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8 March 2024, 11:03 | Updated: 12 March 2024, 14:50
Ariana Grande’s finally dropped her new album ‘Eternal Sunshine’ and we’re dissecting what the lyrics to ‘The Boy Is Mine’ actually mean.
Ariana Grande has gifted the world with her newest album, ‘Eternal Sunshine’, which features 12 songs including fast favourites 'Supernatural', 'Bye' and 'The Boy Is Mine.'
Alongside tracks like ‘Don’t Wanna Break Up Again’, we don’t know about you but we’re sensing a theme here. How many new songs will be about her ex-husband Dalton Gomez and new boyfriend and Wicked co-star Ethan Slater?
With support from fellow artists Tate McRae who reposted ‘Supernatural’ and Megan Thee Stallion who reposted ‘The Boy Is Mine’, ‘Eternal Sunshine’ is already being heralded as Ariana’s best album yet.
But we want to deep dive into one of her songs specifically, what is ‘The Boy Is Mine’ about? And what do the lyrics mean?
Ariana’s track ‘The Boy Is Mine’ from her new album ‘Eternal Sunshine’ plays on the famous 1998 track by Brandy and Monica, which sees the two artists arguing over one man.
"I love [the Brandy and Monica] song. I've always wanted to reimagine that song in some kind of way," she told Zane Lowe in an interview.
Ariana’s song has that 90’s Hip Hop/RnB inspiration but she’s taken the concept and made it her own by injecting that girl boss energy that she brings to everything she does.
She sings “The boy is mine, I can't wait to try him,” in the chorus, but it’s truly in the verses that listeners might be able to guess just what this is all about, especially given the headlines that have been written about her and current partner, Ethan Slater.
She sings, “How can it be? You and me, Might be meant to be, can't unsee it, But I don't wanna cause no scene.”
Could her lyrics about ‘causing no scene’ be a reference to the distasteful rumours that were published after the press realised both she and Ethan had only recently been divorced before they began seeing each other?
She continues in the song to sing, “Please know this ain't what I planned for, Probably wouldn't bet a dime or my life on, There's gotta be a reason why.”
But Ariana knew exactly what she was doing when she included this song in her release, speaking to Zane she said, “This is a very bad idea, I think, but there is a large group of my fans that really, they do love a bad girl anthem. And this is, I think, I kind of an elevated version of that.”
She’s not wrong, the entire song is about getting the man you want and screwing the consequences for the sake of love and that’s the type of baddie anthem that Ariana fans are looking for.
If you feel like you’ve heard the song before or it reminds you of something, it’s because this is the track that was born from the leak of ‘Fantasize’ in 2023.
Despite Ariana’s disappointment at what had happened, the love her fans showed for her leaked track inspired her to finish the song, change the tempo and use it on ‘Eternal Sunshine.’
Ariana Grande and Mariah Carey link up in promo clip for Yes, And? remix
‘The Boy Is Mine’ sits firmly wedged between the tracks ‘True Story’ which, she tells Zane is, “an untrue story based on all untrue events,” and ‘Yes, And?’
It seems like Ariana may want her listeners to go on the same journey she did during the whole media debacle. From seeing fake news in the headlines to questioning her relationship, and finally unapologetically getting the man she wanted whilst being ‘done’ with opinions that didn't matter.
In her recent interview on The Zach Sang Show on the Amazon Music channel on Twitch, she revealed how nervous she was for this album to launch because the album is a mix of truth and fantasy and she was concerned about what fans would extrapolate from the mix. “I’m so nervous because pieces of it touch on things that are real and then pieces of it are also just like, yeah, part of the concept.”
“So what is that separation, and it’s so scary to leave it up to these selective-memory people to decipher. It’s scary, but I digress. Too late, the vinyls have been printed.”
How can it be? You and me
Likely meant to be, can't unsee it
But I don't wanna fuss, no see
I'm usually so unproblematic
So independent
Tell me why
'Cause the boy is mine, mine
Somethin' about him is made for somebody like me
Baby, come over, come over (Oh my)
And God's knows I'm tryin'
But there's just no use, can't deny it
The boy is mine
I can't wait to try him
Let-let's get intertwined
The stars, they aligned
The boy is mine
Watch me take my timе
I can't believe my mind
That boy is divinе
He's mine
Please know this ain't what I planned for
Probably wouldn't bet a dime or my life on
There's gotta be a reason why
My girls, they always come through in the sticky situations
Say it's fine (It's fine)
Happens all the time, -ime
Somethin' about him is made for somebody like me
Baby, come over, come over (Oh my)
And God's knows I'm tryin'
But there's just no use, can't deny it
The boy is mine
I can't wait to try him
Let-let's get intertwined
The stars, they aligned
The boy is mine
Watch me take my time
I can't believe my mind
That boy is divine
He's—
And I know it's simply meant to be
And I had to take accountability for all these years
Promise you I'm not usually
Like this shit, it's like losing me to me
But I can't ignore my heart, boy
The boy is mine (Oh)
I can't wait to try him
Let-let's get intertwined
The stars, they aligned
The boy is mine
Watch me take my time
I can't believe my mind
That boy is divine
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