It’s no secret at this point that Ariana Grande is in love–the “can’t live without each other love” Carrie Bradshaw annoyingly spoke of in the final episode of Sex and the City. From the licking of a lollipop as she stares at Pete Davidson longingly meme to the reactions of his exes when news of his engagement to Grande broke, the media has been vigilant in their coverage of the latest chapter in Grande’s life–more so than when the attack at Manchester Arena occurred last year. It is very obviously both of these two events–one traumatic, one healing–that have colored the content of Sweetener, essentially one grand love sonnet in non-sonnet form (but hey, at least Shakespeare gets name checked at some point on “everytime”).
Starting with “raindrops (an angel cried),” a thirty-seven second intro (/cover of The Four Seasons) that sets the stage for track ten on the album, “no tears left to cry,” Grande establishes her need to take us out of the dark and into the light. This is precisely why it leads into the uptempo “blazed” featuring Pharrell Williams, who also produced the album’s second single, “the light is coming,” in addition to five other songs. Bursting with joy in every beat and lyric, Grande declares, “Once I have you, I will never let you go.” It sounds a bit scary for Davidson, as most men ultimately have trouble with Elmyra-like love and affection. But maybe he can handle it if he’s “blazed” enough. Followed by “the light is coming” (which grows on one the more she listens to its unconventional production–making it arguably one of the most sonically interesting songs of the year), Grande is at her “grittiest” on the record, which should tell you something about just how unburstable her optimism bubble is at this moment.
The slow, “sweaty” “R.E.M.” likens Grande’s ebullience in love to a dream she never wants to wake up from, crooning, “You’re such a dream to me/Before you speak don’t move ’cause I don’t wanna wake up.” Speaking to the whirlwind of their sped up romance (i.e. getting engaged within a week), Grande adds, “‘Scuse me? I love you/I know that’s not that way to start a conversation…but I felt like I knew you so I just wanted to hug you.” And there is something universal about this feeling she’s describing, the one that some of us only have the luxury of experiencing through literature, film or songs such as these. But it is real–love at first sight–even if Grande has yet to learn that the ardor surrounding this phenomenon might not necessarily be sustainable. That “R.E.M.” leads into “god is a woman” is also telling of just how invincible Grande feels in her state of l’amour right now–ergo especially commanding and assured of what she wants. The sultry temptress vibe of this is quickly contrasted with the “True Blue” sugariness of “sweetener,” in which Grande remains filled with double entendres as she demands Davidson to “twist it” and “kiss it,” among other requests. “I don’t know what I’d do without you in my life, it’d be so sour,” she tacks on, so as to make Davidson seem slightly less like a sex toy for her own discretionary pleasure. The overload on sweetness occurs right at this point on the record, with “successful” being just a touch too perky and therefore unrelatable as Grande boasts, “It feels so good to be so young and successful/I’m so successful!” It’s almost as though she’s touting that she can afford to breed an army of Davidson’s children and you can’t, you old, poor soul.
Mercifully, the one-two punch of these throwaway tracks is negated by “everytime” (not to be confused with Britney Spears’ “Everytime”). “It’s like something out of Shakespeare,” Grande describes, alluding once again to the abnormally fast pace of her relationship, which, as a Shakespearean hero would, she chalks up to fate with, “Why oh why does God keep bringing me back to you/I go back to you everytime.” Considering Grande insists she already knew she was going to marry Davidson in 2016, it makes sense, this destiny claim.
Grande picks up the ambient dance groove of “everytime” with “breathin,” a track that also, quelle surprise, finds her gushing over Davidson, with lyrics like, “Time goes by and I can’t control my mind/I keep on breathin’ and breathin’ and breathin’,” an overt nod to how Davidson gives her those true love butterflies.
Going back to the very event that has made Davidson feel like such a godsend in the wake of falling into a well of despair, “no tears left to cry” still stands out as a gem among the other tracks–matched perhaps only by the greatness of the song that succeeds it, “borderline” (again, not to be confused with Madonna’s). Featuring a rare cameo by Missy Elliott, the theme of the song echoes Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey’s terrible “The Middle” in terms of espousing the notion of compromise with, “Chasin’ you, no, I won’t stop tryin’/Just meet me at the borderline.” This segues into one of the most standout tracks of Sweetener for its non-gushing about new love nature, “better off.” A reflection on her time with Mac Miller, Grande sings about the benefits of not being tied down (Cardi B-style) by a toxic significant other as she asserts, “I’m better off without him/I’m better off being a wild one”–that is, until she met Davidson.
“goodnight n go,” which interweaves Imogen Heap’s original 2006 “Goodnight and Go” into it,” is then, fittingly back to those pouring out of emotions as she expresses the joys and fears that come with falling in love so heedlessly. But caution has certainly not been the word to describe any of Grande’s actions in her relationship with Davidson, as evidenced by naming track fourteen “Pete Davidson” because “music lasts forever. It’ll outlive any tattoo, any memory, any anything, even myself so I want my love for him and how I feel to be a part of that.” Strangely though, it’s the least impressive song after “sweetener” and “successful”–and the most repetitive. For someone so in love, one would think she could find a more eloquent way to describe the feeling than, “Got me happy, happy I’ma be happy, happy, yeah I’ma be happy, happy.” Would that we could all make the decision to be so and will it into existence.
Grande closes with her most Mariah Carey-sounding effort on the album, “get well soon,” which addresses, once more, the Manchester Arena attack, and the sentiments of sadness and depersonalization Grande felt afterward. Yet, for such a serious subject matter, Grande chooses instead to lighten the mood with a beat characterized by levity. Describing the emotions that befell her in the wake of the bombing, Grande sings, “(Girl, what’s wrong with you? Come back down)/Disconnected, so sometimes, I feel frozen and alone,” she also finds a way to combine her two loves–Davidson and her fans–in one lyric assuring, “One of those days you had enough, I’ll be there/’Cause if it ain’t one thing, it’s another/If you need someone to pull you out the bubble/I’ll be right there just to hug you, I’ll be there.” Sure, Michael and Mariah already promised that, but it’s nice to hear from Grande, too. In fact, all of Sweetener is intended to feel like one massive sonic hug coming right through the speakers–even if some of us are too emotionally stunted not to cringe just a little bit at times when it gets too maudlin to handle.
