though you love them. This is a great song.

goodnight n go

You may recognize that this is also the name of an Imogen Heap song, who if you didn't know is Ariana's idol since she was 11. I was actually introduced to Imogen Heap myself through Ariana after she mentioned her in an interview when she was a teenager. This song samples the chorus. I think it's great! Though some of the production does feel a bit too distinctly 2018 for my taste but I do love this song.

pete davidson

Whew lord. She was not playing around! This is a sweet interlude I used to be obsessed with. I still think it's great. She's CRAZYYY for naming the song after him!!!! She will not make that mistake again.

get well soon

I feel like none of the previous 3 albums finished particularly strong. She ends that streak with this song. This is a stunning personal song encouraging herself and her fans and the victims of the manchester attack to take care of themselves and to know that they are loved. Hopeful and emotional. A fan favorite for good reason. This is one of her best songs. At the end, there are 40 seconds of silence, making the song's runtime 5 mins 22 seconds, matching the date of the Manchester attack on 5/22.

Reminds me of another perfect album closer and one of my favorite songs of all time from one of my favorite albums of all time, Fly Like a Bird by Mariah Carey from The Emancipation of Mimi. I know it's not Ariana or in the scope of this shrine but I must implore you to listen to it if you're not familiar.

Ariana said she wanted this song to be like a musical hug and that's exactly what it feels like.

Here's one thing you can trust, it takes you and me to make us. One of those days you had enough, I'll be there.

thank u, next (2019)

Turns out, Ariana had plenty more tears to cry. After the life-altering tragic loss of Mac Miller and dissolution of her engagement to Pete, Ariana's perspective on life shifted dramatically. Her past albums were all unified in a sense of hopeless romaticism which was true to Ariana's personality. She loves hard, is impatient (she mentions this frequently in lyrics) and is generally more inclined to have hope in new love without having to test drive it first. This rough period caused Ariana to lose her faith in love and romantic relationships.

She won woman of the year this era! And I think a Grammy, though she didn't show. She famously hates going to things. In her own words this was the best year of her life professionally and worst personally. That's what makes it so compelling!

While she was understandably emotionally a mess during this era, she surrounded herself closesly with her friends in order to heal. One of these friends was Victoria Monet, who was a part of Ariana's songwriting team for years. They developed a close friendship and together they cowrote produced and recorded thank u,next together.

This release is unique in that it was just kind of made and dropped with little lead-up or too much commercial promo. The vibe of rappers dropping tracks and mixtapes on soundcloud at leisure.

Even though Ariana got lots more personal with sweetener, thank u,next is miles more intimate and personal, and set the tone for Ariana doing the majority of the writing on her albums moving forward. She really finds her voice in her confessional, approachable, idiosyncratic and sometimes funny lyrics.

My relationship with this album has evolved over the years. After not too long this album was largely considered her magnum opus, but I was still high on sweetener and at the time really preferred its optimism compared to this one. Over time, though I've come to connect a lot more with thank u, next and really love and appreciate this album. I revisit it all the time and love to both run it through or jump around to my favorite tracks.

Sonically this album leans a bit trap, and this era particularly garnered her some controversy with accusations of cultural appropriation. She spends lots of time in her lower register rather than belting.

This era ended up fusing with the sweetener era, with the sweetner world tout featuring songs from both albums.

For me, sweetener and thank u, next come TOGETHER to form her true magnum opus.

This was an incredibly successful and career-defining era.

htgkmo iykyk

Track by track

imagine

Wow this song is gorgeous and emotional and super unique and so signature. She's only performed it live 3 times and each time she got emotional. She didn't perform it on tour. She said the song is about "a simple, beautiful love that is now (and forever) unattainable."

needy

This is one of my favorites. I sing it all the time. It's sonically pretty stripped and lyrically candidly confessional.

If you take too long to hit me back, I can't promise you how I'll react, but all I can say is at least I'll wait for you

NASA

This is a fun silly clever song about needing space. Hehe get it? I return to this song all the time.

