Bubbles burst on keys as Ariana Grande directly sings to the public, responding to its ever-changing view on her. The pop star returned to the studio for her eighth album, petal, and released its lead single, “hate that i made you love me,” on May 29. Singing softly, Grande says she wishes fans weren’t so parasocial toward her, sending out waves of love one day and hate the next.
In eternal sunshine, Grande vocalized similar themes to fake fans. The single “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” could point either to an ex or to the public. Similarly, “hate that i made you love me” could oscillate between a past relationship or fans. In the bridge, though, Grande directly sings to the audience:
“I’ve held your projections when you’ve felt so insecure / Tell me, why is it this way? / Why you so hate to see women endure? / Is it really my fault you all gave me your hearts of your own accord? / I don’t really think so.”
Instead of showing off her impressive vocals, Grande chooses to speak her truth. With Grande’s soothing vocal layers stacked over each other, this single sounds closest to an extension of eternal sunshine, which could hint at the rest of the tone for petal.
An accompanying music video premiered on June 1, featuring actor Justin Long and directed by Christian Breslauer. The director previously worked on Grande’s eternal sunshine music videos.
Though petal releases on July 31, Grande kicks off the Eternal Sunshine Tour on June 6 in California. Remaining tickets are available here.
