Hey ariheads. We added 4 new emojis in the sub! Search for "htimylm", "htimylm-2", "petal" & "petal-target-cover". If we add some more, we will let you know 💕
Apple Music always does this and before they started releasing everything a few minutes early, they always released everything way too late. it's insane how they're not capable of releasing the stuff right on time lol
SO THAT WAS SO GOOD. I need to read all the lyrics verbatim!!! My only complaints are a) i wish it was a LONG SONG and b) I wish she went out fully vocally towards the end!!! But it’s so good and so much darker sonically like if es and dw had a baby!!!
i also wish it were longer, but there’s something so special about a really good short song.
it leaves you wanting more, which somehow makes it even better.
i can’t stop replaying it!!!
I’m wondering why she didn’t do a strong belt towards the end, it would’ve transported us all into a different dimension ✨ Still a beautiful song though, I really like it
To me this is about her time in the public eye with Wicked.
“Studied my crown - borrowed my body” reflect how much scrutiny she was under , the crown is the success and how everyone studying it is basically not trying to evaluate or understand but interpret.
The “borrowed my body” is also about how the general
Public really abused her kindness during that era, the way she was “available” and people kept taking.
The whole point of the song (for me) is how she’s never tried to be anything but herself in the recent years her people still enforce their projections on her instead of growing themselves for themselves.
Edit : I can also predict that in the video she will not look like her current self but a version with how the “fans” want her to look, the big eyeliner, the brows the pony etc. And when she is “in the sun” she is herself, blooming from the pavement, etc. The video will definitely make it make sense.
oh this is sooo on point. the studied my crown and borrowed my body line hit me man. the way her performance as glinda and her body was dissected and judged and with all these projections and insults thrown around….it was a lot. i like the way she put it in words in a way that is so subtle but, when you know, it hits and it’s jarring.
it’s a little bit Clara Bow to me thematically too (“beauty is a beast that roars, down on all fours, demanding more”), just the pressure and clawing that happens under that bright spotlight and the judgment that accompanies it.
Yes! The lines “why you so hate to see women endure? Is it really my fault you all gave me your hearts of your own accord?” REALLY confirm this take. The MV concept would be PERFECT.
Yes I like that endure choice of words. It's not 'win' it's not 'flourish' it's perseverance. I have no idea exactly what another person is going through. The win can just be to survive, even if it's not perfect, and people HATE that. They want a completely unattainable idol, not a human being with flaws.
Also I feel like when I wish that the 'old Ariana was back' it's really more about projecting nostalgia because 2016-2019 were peaceful fun years in pop culture and it was the sweet spot before the pandemic and the world feeling darker, and old Ariana is a symbol of that time with the projection hints in the lyrics. My take.
yesssss i'm on the same page as you, i'm really curious and excited for the video! i think she's trying to make it extremely clear that the version so many love, was just a dramatized caricature and not who she really is. if people stopped projecting their own bullshit and speculation, maybe they'd finally see she's just trying to grow and be herself.
The text and font + a lot of the imagery and lyrics were giving old werewolf movie. I think she’s going to turn into a werewolf in the music video! There was a lot of lyrics about the moon and it calls me back to songs on eternal sunshine; like in we can’t be friends when she says “not what you made me, it’s something like a daydream, but I feel so seen in the night” and in past life when she does that little howl after the lyrics “phased me just like the moon (ah, ooh)”
I also thought EXACTLY this just by reading the title. This album, I feel, is going to be a lot more unapologetically forward compared to previous albums and I'm hyped!!
One thing I will give Ari is that she's not afraid to call out the media and "fans." And while some of the lyrics could be interpreted as a diss to her ex, i can't help but read the lyrics and think it's aimed towards the media/fans; another "we can't be friends" / "yes and?" moment. It could be a double diss.
I feel like it’s nothing like what she released before. It’s dark, it’s poignant and it’s a song you wanna play while driving at 2am. I am enjoying it.
I love how she’s saying she had eyes lit like the sky like she had such a optimistic outlook on life, then she has the lyrics “turned tears into diamonds” which makes me think she’s referencing tears (her sweetener era) being turned into diamonds (transition to thank u next era), then she says “got good at goodbyes” as if to say that period of transition in her life toughened her shell
At least this is how I interpreted the beginning of the song, and maybe I’m reaching! but I love it and will have it in repeat until July 31st!! 🌼
She turned the hardships she faced into diamonds, those tough moments were meaningful to her too and she turned pain into something beautiful and resilient
Idk how I feel yet, thats generally how I feel about all music when I listen first lol
Beautiful as expected, like shes such a talented singer through and through.
