Grande is on a creative high.
Ariana Grande released her album Sweetener in August, and she hasn’t stopped running the pop world ever since. Although she blessed the Earth with singles and visuals off Sweetener, she continued to drop new music into the Fall. Her well-documented relationships with Pete Davidson, Big Sean, and the late Mac Miller inspired her to release “thank u, next,” which has arguably been one of the biggest pop songs of the year. Now, Grande has returned with yet another single: “imagine.”
The latest effort from the gorgeous and talented singer plays like a retro R&B song. She wraps her sweet vocals around an instrumental that exists at the love-making tempo. She sings about love and intimacy, and images a world where nothing but deep emotions of elation and passion surround her and her lover.
Quotable Lyrics
Quick, quick, quick, let’s go
Kiss me and take off your clothes
Imagine a world like that
Imagine a world like that
We go like up ’til I’m ‘sleep on your chest
Love how my face fits so good in your neck
Why can’t you imagine a world like that?
Fans are convinced that the song is about Mac Miller.
As pointed out by Twittersphere and the Ariana stans, Mac actually had the word “Imagine” tattooed on his bicep, giving us the first strong hint off the rip. Second, prior to the song coming out, Ariana admitted the track was about “denial” and “pretending it never ended”. Back in November, she tweeted the song was about “a simple, beautiful love that is now (and forever) unattainable,” providing us with more evidence that it could indeed be about Mac.
Another big hint is her line about her love for take out food. Ariana sings, “staying up all night, order me pad Thai”. Fans believe the verse mirrors Mac’s lyric on his song “Cinderella,” which he raps: “And when you hungry, I can chef you up a stir fry.”
“And when you hungry I can shut you up with stir fry.” – Mac Miller, Cinderella
“Staying up all night, order me pad Thai.” – Ariana Grande, Imagine
💫🌑😇#imagine #love #loss @ArianaGrande— Angel McNamara (@AngelaRose423) December 14, 2018
Lastly, Ariana also sings about her object of affection not being who she imagined herself being with at first: “Feels like forever baby, I never thought that it would be you.” That line echoes a line from Mac’s “Cinderella,” which read: “You used to tell me all the time I ain’t your type. Now you always wanna spend the night.”
Check out fans’ theories of Ariana’s new song along with the song itself below and let us know what you think. This about Mac or nah? and of course… ISSA BOP OR ISSA FLOP?
is imagine going to be about mac aww 🙁 pic.twitter.com/r6E3VbG3lh
— ♡ (@fuckingreatful) December 12, 2018
Pretty sure Ariana’s new song is about Mac Miller which is :’(
— Angie (@indian_stargirl) December 14, 2018
@ArianaGrande #Imagine h@ArianaGrande #Imagine has me crying and covered in Goosebumpsas me crying and covered in Goosebumps.@MacMiller would be so proud of you
— Annabel Dougherty (@AnnaLeighDough) December 14, 2018
CURIOSITY: Did you know that Mac Miller had a tattoo with the same name as Ariana Grande's "#imagine" song?#imaginetonight pic.twitter.com/fql2S0RfNW
— gain ariana mutuals (@garianamutuals) December 14, 2018
It's about Malcolm guys 💜 pic.twitter.com/tm6tuM3Z6N
— hailey ☁️ (@moonnkisses) December 14, 2018