Usually I would orbit around you but gravity seems to be the only thing that's pulling me. You'll be my rise and shine soon as them stars align.

bloodline

Boppy track about wanting someone only temporarily, not in her bloodline. Super catchy. Love it. Features a little voice clip of her famous Nonna.

fake smile

Chill relatable track about being unable to fake happiness after all she's been through. Can you blame her? I love this song.

if i'm mad I aint gon lie about it, arms crossed with the attitude, lips pouted, if i'm hurt i ain't gon lie about it, neck roll with the attitude

bad idea

This is a bop and a half for sure. More on the theme of love being temporary and just a shallow distraction from the pain.

make up

A song about a toxic dynamic where she starts fights because make-up sex turns her on. Love the honesty. Love this song. Super catchy.

ghostin

Oh this is a saddy. She has never and will never perform this song live. It's so personal it almost feels invasive to listen to it. Haunting and beautiful.

It's about the dynamic in her relationship with Pete after Mac died, being distraught over Mac, knowing it hurts Pete and not being able to help it, giving him credit for how well he handled her and acknowledging the unfairness of the situation.

Baby you do it so well. You've been so understanding you've been so good and I'm putting you through more than one ever should. And I'm hating myself cause you don't want to admit that it hurts you.

in my head

This song has grown on me a lot throughout the years. The prechorus is impossible to sing idk how she does it. I love the bridge. This is such a great song about projecting an idea of who someone is onto them while ignoring the reality.

Wanted you to grow but boy you wasn't budding, everything you are made you everything you aren't. I saw your potential without seeing credentials. Maybe that's the issue. Maybe that's the issue. Can't hold that shit against you. Yes, I did it to myself, yeah. Thought you were somebody else, you.

7 rings

This song was huge!!! She bought 7 rings, one for her and one for each of her six closest friends and made a super fun song sampling "favorite things" from the sound of music and turning it into a trap-pop classic (to the possibly valid chagrin of many). It's about sisterhood and poking fun at the incongruency of how badly she's doing mentally and how absolutely bananas rich she is where she can have virtually anything she wants. Lots of layers.

thank u, next

When this song came out I knew it was an instant hit. Such a giant pop-culture moment. Name-dropping her exes and thanking them for their contributions to her life in a surprise twist given the seemingly shady and dismissive title. It's really great stuff. It's impressive to me how she did it without an ounce of mean-spiritedness.

This was her first #1 single!!!!!

The music video is one of her best and I also really love what I think is the first live performance of thank u, next which was on ellen and was themed after the movie First Wives Club which is all about decentering men to embrace sisterhood.

This song is so triumphant and legendary.

Ariana is a queen of manifestation.

One day I'll walk down the aisle holding hands with my mama, I'll be thanking my dad cause she grew from the drama, only wanna do it once real bad gon make that shit last, god forbid something happens, least this song is a smash

break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored

Here comes comediana! People get sooo mad about this song but it's just a fun little playing-the-villain pop song. And the video is cool and adds layers because the girlfriend in question is her doppleganger and so the point and the gag is that she wants him to break up with the girlfriend SO SHE CAN HAVE THE GIRLFRIEND aka HERSELF. How could I skipiana?

Positions (Deluxe)(2020)

Believe it or not, i actually had a period of my life where I wasn't obsessed with Ariana, and it was around when this came out. I kept up casually and enjoyed it but didn't play the album repeatedly and sort of forgot about it for a while. I guess I just turned normal temporarily. Now that I've circled back to obsession after the release of her latest album, eternal sunshine and have rediscovered this album and found a new love and appreciation for it. I think part of it is that I am now the age she was when she made this album.

Sonically Ariana has returned to her r&b roots with a more seasoned and mature perspective and sound. If there's one thing this woman does it is take care of her instrument and get better and better at singing with time.

During this era, Ariana became engaged to Dalton Gomez, her first relationship since the fateful events of the previous couple years. Thematically it feels similar to Sweetener, but with the added factor of fear and apprehension and surrendering despite it all. We see a bit of that hopeful romanticism return, with the wish of not repeating past mistakes, with a similar wash of dramatic irony to Sweetener now that Ariana and Dalton are divorced. Also, she was in HEAT during this era. Lol.