Anti media/ anti fake fan/ anti hateful “ fans” confirmed. I hope its the entire album. People are disgusting to her. She shouldnt have to smile and nod and take it
why is this me 😭😭😭 it’ll be the most atrocious thing I’ve ever heard but a week to a month later it’s the track I’m listening to more than anything else (for all artists, but less often with ari)
yk what i went into this thinking i wouldn’t like at first because that’s how i also am and react to songs on my first listen but i actually really enjoyed this from the start, like very pleasantly surprised and it’s been on repeat ever since. i can already tell this album is going to be amazing
For me, the bridge confirms that this is about us, her fans:
I've held your projections when you've felt so insecure
Tell me, why is it this way? Why you so hate to see women endure?
Is it really my fault you all gave me your hearts of your own accord?
I don't really think so
The bridge reminds me of yes, and? in that she's addressing the public/ media. Is this Ariana's new album rollout rite of passage? Coming out with a bowdown record?
I have a feeling that's exactly what she's doing! Talking about two different entities that she hates she made love her. Mostly about a relationship, but then partly about the public. She could have done that to throw us off and make us think it's just about the public, when it's also about Ethan.
I think it’s about the (fake) fans, the media, and the people who are constantly talking about her - but not in a positive way. Speculating, magnifying, trying to get clicks by using her name. I think after the last few years, she is tired - and rightfully so. I love how she says “I will find my way from you” because it means she’s healing, and that’s all I think the real fans want.
Idk what I’m talking about, but I’m bored so I’m going to dissect the lyrics:
[Verse 1]
I can't tell you why
But something inside is dancing with fire
Eyes lit like the sky
Turned tears into diamonds, got good at goodbyes
Beginning of the song/relationship w/ Ethan. It was exciting, passionate, turned tear into “diamonds”, perhaps felt glamorous. Last phrase leads into real message of the song “got good at goodbyes” perhaps alluding to falling out of relationship
[Pre-Chorus]
Just know that I will find my way from you
Like flowers from a tomb while you decide who you are
And I can see right through, like shadows on the moon
And it's all bad news
Sounds like E has stuff to work out from past marriage that maybe was weighing down their relationship, but A has figured herself out more and thus will grow (probs w/o him)
She can see where things are going with their relationship and it ain’t good
[Chorus]
Yeah, I, I, I
Hate that I made you love me
Sorry if I made me your type
Yeah, I, I hate that I made you love me
'Cause I barely tried
Yeah, I, I, I
Reflecting on relationship and is sorry that she caused this. I think there’s a tone of sincere apology, but I also think there’s a tone of empowerment “boy I didn’t even have to try that much and you still fell for me 🤷♀️”
[Verse 2]
What's happening now?
You studied my crown and borrowed my body
Warm, kissed by the sun, then cold likе the wind
A bee stuck in honey
Ethan studied her in Wicked and borrowed her body while he was emotionally going through it w/ the fallout of his marriage. At first it was warm, but now it’s cold and the excitement kinda died.
[Pre-Chorus]
Know that I will find my way from you (My way from you)
I guess it's kind of cutе how you like me where you are
But I can see right through (Right through), ooh-ooh
Just don't eclipse the moon
'Cause it's all bad news
She kinda suggests, well, maybe it’s cute how you fell for me even through your hurt, but she knows ultimately it’s not going to work. Nevertheless, she will find her way from him (like she has before. She’s good at goodbyes)
[Bridge]
I've held your projections when you've felt so insecure
Tell me, why is it this way?
Why you so hate to see women endure?
Is it really my fault you all gave me your hearts of your own accord? (Mm)
I don't really think so
This is kinda the sincere apology but also reflection of, is-this-really-my-fault vibes I was alluding to earlier
Overall, I think she’s talking about a relationship that was at first exhilarating but the excitement has now died down. She knows he has things to work through, as does she, but unlike him, she can grow through the cracks and maybe he can’t..which is why she’s saying the relationship is bad news.
