By: Jaylyn Gonzalez

For the past three years, Ariana Grande—a long-standing pop and contemporary R&B artist—has been driven to shift her life towards a state of happiness and pleasure. 

At just 27 years old, Grande has reached a point in life where she’s preserved trials and tribulations from the tragic 2017 Manchester Arena bombing during her concert, the death of her ex-boyfriend, rapper Mac Miller, and, recently, a breakup with her ex-fiance Pete Davidson. 

Despite this, she was able to channel these horrors—depicting their impacts while steering them towards a positive light—and built them into the fundamental pieces centered in her past three albums. 

Through Sweetener in 2018, thank u, next in 2019, and the release of her newest album, Positions, just a few weeks earlier, Grande reconciled her past traumas into music—generating a coping mechanism for her grief and a key to her fans that leads into an open book into her personal life.

The transition from Sweetener to thank u, next displays a stark difference in the type of songs she released as they each resemble a different stage of coping with her life. Sweetener looks for hope while also stumbling upon the glow of new love and thank u, next brings in a lighter, freer, and more fun hits past her grief—both carried effortlessly by her undeniable voice. 

However, Positions becomes a symbol of Grande searching for peace in a life filled with chaos by piecing herself together into a new version of herself that includes a giddy new romance.

Through the R&B slow jams rooted into the album, she aspires to express real intimacy within her songs by being in love but scared of it at the same time—displaying her urge to take the pains of her past and make something from it, feeling safe in someone else’s arms again.

shut up & just like magic

Strength and self-assuredness are a constant theme throughout the album, but, this credit to positive changes is prominent in songs “shut up” and “just like magic.” 

Grande’s opening song, “shut up,” sets the tone of the album as a light, playful mood through her vibrant vocals—a melody that bounces off gleefully in a room. She puts off her critics by, lyrically, telling them to mind their business and stop judging her recent life choices by repeating “so maybe you should shut up” in her chorus. 

Similarly, in “just like magic,” she expresses her strive to maintain a good aura by meditating and pushing good karma to her side. “Good karma, my aesthetic (my aesthetic) / keep my consciousness clear that’s why I’m so magnetic / manifest it, I finessed it…” sings Grande in her chorus—depicting her yearn to become a better, more productive version of herself.

motive ft. Doja Cat, off the table ft. The Weekend, & safety net ft. Ty Dolla $ign

The power of being vulnerable in the context of a relationship is explored in this album as Grande is searching for reassurance and trust in others before putting herself in unwanted positions—similar to her last two relationships. 

In her three collaborations, “motive ft. Doja Cat,” “off the table ft. The Weekend,” and  “safety net ft. Ty Dolla $ign,” she is scared to open her feelings so quickly and enter into another shaky relationship, lyrically displaying this in starkly different tones. “Motive” incorporates a burst of electro-leaning dance floor beats, “safety net” has a memorable chorus that is crucial to any hit pop song, while “off the table” is a slow, unfolding R&B ballad. 

“Not yet healed already/ should I be going too steady/ just want to know, is love completely off the table?” is sung by Grande with The Weekend to exhibit her doubts in entering a relationship where two people aren’t on the same page. 

love language, positions, obvious & pov 

The last four songs of the album share the same theme: Grande’s long-awaited fulfillment of being in love and in a healthy relationship. Here, she’s overcome her fear of entering a relationship, yet, she’s finally taken the leap towards being able to love herself and someone else equally. 

With “love language,” she takes this song into a 1990’s R&B vibe through pirouetting strings and stuttering beats. “Teach me how to love you / I’m unlearning what ain’t right” she sings to express her desire to explore the five “love languages” or ways in which people express and experience love. 

As a pre-released single and music video, “positions” was the first song that introduced her fans to the main theme of her album: finding new love and the different “positions” she’s been to get to this point. “Heaven sent you to me / I’m just hopin’ I don’t repeat history / I’m tryna meet your mama on a Sunday / Then make a lotta love on a Monday,” is believed to be about her relationship with her current boyfriend, Dalton Gomez, and how she doesn’t want to repeat the mistakes she made with her ex-fiancé, Pete Davidson.

In her second to last song, “obvious,” Grande seems to be making a confession to her partner by singing how her feelings towards him should be very “obvious” through her flirty behavior around him. Speaking out about how she feels she sings “I love the thought of us in the evening / crave the feeling / the way you feel something ‘bout it’s healing…Could I be more obvious?” With Gomez, she’s been able to reveal all of her boundless emotions—from being unsure to secure—throughout this project. 

The album perfectly ends with “pov,” a lovely ballad that begins with gentle raindrops until she layers it with a more subtle, breathing-like pattern—possibly representing Gomez’s breathing as Grande lays on his chest. The narrative behind the song beautifully frames her lyrics that express her insecurities while daring to be optimistic in her new relationship. In singing, “You know me better than I do / can’t seem to keep nothing from you / …I want to love me / The way that you love me …” this song is essentially a heartwarming tribute to Gomez for loving her for the person she is—through her stages of grief and all—as she learns to love herself the way he loves her.

Ariana Grande’s album, Positions, isn’t necessarily about relying on others. Instead, it’s an introspective of how she’s still figuring out what happiness looks like after all she’s been through.