Heartaches are an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Ariana Grande demonstrates it once again. The doubts, the clashes, the need for others, the need to leave, the desire to get back up after the end… So many subjects that revolve around love and that the singer skillfully explores throughout her choruses where pop and R&B are shaped in multiple ways, so there’s never a dull moment.
The title eternal sunshine refers to the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a 2004 masterpiece by Michel Gondry in which Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet live in a world where it is possible to erase your own memory so as not to have to suffer the pain of memories. Several times on her album, the singer refers to going through heartbreak (bye, we can’t be friends), but also to the fact of sometimes being held back by memories, nostalgia and enduring affection (don’t wanna break up again, eternal sunshine).
After a very discreet marriage to real estate agent Dalton Gomez, Ariana Grande went through a slightly more publicized divorce two years later, in 2023. Part of the album makes a direct reference to it. I wish I hated you, for example, expresses all the difficulty that one can experience in recovering from a separation. Grande talks about the feelings that remain embedded, which make her feel like she could move on better if she felt hatred towards her ex.
If separation occupies an important place, it is about romantic relationships in general that the singer questions herself. On the first piece, intro (end of the world), she asks herself many questions. “How can I tell if I’m in the right relationship?” /Aren’t you really worried about knowing that shit? /Feel it in your bones and own that shit? I don’t know.” On the very last song, ordinary things, she seems to have gotten some answers, as she describes the person she loves as someone with whom the ordinary things in life become extraordinary. We also hear his grandmother, Marjorie, giving him some precious advice about love.
Finally, note that the “slightly deluxe” version of the album is well worth it (this is rarely the case), with acoustic and a cappella versions of two songs, as well as duets with Troye Sivan (supernatural) and none other than Mariah Carey (yes, and ?), to whom, we can say without a doubt, Ariana Grande succeeds brilliantly.
Extract of yes, and?
Pop
eternal sunshine
Ariana Grande
Republic Records