On March 8, 2024, Ariana Grande released her long-awaited album, eternal sunshine, inspired by the movie “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” This album took about three months to make. Her previous album, “Positions,” was released on October 30, 2020.
The album starts with “Intro (end of the world).” The first lyrics that hit the ears are “How can I tell if I’m in the right relationship?/ Aren’t you really supposed to know that s***?” Grande starting off with questioning her relationship gives listeners insight into the topics to come in the following tracks. It’s been speculated that this song is about her ex-husband, Dalton Gomez. The pair began dating in January 2020 and got married on May 15, 2021. According to court papers, it’s been over a year since they separated. AP News states, “A Los Angeles Superior Court judgment dissolving their marriage of nearly three years became official Tuesday.” This opening track is great but I don’t think it’s something I’ll listen to all that often outside of when I listen to the album in full. It almost feels like you’re floating – grooving along. It ends with a cut-off that doesn’t feel abrupt.
When the track list was released, one of the more enticing titles was the third song, “don’t wanna break up again.” The track opens up with “I fall asleep cryin’/You turn up the TV/ You don’t wanna hear me.” Grande also mentions a “situationship” having to end. Fans claim that since Grande is currently in a relationship with Wicked co-star, Ethan Slater, then the song has to be about her ex-husband, Dalton Gomez.
Situationships are romantic relationships that are not considered to be formal or established. This makes it all the more interesting if that’s how she’s referring to her marriage. The section of the song from 1:49-2:02 is incredible; the switch in the instrumental was amazing and didn’t feel sudden or as if it didn’t match the flow of the rest of the song.
The track “eternal sunshine” contained lyrics such as “Now, now she’s in my bed,/ mm-mm, layin’ on your chest… showed you all my demons, all my lies,/ Yet you played me like Atari,” indicating that she may have been cheated on, as well as made to feel like a fool. This lyric in particular caused many fans to speculate that it was about Dalton Gomez. This is a song that improves as you give it more time. Upon first listen, the song was good but not great, but as time went on, the song was nothing more than brilliant. Grande was able to tie the concept of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” with her personal life and make an amazing song.
Track seven, “true story,” isn’t actually all that true. In an interview with Zane Lowe and Apple Music, Grande said “It’s an untrue story, based on all untrue events. It sets up ‘the boy is mine’ obviously. It’s kind of like, ‘Okay, I’ll play the bad girl. Now here’s your bad girl anthem.’ That’s why they’re in that order on the track list.” This song isn’t her confirming or denying anything that’s been put out in the media. It’s only fair to admit, that this song took a few listens to truly enjoy; it wasn’t bad upon listening to it the first time, all that was needed was more time to sit with the track. I find it interesting that she says, “I’ll play the villain if you need me to,” which plays into her being considered a villain in the media. These claims are that Grande is a homewrecker and intervened in her current boyfriend, Ethan Slater’s, marriage with Lily Jay. However, there has been no evidence presented to prove these claims.
The song “we can’t be friends,” can have multiple interpretations, such as being about a break, an old friendship, or losing someone special. The most talked about interpretation is the public’s perception of Grande. The main reason it’s been such a popular interpretation is because of the lyrics, “We can’t be friends,/ but I’d like to just pretend…/Wait until you like me again.” Because of these various interpretations, it will pull at almost anyone’s heartstrings. This is a perfect song for the car or to listen to while doing homework. It’s calm but also has strong points with Grande’s high notes. It’s a song that will for sure grow in people’s hearts when they focus on the lyrics and find their interpretation of the song.
The final song on the album is “ordinary things ft. Nonna.” I immediately knew it was going to be my favorite from my first listen. It’s a love song and it reminds me of past songs like “worst behavior” and “obvious,” from her ‘Positions’ album. The sound bit from Nonna, Grande’s grandma, truly ties the whole album together. The beginning of the album starts with a question, the last song provides an answer. “And as I told her, never go to bed without kissin’ 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.” The album going full circle demonstrates the order of the album is important, it tells a story. The advice is that no matter how many problems you may have, you should never forget about the little things, because those are the most precious. This album by far has been the best of Grande’s albums at telling a story, in terms of how the track list went. A past album, “My Everything,” had a track list that didn’t follow a story nor did it flow sonically. Grande put a more hip-hop song “Hands On Me,” between ballads “Just A Little Bit Of Your Heart” and “My Everything.”
Experience with love and loss were the most prevalent themes of the album. This record from beginning to end has felt like you’re floating along. There are moments where you stop but the songs pick you back up again. Many fans felt that it was their favorite album of Grande’s. It’s reasonable to say that the majority of the songs do sound similar (considering they’re the same genre), but they still had a twist of their own. Grande switches the instrumentals up, whether that’s by speeding up the pace or slowing it down, and she alternates some lyrics throughout the song. However, as time continues it’ll become easier to differentiate the songs and they won’t mesh into one another.
The album was great, truly one of her best works. It’s wonderful to see the evolution of Grande’s music, how she’s stayed consistent but also how she’s grown musically. She’s stated it’s unlikely that she’ll tour anytime soon and if she were to then it would be after she’s done promoting both parts of “Wicked.”
