Ariana Grande has been dangling a new album in front of us since Thursday—including the name of it (thank u, next), what appeared to be some lyrics, and a clue that it was definitely going to address her breakup with Pete Davidson.
Of course, breakups make for some of songwriters' best material, so it wasn't entirely surprising she'd get to work on some powerful, relevant material. But what is a shock is just how quickly she's managed to turn the songs around: She dropped a single from it on Saturday night—right as SNL, featuring Davidson as cast member, went on air. The devil works fast, but Grande works faster, it seems.
She teased the song shortly before tweeting it:
i’m so .... fuckin ..... grateful
Finally, the drop came in the form of a tweet with a link to the song. You can listen to it on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, YouTube, and pretty much everywhere else; she was very thorough.
Listen to it below:
In the song, she namechecks each of her exes—including Davidson—but nothing about it scathing. Rather than dragging them (something she said she wouldn't do), she calls them out by naming what she's thankful about from each of their relationships and how it helped her grow as a person.
Thought I'd end up with Sean
But he wasn't a match
Wrote some songs about Ricky
Now I listen and laugh
Even almost got married
And for Pete, I'm so thankful
Wish I could say, "Thank you" to Malcolm
'Cause he was an angel
One taught me love
One taught me patience
And one taught me pain
Now, I'm so amazing
I've loved and I've lost
But that's not what I see
So, look what I got
Look what you taught me
And for that, I say
Thank you, next (Next)
Thank you, next (Next)
Thank you, next
I'm so fuckin' grateful for my ex
Thank you, next (Next)
Thank you, next (Next)
Thank you, next (Next)
I'm so fuckin'—
Grande's also been coping with the unexpected death of her ex Mac Miller, which happened a few weeks before she and Davidson broke up. This song sounds like a healthy way to be working through all of that. Plus, there's quite a bit of empowering self-love tucked into the words:
Spend more time with my friends
I ain't worried 'bout nothin'
Plus, I met someone else
We havin' better discussions
I know they say I move on too fast
But this one gon' last
'Cause her name is Ari
And I'm so good with that (So good with that)
She taught me love (Love)
She taught me patience (Patience)
And she handles pain (Pain)
That shit's amazing (Yeah, she's amazing)
I've loved and I've lost (Yeah, yeah)
But that's not what I see (Yeah, yeah)
Just look what I've found (Yeah, yeah)
Ain't no need for searching, and for that, I say
Queen.
She ends the song by looking at her parents' own relationship—and saying that if she gets married, she's only going to do it once.
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 (Song is a smash)
I've got so much love (Love)
Got so much patience (Patience)
I've learned from the pain (Pain)
I turned out amazing (Turned out amazing)
I've loved and I've lost (Yeah, yeah)
But that's not what I see (Yeah, yeah)
Just look what I've found (Yeah, yeah)
Ain't no need for searching
And for that, I'll say
Fans naturally were all about it:
your big dick energy is out of this world because of this one ty ily
Safe to say, we're all waiting for when the rest of the album drops—but, Ari, try to get some sleep too, please.