While we knew about Dalton she kept her personal life a lot more under wraps and only shared that she got married in an intimate ceremony after the fact.

This was the covid era so we didn't get a tour for this album but she did a stunning live recording which showcased her best vocals yet.

Lots more comediana in this album.

This is such a solid record. There really isn't a single bad song.

Track by track

shut up

Sweet-sounding song contrasting the sassy lyrics hitting back at critics and haters. It's so pretty and layered and funny. Love it as an opener.

34+35

Exhibit A for being in heat. This was a great fun single with a good video too. The remix with Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion is cute too. Solidiana.

motive feat. Doja Cat

Ooh this is a good one. Little discoey. About wanting to know someone's motive before opening her heart to them.

just like magic

This one's about her powers of manifestation and it's so good. She really did make everything in her life happen like magic. When she was a kid she wanted to be on All That, she ended up starring in 2 Dan Schneider shows (eeek). She wanted to be a singer and became one of the world's biggest pop stars. She met Kristen Chenoweth after seeing Wicked at 10 years old and always knew she wanted to play Glinda, and now she is. The way she's achieved and surpassed every goal is nothing short of remarkable.

off the table feat. The Weeknd

Beautiful duet about two people not yet healed from past relationships but being willing to take a chance with each other even though they had already written off love as an option. Great song.

Do I sit this one out and wait for the next life? Am I too cold? Am I not nice? Might not be quite yet healed or ready. Should I be going too steady? But I just wanna know is love completely off the table?

six thirty

This is a fun little ditty about just being down like six thirty, yknow? Fun odd lyricism, I love this song.

safety net feat. Ty Dolla $ign

Oh thissss song is gorgeous. It's about falling into love, fearful and without a safety net. One of my favorites on the album.

my hair

The vocals in this are CRAZY. This song is great, too! About welcoming a special sort of intimacy.

nasty

Again we were in HEAT. Great sultry r&b track.

west side

WELP another boppiana. There really aren't any misses, huh? About just leaning into love and following emotions to allow more love into your life. Chef's kiss.

love language

By this point in the album she's seeming more confident in the possibility of love. This is a fun one with a great chorus.

positions

This single was huge and was fun and solid and sexy. Good music video too.

I'm just hoping I don't re...pete history

obvious

Ohhh I love this song. It's about being straightforward about wanting to do life together and making it last. So good.

I love the thought of you in the mornin, keep me warm and nothing else nothing more important makes me wanna believe in love

pov

Every time she does the key change for the final chorus I am brought to tears. The vocals are so raw and stunning. This is one of her best songs on the album and ever. One of her most beautiful melodies.

I wanna love me the way that you love me, for all of my pretty and all of my ugly too I'd love to see me from your point of view

someone like u (interlude)

An interlude in the vein of Sweetener's pete davidson, this time about Dalton and without a name drop. Very nice

test drive

A nice bonus track about not needing to test drive the relationship to know that it's right. More dramatic irony.

worst behavior

This is suchhhh a bop you just have to hear it to get it. The bonus tracks on this album are so essential!

main thing

Nice early 2000s r&b vibe. Lovely way to close this excellent record.

eternal sunshine (2024)

This album was so good it triggered me like a sleeper cell into being Not Normal about Ariana Grande again at my grown age. As you can see I've adored every album she's made but she somehow outdid herself. She's never sounded better. She's grown so much into herself as an artist and is proving her staying power. I love her so much.

Knowing that Ariana has been in full Glinda mode for the last couple years I wondered if that was going to influence the sound of the album, since it seemed she really immersed herself in the role. I'm pleased to report she kept these worlds separate and this album is all Ari.

