we can’t be friends, the second single from Ariana Grande’s latest album eternal sunshine explores the feeling of rewinding a relationship after its breakup.
In this record, Grande recalls a fear of being misunderstood by her love and therefore, hiding her true state to them: “i didn’t think you’d understand me, how could you ever even try?”. Throughout the song, she waits patiently for her partner to engage with her, unsuccessfully: the excitement of the first times is gone (“you cling to your papers and pens, wait until you like me again).
Yet, she stays in a relationship that seems to crumble, by wishing to reconnect at last: “but i’d like to just pretend”. In her confessions, the singer admits letting her love manipulate her into what they wish her to be, and she regrets it: “i don’t like how you paint me, yet i’m still here hanging”.
we can’t be friends is a raw record, expressing the regrets and heartbreak of the potential we can see in a relationship, and how it can change us into unrecognized people.
Photo © Katia Temkin
The Musician Insight 
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