Album Review: eternal sunshine by Ariana Grande
Introduction
Ariana Grande is a singer-songwriter and actress. Coming from Broadway, she starred in Nickelodeon’s hit TV show, Victorious. She debuted her singing career in 2013 with her album, Yours Truly. After the release of her sixth studio album, positions, she auditioned and got the role of Glinda in the Oscar nominated movie, Wicked. During filming, SAG-AFTRA announced a strike in July of 2023, where Grande spent her time in the studio working on music.
On March 8, 2024, Grande released her seventh album, eternal sunshine. The album was based on the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, starring Jim Carey and Kate Winslet. The film is about two characters, Joel and Clementine, who have their relationship erased from their memory after it ended. Throughout the film, they try to save their love within the memories and still end up losing each other. Grande’s adaptation of the film into her album is a story of loss, forgiveness and moving on. She introduces us to Peaches, who is based on Clementine, and how she navigates her “eternal sunshine.”
Lyrics
The album starts with the lyric, “How can I tell if I’m in the right relationship?” and ends with the voice memo, “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 is based on a film, so this might as well be the script.
Grande is graciously moving on in “bye” saying, “Maybe someday we’ll look back with love.” In this interview with Zach Sang, Grande mentions that she is moving forward with love and choosing herself. On the other hand, feelings still linger and she has a hard time sorting them out on “don’t wanna break up again.” The lyric, “We both know it’s time, so we goodbye, just one kiss goodbye, with tears in our eyes” suggests that it’s hard to let go, but doing it for the greater good.
Now, she recognizes that she’s in that place that she needs to get out of and truly moves on in “eternal sunshine.” The term representing ignorance about the relationship because she doesn’t have the memory to be sad about it, according to Grande in this interview. She’s focusing on herself in “yes,and?” saying, “Say that shit with your chest, and be your own fuckin best friend.” This attitude continues in “we can’t be friends (wait for your love),” with, “Me and my truth we sit in silence, mm. Baby girl it’s just me and you.”
We can’t heal without holding a little resentment, right? Wrong, Grande challenges this idea with the song, “i wish i hated you” with the lyric, “No matter how easy things could if I did, and no matter how guilty i still feel saying it, i wish i hated you.” She tries to paint him as a monster in her head but that’s not the reality she lives, according to Grande in this interview. She recognizes love is imperfect but perfect for the circumstances. In “imperfect for you” and “ordinary things,” she points out that all they need is each other and the small things really matter.
Saturn returns interlude
Saturn is a planet of discipline, structure and time. Grande mentions that she has a fear of replicating a cycle of love she saw from her parents in this interview. As the interlude transitions into the next track, there is a looping voice telling her to wake up and laughter fades out. I enjoyed the interlude because I am a big astrology nerd and I thought it perfectly tied into the story.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Lyrically, this album is filled with heartfelt and vulnerable lyrics like, “Know that you made me. I don’t like how you paint me, yet I’m still here hanging.” in “we can’t be friends (wait for your love). Sonically, I wish she did more of the 70s sound throughout the album. Tracks like “yes, and?” and “imperfect for you” felt out of place. I feel that “true story,” “the boy is mine” and “yes,and?,” didn’t pertain to the concept of the album and could have been left off. However, I do think that having those tracks was a good move because it offers more depth to the album sonically.
Final Thoughts
