Ariana Grande pretty much broke the internet with her break-up anthem thank u, next last month.
The song is a tribute to her exes and everything she’s learned through her past relationships.
It was a smash, landing Ari her very first US number one single.
Today she released its follow-up, Imagine.
The song is slower and more contemplative than her previous single and describes a dream relationship while asking why the other person can’t picture it.
In Ariana’s own words, it’s about “pretending it never ended. denial” – the opposite to the message in thank u, next.
kind of like… pretending it never ended. denial. but i look forward to you hearing it and having your own experience with it. you may take away something totally different and specific to your life! love u.
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) December 12, 2018
It’s also about something that is now “unattainable”, she has said.
a simple, beautiful love that is now (and forever) unattainable
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) November 14, 2018
We’ve known that a tribute to Mac Miller, the singer’s ex-boyfriend who died of an overdose in September, was coming.
Now many fans are speculating that Imagine is for him.
The biggest clue is the song’s title itself – Mac had the word ‘Imagine’ prominently tattooed on his arm.
GUYS MAC MILLER HAD A TATTOO THAT SAID ‘IMAGINE’
PLS GET MY TISSUES?? pic.twitter.com/zk5lMBsQDJ
— lindsey ♡ (@lufftheway) December 12, 2018
On top of this, the lyrics in the song bear some similarities to a song that Mac wrote about Ariana called Cinderella.
In Cinderella, Mac raps about getting stir-fry with her while in Imagine, she sings about a guy ordering her pad thai.
In Cinderella, Mac also raps the lyric “You in my dreams/ That’s why I sleep all the time”. Ariana actually tweeted these words after his death and in Imagine, she sings “we gon’ sleep ’til noon”.
Check out the lyrics in full here and make up your own mind.