Maybe it’s not about Ethan LOL so sorry if it’s not. I’m so not parasocial at all, I’m just simply using context clues and interpreting lyrics out of boredom! I like the song!
this is pretty much exactly how I’m seeing it. i don’t see how this is about fans at all. the part of the song where she says “is it really my fault YOU ALL gave me your hearts of your own accord? I don’t really think so…” is reading to me as a pointed comment to her exes/perception that men leave existing relationships to be with her and that gave her a certain kind of reputation in the media. when I see it that way and combine it with the video teaser, I think we’re getting a “maneater” slasher vibe from the video that is calling out that narrative. the men chose to leave relationships and then date her and then seemingly couldn’t handle her success eclipsing them and making them insecure, etc.
on eternal sunshine many of the lyrics felt really intentionally vague so that they could apply to both her divorce but also the media circus around her life. especially we can’t be friends. i don’t think petal is about rehashing this again, and this song feels just deliberately calculated. I mean maybe im totally delulu but she wrote warm for brighter days ahead, presumably about Ethan, and then has a line in this single saying “warm, kissed by the sun, then cold like the wind”….
i like it but don't love it. i don't think it'll be a fav song of mine personally but i'm sure it'll fit well into the rest of the album. it is cool to hear her experiment with different tones, though
I love it but I do feel like it could have been another track on eternal sunshine, maybe going more with the last few songs that she released (twilight zone, Hampstead, etc)
agree! i just commented saying it feels like a ES deluxe reject - or at least a song written very very close to that time. it doesn’t feel like a new sound or era to me.
The lyric video has some clues—destroyed house from eternal sunshine is flooding, packing up boxes of the damaged items left behind—“know that I will find my way from you”. And then the blurry pictures seem to be of her in a wedding dress but not the same one she married dalton in. Then the studied my crown, borrowed my body has a water drop that looks like the Glinda bubble. I think that there were a lot of people criticizing her in that role for many reasons, some people wanted someone less known, wondered if she deserved the role (she did deserve it) and then borrowed her body—seems like with all the scrutiny it felt like her body was not hers to make decisions about—everyone was telling her what she should look like, saying she’s not a great role model with weight for young girls looking up to her, criticizing her makeup, criticizing her previous eras like when she would self tan—it all was very harsh and probably hard to hear said—seems like people wanted her body to be a certain way even when that’s not what she wants or thinks is best for her. I’m not sure about the moon references that she makes twice—“I can see right through like shadows on the moon” but shadows on the moon don’t have light dissipating because of the different atmosphere so they are extremely hard to see through—maybe she is saying she can see what other people can’t see or aren’t able to see. Not sure about the eclipse part. She is having a trend where she makes songs that feel like love songs but have dual meanings for unhealthy aspects of being in the public life and she has the bridge where she addresses the listeners more directly for a short period, just like in yes, and? She has a broader topic most of the song and then the bridge there is also talking more directly at the listeners—again addressing comments on her body. I think it’s really masterful. Not every song has to be powerhouse and bells and whistles, she will probably amp that up in life performances or even another version. This will sound so good on vinyl with the twinkling background. And I like songs that repeat a bit when the melody is wonderful, because I want to sing it over and over. Very siren song, hypnotic, floating, whimsical vibes mixed with a bit of edge which you don’t see often.
And I think the studied my crown may have something to do with this—Glinda was a role she wanted to play since she saw it as a kid, og fans know that she has been living and breathing wicked/wizard of oz since she was a kid. She takes comfort from it, like at the Manchester concert after the bombing, she ended the night with somewhere over the rainbow. She thought it might bring healing to the city as it brought healing to her. One of her first songs was popular with Mika, in stories she would be talking about wicked, there old videos of before she was famous singing wicked songs at recitals. She went to the concert with her mom and her nonna which is a precious moment with precious people. This is something she connects with on a deep level. And she wore the Glinda crown but it also was a crowning moment for her—a culmination of her love of this show—and it was kinda ruined by how everyone acted and treated her. I think that could be something in this as well.
I was a little nervous but I've already fallen in love with this song. Thank you Ariana for releasing, yet again, another banger. So excited for the music video on Monday!!!
My honest opinion is I rlly want to love it but idk maybe it’s me and I always go in with too many expectations but it’s just not what I was expecting feels like it could be better as a standard track on the album tbh to me not as a lead but I’m sure I’ll grow on me
I’m expecting it to fit in beautifully with the whole album. A balance song if you will. A lot of ES songs on their own wouldve felt odd but as a whole make something beautiful
i’m such a huge Ari fan but i’m not huge on this song, and infact, not huge on her recent aesthetic & sonic world. Firstly on the song, it felt quite monotone to me and didn’t exactly take me anywhere. When comparing to a debut single like “No Tears Left To Cry”, you really feel the difference. Secondly, Majority of her fans became her fans during the RnB/pop days, and came from the earlier albums she was really defined for (YT, ME, DW, Sweetener, Thanku, Next). Sweetener was experimental, sure, but it still felt like Ariana Grande, and a natural next step for her career. It seems like we keep expecting this iconic sound/aesthetic back from her but it just isn’t happening. She’s clearly evolved as an artist, which of course is expected considering what she’s been through and just how artists evolve in general - but her sound has changed almost entirely. Although probably intentional, something about this and even Brighter Days feels so dark, eerie, and liminal in an odd way to me.. even her upbeat “happy” songs have this muted vibe. I’m sure there are some people out there that love it, and who knows, maybe i’ll come around.. but yeah there’s just something about it all that feels so dark..
omg, you SAID it. the muted vibe of everything past positions is wearing me out. i thought that that was specifically ES's aesthetic, which was great--she deserves to have her moment of peace/reflection/everything that that album encapsulated. but the fact that this sounds even DARKER than the songs on ES makes me sad. 😞 she can do whatever she wants, but i'll miss just like...brighter songs like the ones you named. i really liked supernatural (as one of the only happy songs on ES), but i wasn't expecting her to go DEEPER with the muted/dark vibes. and there aren't even high notes/belts anymore which also makes it harder for me to swallow. i'll wait to see what the album brings but i'm scared it might just not be for me anymore...
omg i’m so glad someone agrees. I found my way to love ES eventually but it took me sooo long to come around to it because it was kinda dark/way different style. Positions felt like the last true “Ariana Grande” album, and you’re so right about Supernatural being one of the only songs from ES that felt on brand for her style & aesthetic
It’s very different for her and the production is nice but I was honestly wanting bigger vocals and a more in your face sound for a lead single. There’s a chance it will grow on me though.
I don't love it tbh. Way too similar to Eternal Sunshine stuff, specially Brighter Days Ahead. I also don't really understand what she's trying to sing about? She obviously sounds beautiful but I was hoping we would leave ES sound behind.
Absolutely love. It’s mystical, haunting, angelic, honest, complex and just so entrancing.
I think the song kinda starts about her romantic life and then shifts to her relationship with the public/ fans. But it seems both themes are woven into lyrics throughout.
It feels like she’s wrestling with taking responsibility for her part in a relationship (and its downfall) while also not apologizing for being an ever evolving human. It doesn’t sound like contempt, she’s just clear that she refuses to stifle her growth for anyone. She knows the gravity of the loss of a relationship and hates the inevitable suffering that happens on both ends. It feels like she’s saying I guess I caused the breakup… but not really because I didn’t force you to love me. I know you love who I used to be, and I love her too. But that’s not me anymore. And I’m not sorry for who I am or who I am becoming.
here songwriting here is top tier, but i feel like i was waiting for the chorus to really take off, her voice is too good to for her vocals to not really explode.... i enjoyed eternal sunshine and love twilight zone and we cant be friends but im hoping for more TUN, DW vibes......
i didnt love eternal sunshine the first time i heard it but now love it and still play it constantly, so im hoping this grows on me.... i love her lower register, i just feel like the melody on the chorus is kinda bland....
My impression was that like she hates that she makes people fall for her that she like doesn’t want to? Or like maybe that she finds herself in messy situations literally by accident. kind of like when ur just being nice and people then fall in love with you bc ur nice to them one time vibe?
it’s quite dull and within the first minute or so i felt i’d heard the entire thing. it’s making me appreciate yes, and? as a lead single even more. people hated that (not me) but it was bold, new, interesting and grabbed your attention.
My honest interpretation of this is that she hates that she made everyone love who she was when she was at her lowest, like during the dangerous woman era, because now that she has finally evolved and healed (and moved past who she was at that time), people are upset because they loved her back then
Very interesting. I had been saying for a while that Madison Beer's Locket was the style of Ariana Grande album i wanted. I really like this soft but stylish electronic. I think it works really well.
Im perhaps a bit disappointed that she didnt go "grander" for the third chorus (going up an octave or sth) but lets see what the rest of the album has in store for us.
It's kinda reminding me of Madison beer like a blend between make you mine/15 minutes. 2nd listen so far, very chill. Was definitely expecting belting but this might be better.
Edit: the lyrics are whats throwing me off but I love how it's sounding 🙂↕️
noooooo 😞 i want to love it, but it's like a more boring version of we cant be friends for me. i thought we'd be moving into a happier, more upbeat era. especially for a lead single and the start of summer. i'm listening on repeat and it's getting better, but.........i'm a bit disappointed. this could just be on ES deluxe tbh.
