Ariana Grande Get Emotional Talking About Her Parents Divorce (bye)

What was the hardest song to write and what was the easiest song to write on this album? Oh god, I, I, hardest, I think Bye. Honestly, it's a very simple and silly lyric and it's not, but it was hard for the reason that I desperately didn't want it to sound like a fuck you. I wanted it to sound like I need to leave, so bye. You know, like I wanted it to be kind of rooted in self-awareness and like, not fuck you, you go, but with love, I'm emigrating from the situation. That's why I put it after the intro, End of the World, because it asks a question that is sort of takes accountability and is self-aware and then going into Bye is like prefacing it because I think my biggest fear on, when it comes to songwriting in general is just kind of, even if the concept is strong and even if empowerment is important and I want to empower people, making sure that it is kind and that it leads with empathy and that it has that. It's still fun, but it's like, I just wanted to make sure it wasn't like any sort of harshness that isn't in my DNA. But also beautifully aware. And I think, like, dude, it's not the first time that I've been hostage to these tears, acknowledging that another relationship is over again. I mean, that is awareness. Yeah. This song, and I hope, I hope that this is okay to say, I might go on a little bit of a deep dive and I hope that it's all right to say, is it okay if I talk about my mom a lot? She's here in the corner listening. Is it okay? Are you sure? I might, like, air your shit out a little. I got shit to air, she said. She's wearing a purple lip today, she's fine. Okay, okay. But no, I think the reason why I felt okay to go there is because of my mom, honestly. And, whoa. Sorry. Almost there, almost there. Okay. I think a lot of, I think growing up, kind of, you want what you don't have. Like, my parents got divorced for all the right reasons. They weren't supposed to be together. And you kind of crave, when you grow up, the happily ever after. The one is the one is the one. So you ignore all these issues and you kind of, you cling on to that fairy tale. You kind of self-abandon. And I think my mom is a fierce example of not doing that. And a massive thing that I learned in my year of Saturn return is that my fears of replicating a certain cycle was actually the opposite. I was like, oh, wow. I want to be so much more like her than I am. I want to have the strength to say bye kindly when something isn't fucking right. It's as simple as that. And she's the strongest, most brilliant person I know. And it's also a disco track, which is my mom's favorite thing in the world. So it kind of feels like my mom's song or like something that I wrote from my mom's perspective almost. Because that's something that I watched her do a few times. And yeah, that's kind of like... I watched my mom do the same thing. And there's strength in goodbye. Yeah. Because it's hard. Especially when the most is invested. Yeah, especially when you do have so much love, you know. So, yeah, that's kind of a pattern that I realized I don't need to be afraid of. Because it means doing the right thing. It means listening to your soul and not being afraid to be uncomfortable.