One of my best friends, Justine, recently introduced me to Ariana Grande’s new song, “thank u, next”. I highly trust Justine’s creative vision in the music department (her Spotify playlists are straight fire), so when she told me to listen to this song I followed her instructions. The first time I heard “thank u, next” I immediately fell in love with the song because of the messages that Ariana is trying to send about breakups and how we should handle them. This is why “thank u, next” should be your new breakup song:
1. It shows that we shouldn’t be bitter towards our exes.
Ariana Grande should be applauded for the simple fact that she doesn’t throw shade at her exes, even though it is a breakup song. There are no subtweets and no pseudonyms. Throughout the song, she clearly states each of her exes names and manages to say only positive things about them. Ariana goes as far as saying she is “thankful” and “grateful” for her exes because they have all taught her important lessons in love.
2. It focuses on the valuable lessons we take away from failed relationships.
In the song, Ariana Grande focuses on the fact that we all learn things from our failed relationships, even our worst ones. She goes as far as thanking her exes for teaching her values and experiences like love, patience, and pain. Ariana sings “So, look what I’ve got, Look what you taught me, And for that, I thank”.
3. It shows we should focus on the future, rather than analyzing the past.
The title, “thank u, next” is basically saying thank you for the good times and the lessons learned, but I’m looking onward towards the future. Instead of dwelling on everything that went wrong in our past relationships and all of the terrible things that our partner may have done, we should instead focus on finding a future partner who is a step in the right direction. With all of the lessons learned from our past relationships, we can create a clearer image of what we desire to have in a future partner and focus on finding someone who matches these expectations.
4. It focuses on self-love too.
In verse two, Ariana talks about finding someone that she has a positive relationship with, who just so happens to be herself. She sings “but this one gon’ last, ‘cause her name is Ari”. Ariana promotes the fact that we should not always worry about progressing our relationships with others, but we should take time to focus on our relationship with ourselves. Through confidence in ourselves, we are able to develop our expectations for a healthy relationship and find a partner who not only meets these expectations, but hopefully exceeds them.
5. It emphasizes that we WILL be happy in the end.
Towards the end of the song, Ariana talks about her plans for the future. She sings “One day I’ll walk down the aisle, Holding hands with my mama” referencing her hopes for finding and marrying her match. She later says “Only wanna do it once, real bad, God forbid something happens, Least this song is a smash”. Ariana states that even if her future plans do not end up working out quite as she hopes, everything will be okay in the end.
If you haven’t heard the song yet, check it out: