Ariana Grande's long-anticipated album Sweetener dropped on Friday, and though most of the songs embrace a trap-pop sound with upbeat lyrics, there's also a lingering sense of sorrow throughout the new installment to her discography. This is in large part due to Ariana's continued reckoning with the aftermath of the bombing at her 2017 concert in Manchester, which killed 22 people and injured hundreds.
A number of Sweetener's tracks reference the attack, whether with ambiguous nods — like "breathin," which is about Ariana's struggle with anxiety after the bombing — or more straightforward ones. The most obvious acknowledgement comes on the final song, "get well soon," where Ariana included 40 seconds of silence to make the track's duration exactly 5:22 in length — the date of the attack, 5/22.
Ariana opened up about "get well soon" and the song's deeper meaning in an interview with Ebro Darden for Beats 1 on Friday.
"It's just about being there for each other and helping each other through scary times and anxiety," Ariana said through tears. "There's just some dark shit out there, man. We just have to be there for each other as much as we can. You just never fucking know."
Emotional, she continued, "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, pressure to fit in, Instagram stories, whatever fucking facade trying to keep up. People don't pay attention to what's happening inside."
Ariana cried while continuing to discuss the subject, adding that she wanted the song to offer a "musical hug" to anyone struggling.
Watch the interview below.