Music Corner – Ariana Grande
After five long years of waiting for a new album, Ariana Grande fans are finally satisfied with the seventh dropped album, “Eternal Sunshine,” released on March 8th. Based on the movie, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” Grande’s songs paint a picture of the end of her marriage and reveal the memories of loneliness she faced, allowing listeners to reminisce on their own romantic distress. The album’s opening track, “intro(end of the world),” prompts this question of how does one know if they are in the right relationship, setting the tone for the rest of her album. Seemingly the most popular song trending, “we can’t be friends(waiting for your love),” is a song filled with extraordinary vocals and well-written lyrics that transcend listeners to this feeling of lost love. The songs, “true story”, “the boy is mine” and “yes, and?” read as its own story in the album. Starting off with “true story,” Grande depicts herself as both the victim and the villian, responding to rumors of her being a homewrecker with her relationship with Ethan Slater. The story continues with, “the boy is mine,” showing that Grande takes accountability for the pain she has caused but overall, she feels as if she needs to follow her heart. Ending the story with, “yes, and?” serves as a way for her to say she has no interest in provocation, but rather cares about setting her personal boundaries. Grande truly reaches the audience in, “I wish I hated you,” showing this unique limbo state in a romantic relationship when you no longer want to be with the person, yet don’t want to be without them either. The album’s final song, “ordinary things,” ends with a monologue of Grande’s grandmother answering Grande’s question in the intro. It seems as if Grande is seeking to answer her own questions of romance and relationships. She uses this album as a way to communicate that relationships are imperfect, but if it is with the right person, being in love will feel easy despite the ups and downs.