This is a highly controversial time for Ariana (get behind me girl!!!!) since her divorce from Dalton Gomez was made super public in addition to her new relationship with Wicked co-star Ethan Slater who recently welcomed a child with his wife from whom he divorved seemingly around the same time as Ari and Dalton. Things frankly look really messy and there is a popular perception of Ariana as a homewrecker. I don't claim to know the truth and I know Ariana is only human. I do know that people in her life have defended her publicly and have insinuated that people have the story wrong but it isn't theirs to tell. My personal fondness for Ariana inclines me to give her the benefit of the doubt, though truthfully it's really none of my business at all. What is my business is how fucking good this album is.

eternal sunshine is Ariana's most conceptual record, combining uber-confessional lyrics specific to her recent divorce and new relationship along with other stories illustrating the concept from the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (one of Ariana's favorite movies. since childhood she has been Jim Carrey's #1 fan) where people can have memories of entire relationships erased rather than deal with the pain of the relationship's failure. Ariana described it as "saying everything and nothing at the same time." She explained that in addition to pulling from her own circumstances she is pulling from stories she heard from others and tying them into universal love and loss themes through the lens of the eternal sunshine universe.

Feels spiritually connected to thank u, next for me since it is also the breakup follow-up album after the falling-in-love arc of Positions.

eternal sunshine is incredibly tight and concise with only like a 30 something minute runtime. There is no fluff or filler on this album. The storytelling is so vibrant and layered, better than it's ever been. The music videos for this era so far have already been excellent and iconic by my standards. Feels so much like she is coming home to herself.

The album is best first listened through in its entirety as the concept really comes together.

Track by track

intro (end of the world)

She loves to have a little reggae moment! Very pretty and confessional and begins with some questions that sets the tone for the rest of the album.

If the sun refused to shine tell me would I still be your lover, would you want me there? If the moon went dark tonight, and if it all ended tomorrow, would I be the one on your mind your mind your mind. And if it all ended tomorrow, would you be the one on mine?

bye

Great disco track about the moment she decided it's time to say goodbye. This is great tight pop.

This aint the first time I've been hostage to these tears. I can't believe I'm finally living through my fears.

Ariana has alluded multiple times to her fear of divorce, stemming from seeing her parents divorce when she was young. See the song thank u, next (only wanna do it once real bad gon make that shit last, god forbid somethin happens) or obvious from Positions (i'm praying we don't fuck this up). She's now living it, knowing in her heart it was the right thing to do and realizing she's strong enough to handle it. Super empowering. It's a beautiful moment because she was scared to end up like her mother, Joan who she adores and is super close with, only to go through the same thing and realize how strong and resilient they both are, bringing them even closer together and giving Ariana even more admiration for her.

So I grab my stuff, Courtney just pulled up in the driveway, it's tiiiime

What do yall know about Courney Chipolone?? Ariana's cousin and one of her lifelong best friends. She was in the thank u, next video as one of the plastics.

Additionally, even thought the song is about deciding it's over, it's not at all mean-spirited. It's goodbye, not fuck you.

don't wanna break up again

Whew, this is a rough one I think a lot of us can relate to. Knowing things aren't right and probably won't be again, not wanting to break up but knowing you have to.

We sort of get into the theme of holding multiple contradictory truths at once and the kinds of phases you go through when ending it with someone. In bye, she sings:

At least I know how hard we tried both you and me, didn't we? Didn't we?

But in this song, she sings:

I made it so easy, spent so much on therapy, blamed my own codependency, but you didn't even try. When you finally did it was at the wrong time. No, I won't abandon me again for you and I.

This lyric always makes me cry:

Hope you won't, won't regret me, hope you'll still think fondly of our little life

Saturn Returns Interlude

Another heavy theme of this album and Ariana's life these last couple years is her hitting her Saturn Return, which happens usually around age 29. It marks a period of transformation and reckoning with your true desires, as Diana Garland explains in this spoken excerpt from her video titled “Saturn Return – Why 29 Years Old Is An Important Age”.

I'm approaching my own saturn return and i'm terrified!

eternal sunshine

This may be Ariana's best song yet. It's for sure my new favorite. Sonically so haunting. Lyrically explores those parallel timelines and the way she and her partner have each moved on and the desire to erase the memories to maintain sanity rather than carrying them with her.

