Ariana Grande released her anticipated album, “Eternal Sunshine,” on Mar. 8, thematically inspired by the 2004 movie starring Jim Carrey, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” a film following the lives of Joel and Clementine, a couple facing divorce.
The movie follows Clementine’s choice to wipe her memory of Joel, leading to a heartbreaking story about the importance of relationships and holding one’s memories no matter how difficult they may be to look back at. Grande uses this idea of holding on to the pain of failed relationships and growing from it as the theme of her new album.
“I don’t wanna break up again/ We both know this time/ So we say goodbye/ Just a kiss goodbye/ With tears in our eyes/ Hope you won’t, won’t regret me/ Hope you still think fondly/ Of our little life,” Grande sings in “Don’t Wanna Break Up Again,” directly referencing the idea of regret and pain in “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”
Grande explores her heartbreak with this album, not only through the lens of devastation but also through that of new love, both in terms of a new relationship and of new-found self-love.
The singer was in a relationship with rapper Mac Miller from 2012-2018. Following their breakup, Miller was involved in a DUI and later passed away in September 2018. In the track “Ghostin” from Grande’s 2019 highly-acclaimed album “Thank U, Next,” Grande expresses her pain following Miller’s death through the lyrics, “He just comes to visit me/ When I’m dreaming every now and then.”
Fans have flocked to TikTok to share their excitement over a subtle detail in the “Saturn Returns Interlude.” Towards the end of the track, which incorporates a video featuring astrologer Diana Garland discussing the effects of a Saturn Return, listeners can catch a snippet of the singer’s laughter. This snippet is thought to originate from a 2018 video featuring Grande and Miller laughing together.
Fans have also speculated that Miller inspired the album, especially as “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” was one of the rapper’s favorite movies.
In 2021, Grande married Dalton Gomez, a California real estate broker. However, they shortly divorced in 2023 after only two years of marriage. This marriage seems to be the overarching relationship explored throughout the album, primarily through tracks “Intro (End of the World)” and “Don’t Wanna Break Up Again.”
“How can I tell if I’m in the right relationship?” Grande sings in “Intro (End of the World), expressing the end of the relationship and questioning where to turn next.
Grande explores each dimension of a failing relationship throughout this album, singing the lyrics, “This ain’t the first time I’ve been hostage to these tears/ I can’t believe I’m finally moving through my fears/ At least I know how hard we tried, both you and me; didn’t we?”
Through these lyrics, Grande expresses how she’s endured heartbreak repeatedly, but this time, it has allowed her to grow as a person, and she is leaving this relationship behind.
Perhaps most prominently, in “Don’t Wanna Break Up Again,” the singer describes her marriage as only a “Situationship,” which allows Grande to understate her marriage’s effects on her.
Perhaps most interesting throughout this album is the element of new love, especially as the singer is rumored to be with “Wicked” co-star Ethan Slater.
“Cause the boy is mine, mine/ Something about him is made for somebody like me/ Baby, come over,” Grande sings on “The Boy is Mine,” a track that interpolates elements from Brandy and Monica’s 1998 hit single of the same name.
Grande alludes to another 90s song, the house-music classic “Vogue,” by Madonna in the hit single “Yes, And?”
“My tongue is sacred, I speak upon what I like; protected, sexy, discerning with my time; your energy is yours, and mine is mine,” Grande sings over an ethereal house beat.
For many, “Yes, And?” served as Grande’s response to the recent influx of judgments aimed at the singer’s love life and the personal choices she’s made throughout her career. The single peaked at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In the later tracks of this album, it is clear that Grande’s choices when it comes to the themes surrounding the album were not by accident, seen especially in the track “We Can’t Be Friends,” which has become the second most streamed song on the album, predicted to come in at No.1 on the Billboard Charts this week.
In the music video for “We Can’t Be Friends,” starring actor Evan Peters, Grande recreates scenes from “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” which represents her inspiration for the album. Fans speculate that a teddy bear spotted in the background of certain scenes throughout the video is an ode to Miller.
“Eternal Sunshine,” like many of Grande’s albums, expresses the emotional turmoil and sweet nature of being in love, reflecting the sentimental beauty in “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”
Grande evokes the culmination of emotions that come with breakups, allowing her listeners to enter her inner thoughts. She sings, “We can’t be friends, But I’d like to just pretend; You cling to your papers and pens; Wait until you like me again.”
Gabriela Quintero is a staff writer for the University Press. For more information on this story or others, contact her at [email protected].