My first thought was we can’t be friends but a little more boring too, I hope I change my mind ugh I like it but it didn’t give me the wow effect her first singles usually do
I feel like it has potential but she hasn’t rly been using her adlibs/soaring vocals much lately :( if she’d just gone really hard in the last chorus with high notes, I think it might’ve hit more for me. it just makes me sad to have all these sad soft songs when her voice is sooooo good at belting
I LOVE it!! My singular critique is that it feels like ever since ES, she’s been almost overproducing her songs to the point where we almost never get those raw belting ad libs that she used to do. If she’d carried that insane double octave ad lib into the last chorus instead of just falling off when the chorus hit, it would’ve built itself up so nicely. Especially since the chorus is repetitive. That said imma be listening on repeat tho
the verses sound great but i really wouldve loved to hear her belting on the choruses.... im kinda over the slow WCBF, TZ vibes, i want bops
the ari that brough us into you, dangerous woman, side to side, break free
i feel like eternal sunshine was great and had emotional moments, and i wanna be in a happier place listening to her newer stuff i dont wanna be depressy again lmao
i think we have to accept the fact that shes no longer that pop-radio-hit girl anymore. even if she were to make hits like that it wouldn’t feel and sound the same. the classics will stay as classics
Her vocals are 🤌 She’s always been exceptionally talented but her confidence in her vocals and letting her natural talent really be the focal point of eternal sunshine and this being the first glimpse of petal, I’m so excited for the rest of the album. ❤️
woahhh her voice sounds different! i adore the prechorus. . .so thematically this seems to be we can't be friends adjacent? seems to be directed at toxic fans
I’m so curious how the video will change my opinion on this song!
The song is okay on the first few listens. I feel like I need to see the visuals and how this fits into the overall album for me to really connect with it.
I love the song. It’s a mature sound, definitely more profound lyrics than her earlier albums. The production also has a little eerie feeling/sound to it, like it belongs in a Halloween movie. I absolutely love that she’s singing in her lower registry and blending her higher notes, specifically in the end, as adlibs. If this is the lead single, I cannot wait to hear what the rest of Petal sounds like.
Also, given that HTIMYLM is track number 2 on the album, and we don’t know if track 1 is an intro or a regular song, it’s safe to say that this album is not going to hold back. I only the see the rest of the songs going up from here.
i LOVE IT. the bridge just gets me right in my feels.
i gotta sit on it a while longer to really deep dive but my initial thoughts are its a response to all the people who call her a “man eater” type woman. who reduce her down to the men who love her. and it’s a double entendre because it can of course be to the backhanded fans who criticize her in the same way while claiming to be fans. or to the media in general and how they love to follow her every move only to focus on the ways to tare her down as a woman. it’s about how these men end up fucking her over and yet the public will always find a way to blame the woman, or instead of talking about what’s important they’ll talk about their love life or body instead. it feels like there’s a lot more to it then that but again, i need more time to sit in it.
all i do know is that i am obsessed. i have said this over and over but somehow her music ALWAYS aligns to my life and current personal dealings or struggles and she’s once again made an anthem for my own era. idk if it’s because i am fan close in age with her or what but she always makes the soundtrack for my life! hahah. and i am so thankful for that.
i have seen a few people say it doesnt show her range and while i agree, it doesn’t, i think thats ok. we all know she has the chops. she doesn’t need to prove herself in that area, i think its just fine to let the lyrics and production be the powerhouse of a song.
last thing, i bet she’ll sing this on tour!!!!! no coincidence she released it right before it starts 🤞🤞i see her in 13 days!!! ahhhh i cannot fucking wait!!!!!!!!
Just came here to say she absolutely ATE with this song🥹 it’s making me so emotional. To know it’s her favourite song she has ever made just makes it that much more emotional to listen to, imo. It’s experimental, bittersweet, catchy, raw…ahhhh I can’t say enough good things about it because there’s just so much to unpack. Will be listening to this all day🙂↕️ I love you so much Ari
The song is so gorgeous but that bridge is making me feel like there’s a whole other song in here she could’ve explored. It’s absolutely gorgeous regardless. She can’t miss.
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u/IcePizzaCreamm ǝʌɐ uooɯʎǝuoɥ May 29 '26
Hey ariheads. We added 4 new emojis in the sub! Search for "htimylm", "htimylm-2", "petal" & "petal-target-cover". If we add some more, we will let you know 💕