First Impressions of Ariana Grande’s “Positions”

The wait is finally over, and Ariana Grande has blessed us with her sixth studio album, Positions. The album has themes of sex and relationships, specifically regarding the feelings she has towards her current boyfriend Dalton Gomez. This is slightly risky considering she had a song dedicated to her ex-boyfriend Pete Davidson, and that didn’t end too well. But she does seem to be head over heels for Gomez, and the album reflects that.

shut up

She opens the album with “Shut Up,” a song I have determined to be the best way to tell someone to, well, shut up. Starting her sixth studio album off with this song tells her listeners she is over the haters, and encourages her fans to be themselves. The songs are her stories and her experiences, and at the end of the day, it’s her album. She tells people that this is her music, and if you don’t like it you don’t have to listen! The song kind of gives me Wizard of Oz vibes at the end, making it a pleasant way to silence the haters.

34+35

Following “shut up,” on a completely lighter note, we have “34+35,” the song we’ve all been waiting for since she dropped the tracklist. This song, similar to the last one, is about as straight up as an artist can be. She legit says “just give me them babies,” a line I’m sure a bunch of Arianators were excited by. She ends the song by saying “it means I wanna 69 with you… no shit.” Yeah, quarantine was pretty tough for all of us.

motive feat. Doja Cat

“Motive” is the first song on the album with a feature, and that would be Doja Cat. The song tells listeners that this album definitely has a theme of sex. Grande has matured, and it’s easy to tell she’s in love with her boyfriend. Personally, I really like Doja Cat’s verse, and she’s not an artist you would typically find me listening to unless she were a feature.

just like magic

Up next we have a song that sounds “just like magic.” This track is easily a bad bitch anthem. It’s sort of like “7 rings” or “successful,” in that she’s flexing her success. (As she should.) This song is honestly kind of conceited. She sings, “I’m attractive, I get everything I want ‘cuz I attract it,” but we can’t even blame her for it. She does admit that you still have to treat people well, and you can’t get cocky just because you have achievements.

off the table feat. The Weeknd

Next to be featured on the album is The Weeknd on “off the table.” This song is about her past relationships and how she “might not be quite yet healed already.” It’s a lot slower than the opening songs, and it comes from a darker place than those. She goes beyond the sexual aspect of a relationship, concerned that things might not work out because of the hardships she has faced with her previous relationships. My favorite line of the song is “cause I ain’t her and you ain’t him, thankfully” because it shows how Grande realizes you can’t compare new relationships to old ones. The Weeknd is speaking as Grande’s new lover, who feels he is second place to Grande’s ex-boyfriends. Personally, I don’t think you can go wrong with The Weeknd, so I think he was a great choice for this song. She has featured him before with “love me harder” on her album My Everything.

six thirty

“Six thirty” continues the theme of sex and relationships. In the “positions” music video at 0:57, the clock points to 6:30, referencing this song. At 6:30 on the clock, both hands are pointing down, hence the lyrics “are you down?” over and over again. I thought the chorus was a little repetitive, but after having listened to it many times, I now jam to it anyway.

safety net feat. Ty Dolla $ign

Up next is the third and final feature of the album, Ty Dolla $ign on “safety net.” This song is really about trust within relationships, and how anxiety can often get in the way. She slips in the title of one of her older songs “in my head.” This is one of the many references to her previous songs and albums. I think Ty Dolla $ign has a good voice and did really well with his verse. He’s another artist I haven’t listened to much before. Leon Thomas III, who played Andre on Victorious, was one of the writers of this song. For all my Victorious fans, give this one a listen.

my hair

The song “my hair” is easily one of my faves from this album. It gives me older vibes as Grande experiments with other genres. She really proves her vocals on this track, even though we all already know how talented she is. Grande’s hair has been tied so closely to her career, curls when she was young, red when she was Cat on Victorious, the brunette high ponytail as she started to mature. She’s letting loose, and feels like she can be her true self. Oh, and did I mention she does the whole chorus in whistle notes at the end?!

nasty

The next song, “nasty,” opens with the same (or a very similar) opening to that of “the way.” Talk about a throwback to another one of my faves! I love the beginning of the track because it’s so fun and probably just a recording of Grande being her natural self in the studio. This one is obviously about sex, again, so go off Ari. I also hear “baby I” in the background vocals, which is another song of hers from her first album,Yours Truly.

west side

The tenth track off Positions, “west side,” is a masterpiece in my opinion. The background instrumentals kind of give me shivers down my spine. It’s a sound I’ve never heard before, especially from Grande. She says, “Just let me be in your life like that, be your wife like that.” From this, I have big hopes that she’ll marry Gomez. 

love language

Another bop on this album is “love language.” In the first line she says, “I know you’re probably thinkin’ what’s the use” and “What’s the Use” is a song by her ex Mac Miller. She says, “been a minute since I had something so sweet,” which is likely a reference to her album Sweetener. She also sings, “I’m a girl with a whole lot of baggage,” in her song “ghostin” on thank u, next, but now she sings, “left my baggage at the door.” Talk about character development. I personally love this song because it contains my favorite line on the whole album, “it’s AG in your face.” (A.k.a, my initials!!) She concludes the song with an outro which comes after you thought the song ended. She says, “I ain’t tryna sign no lease, I’m just gon make you my home,” which I find adorable because Gomez is a real estate agent.

positions

We had “positions” early, so it’s probably a song you’ve already become familiar with. The title “positions” of both the album and this song gave us hints early that the album would be about sex. This song incorporates double meaning, because she changes her role within their relationship, and she also changes positions while having sex. Grande clearly values sex when it comes to relationships, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t value other things as well.

obvious

In case Grande hasn’t already made it clear how much she loves Gomez, she makes it “obvious” with track number 13. She sincerely wants this relationship to work out with the lyric, “I’m praying we don’t fuck this up.” It’s “obvious” this is another hit from the album.

pov

Personally, I think she saved the best for last, concluding the album with “pov.” It’s a perfect closing, as it is truly beautiful, honest, and powerful. One lyric she sings, which I believe many teens can look up to, is, “getting used to receiving.” Whether she means sexually, through gifts, or just feeling love back, she is open about being in a healthy relationship. She sings, “you got more than 20/20 babe,” meaning her partner sees her for exactly who she is. This is a new type of love song, because she sings about wanting to love herself the same way her partner loves her, a concept that hasn’t been covered in her music before. “All [her] baggage fadin’ safely,” referencing her song “ghostin” again, is exactly what we wanted to hear from the artist.

In conclusion, this album is bold, sexual, and mature, directly stemming from the fact that Grande is very in love at the moment. Many songs incorporate strings, proving itself to be a sophisticated album. She ties in references to her previous albums to display her story as how things in her life have evolved. Will he be the one?

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