Ariana Grande's excellent new album Sweetener, featuring a welcomed heavy helping of Pharrell Williams production, is out today.
On release day, Grande joined Ebro Darden on Beats 1 to give some insight into the creative process behind a selection of Sweetener cuts, including album closer "Get Well Soon." The Williams-produced song runs more than five minutes in length, coming to an end with a twice-repeated refrain about the importance of being there for the people in your life:
Here's one thing you can trust
It takes you and me to make us
One of those days you had enough, I'll be there, I'll be there
If it ain't one thing, it's another
When you need someone to pull you out the bubble
I'll be right there just to hug you, I'll be there
Where are you? Are you home? Call me right on the phone
I'll be there, yeah, I'll be there, I'll be there
I don't care who is gone
You shouldn't be alone
I'll be there
The song is about "helping each other through scary times," Grande told Darden. "There's some dark shit out there, man, and we just have to be there for each other as much as we can," she said. "[But] it's not just about that. It's also about personal demons and anxiety and more intimate tragedies, as well. Mental health is so important. People don't pay enough mind to it because we have things to do, we have schedules, we have jobs, we have kids and places to be and pressure to fit into whatever fucking bullshit you're trying to put on to keep up. ... People don't pay attention to what's happening inside."
As many fans already assumed, "Get Well Soon" also serves as a fitting memorial to those whose lives were taken during last year's Manchester Arena bombing. A terrorist detonated a bomb following a May 22 Grande show, ultimately killing 22 people. With "Get Well Soon," which includes an extended bit of silence at the end, Grande wanted to "give people a hug musically."
Though Grande keeps a positive mindset, she's still open about the effects the Manchester attack and the state of the world in general have on her lifestyle. "The truth is that it's fucking scary," she told Darden. "It's scary going anywhere and you look at places differently and traveling and you, um, you know, I don't like to have security come with me everywhere . . . I wanna escape with my friends and run around and be free but you think about it differently when shit like that happens."
The full Sweetener discussion is available now via Apple Music.
