By Abigail Holliday
Staff Writer
Popstar and two-time Grammy winner Ariana Grande released her “eternal sunshine” deluxe album “brighter days ahead” with six new songs on March 28. She partnered the release with a 26-minute short film she co-wrote and directed that acted as six music videos in one as she rewatches the most impactful moments of her life.
“Eternal sunshine” was released on March 8, 2024, as Grande used her album to recount both the busy and messy year she had: privately marrying real estate agent Dalton Gomez and then very publicly divorcing him, starting to shoot “Wicked” and beginning her controversial relationship with Ethan Slater.
The album was named after “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” an early 2000s sci-fi romance by Michel Gondry where the two protagonists undergo a memory-erasing procedure to forget their heartache after a breakup. They wake up with no recollection of their past relationship and yet still find each other at the place where they first met and date again.
“Eternal sunshine” reigned as No. 1 for two weeks on the Billboard 200 album chart with popular songs “yes, and?” and “we can’t be friends (wait for your love).” The album was awarded three Grammy nominations, but did not receive any wins.
Grande released “eternal sunshine (slightly deluxe and also live)” on Oct. 1, 2024, that included live versions of her songs, an acoustic version of “imperfect for you” and features such as Troye Sivan, Mariah Carey, and Brandy and Monica.
“Eternal sunshine: brighter days ahead” includes new songs such as “dandelion,” “twilight zone” and “Hampstead.”
“Dandelion,” my personal favorite of her new songs, is a jazzy R&B song that transitions into pop, filled to the brim with flower innuendos. This sultry song plays off of its dandelion namesake, “Boy, just don’t blow this / Got me like, ‘What’s your wish list?’”
“Twilight zone” is her “divorce album” song wrapped in a synth beat and tied up with Grande’s reminiscent lyrics. The song, also a play on her favorite TV show, paints a picture of her mental state after her divorce: confused and mournful but also optimistic about moving on. She sings, “Sometimes I can’t believe you happened / It’s not like I’d ever change a thing / ‘Cause I’m right here, where I’m meant to be.”
Her song “Hampstead” was named after the neighborhood in London she stayed in during her filming of “Wicked.” This ballad uses the piano to set the scene for a beautifully melancholic song to her ex. She uses the famous marriage “I do” in her song as a way to free herself from his narrative, “I’d rather be seen and alive than dying by your point of view / I do, I do, I do, I do, I do.”
Her short film “brighter days ahead,” co-written with Christian Breslauer, takes the audience through a cinematic experience as they watch an older Ariana Grande, “Peaches” which is her name in the video, watch her remaining four memories. In the film, Brighter Days Inc. is a company that is able to remove painful memories but also preserve happy ones from injury or illness and make it so they are able to be rewatched.
Grande’s last memories show the most substantial part of her career, starting with her family. The scene opens to her childhood, Grande as a child while “intro (end of the world)” plays in the background. Next, Grande is seen reminiscing on her career as a popstar and looking back on her tours and her fans while she sings “eternal sunshine” and “dandelion.”
Her third memory looks back to her relationship and divorce with Dalton Gomez as “twilight zone” fills the air, “Did I dream the whole thing? / Was I just a nightmare?” She then opens a door into a new and hopeful relationship through the use of “supernatural.”
Last, Grande paints a picture of a heartbroken father piecing together his “torn apart” daughter to the lyrics of “Hampstead,” symbolizing how the media tears her apart with no regards for her mental health. Grande’s real dad played the part as he stitched his daughter and revived her through love and music.
