November 9, 2018

Ariana Grande’s Breakup Track Is a Great Send-Off to This Big, Exhausting Week

“Thank u, next!”

Ariana Grande/Twitter

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This week: “thank u, next” by Ariana Grande (Republic Records, 2018)

Why we’re into it: Beyond being one of the most beloved tracks of the week, Grande’s breakup song is the perfect sendoff to the Republican-controlled House and this news-drenched week.

A surprise drop last weekend, “thank u, next” is Ariana’s letter to herself—about growth, regret, and moving onto bigger and better things.

Here’s the soapy backstory: Grande recently split from her fiancé, Saturday Night Live‘s Pete Davidson, who later joked about the failed engagement, prompting tweets from Grande that, in turn, alerted fans to an upcoming album; its lead single, “thank u, next,” was then released an hour before Davidson’s appearance on SNL on Saturday night. Ouch.

But enough drama—let’s get to the song. Grande opens with a bang, offering intimate details by way of naming her exes. But instead of calling them out for their bad deeds like oh-so-many tired breakup songs before her, she offers gratitude and self-affirmation: “Even almost got married/And for Pete, I’m so thankful.”

The pre-chorus starts with the lyrics, “One taught me love/One taught me patience/And one taught me pain” against a relaxed beat. Rather than indulging in a revenge fantasy, Grande soars above it all. Then she puts herself centerstage: “She taught me love/She taught me patience/How she handles pain.” Grande closes the tune with, “I’m so fuckin’ grateful for my ex/Thank you, next.”

On full display here is Grande’s vocal command, which infuses even her poppiest tracks with emotional clarity and depth. If her upcoming album—the second in under a year—is anything like this track, there’s a lot to look forward to.

And, to top it all off, the song became a viral hit, launching the internet into full-blown meme mode:

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In "News Never Pays," our fearless CEO, Monika Bauerlein, connects the dots on several concerning media trends that, taken together, expose the fallacy behind the tragic state of journalism right now: That the marketplace will take care of providing the free and independent press citizens in a democracy need, and the Next New Thing to invest millions in will fix the problem. Bottom line: Journalism that serves the people needs the support of the people. That's the Next New Thing.

And it's what MoJo and our community of readers have been doing for 47 years now.

But staying afloat is harder than ever.

In "This Is Not a Crisis. It's The New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, why this moment is particularly urgent, and how we can best communicate that without screaming OMG PLEASE HELP over and over. We also touch on our history and how our nonprofit model makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there: Letting us go deep, focus on underreported beats, and bring unique perspectives to the day's news.

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