So I try to wipe my mind, just so I feel less insane, rather feel painless

She plays so well with levels in this album, the parts in her lower register really giving extra impact to the chorus which she takes up real high.

supernatural

Now we start to get a bit more positive and hopeful, since we're talking about a new love that feel supernatural. Such a pretty, catchy song about being ready to define the relationship without wasting any more time.

true story

A response to the stories and "lies" as she puts it about her that paint her as the villain. She tells us she'll play that villain if that's what we want! Good stuff.

the boy is mine

Kind of a continuation of the villain thing. She is SO funny and bold for choosing this time to interpolate this song famously about two women fighting over a man, given all the stories about her. Such a power move, I have to respect it. And the music video is so fun!

This song is such an instant classic. She says she made it trying to capture what her fans love about a leaked song of hers that's super popular on Tik Tok, called Fantasize. Fantasize is actually written for a tv show and is a parody of 90's girl groups, which is exactly what it sounds like to me. The lyrics are tongue-in-cheek and a bit on the cornier side than the work she makes for herself. For some reason people LOVEEE Fantasize and are so mad that it's not a real song that she released and are under the impression it's one of her best songs. Now, i would not go that far. As I said before, i sometimes question the taste of my fellow brothers in Grande, and Ariana feels the same way, just like, why do yall love Fantasize so much? But she made this song to have a similar vibe as Fantasize because she is a woman who knows how to please her fans. This song is miles better than Fantasize.

The remix with Brandy and Monica is sooo good and so major and according to Brandy and Monica, literally healed their relationship after their famous decades-long beef. With everyone all excited about Charli and Lorde's reconciliation on Girl, So Confusing from Brat, I'm surprised that more people weren't drawing comparisons to this and saying "let's work it out on the remix." Like they reallly worked it out on the remix!! What a moment!

yes, and?

Her first single after a long hiatus from music! I immediately loved it. Dancey and house-y and empowered. She is sooo funny. I love how it's a not to her musical theatre era (and roots) without being Glinda-fied.

we can't be friends (wait for your love)

Ohhh this song and video are sooo good. Sounds a lot like Robyn's Dancing on my Own, another song I love though I can't tell if it's a sample or just similar. The song feels both personally confessional while still somehow universal and multifaceted. Stunning chorus. Stuck in my head all the time.

i wish i hated you

Ohhh this is heartbreaking. And unfortunately relatable. It's about, at the end of a relationship, realizing you can't even take comfort in hating your ex and saying "good riddance" because they actually didn't do anything to deserve that and it's somehow more painful that way, because the love and fondness for that person will always be there, just with the knowledge that you aren't right for each other. This is one she says she won't listen back to or ever perform live and I don't blame her. Very raw and vulnerable.

and no matter how I try to and no matter how I want to and no matter how guilty I still feeling saying it, I wish I hated you, I wish that weren't true, wish there was worse to you, I wish you were worse to me

imperfect for you

This is Ariana's favorite song on the album. It's pretty up there for me! It's sonically pretty different than a lot of her other stuff but seems to reflect her personal taste. It's kind of haunting and psychedelic and about acknowledging and appreciating the time they had together, the valuable lessons they learned along the way, the main one being that they were imperfect for each other and it took all they went through to find that out. It's so good. What's interesting is this one feels more accepting, like she's inclined to hang on to the memories rather than erase them, and appreciates the time they had and all she learned from it.

I'm glad we crashed and burned, I know we'll be there for each other

I got misty typing that out! Jesus!

ordinary things (feat. Nonna)

We end the album on a hopeful note, talking about how in her new relationship nothing could ever be ordinary because just being together is so special. Beautiful close to the album. Ends with a recording of Ariana's Nonna (who she is ALWAYS recording which I think is so sweet) talking about the hardships she and her late grandfather (who Ariana was also very close with) overcame and advising Ariana to follow her heart, know what is worth fighting for and know when it's time to get out. So good.