Grande has played it coy about who the inspiration for \u00ab\u00a0Imagine\u00a0\u00bb was, but fans shared some convincing reasons as to why her first promotional track for \u00ab\u00a0Thank U, Next\u00a0\u00bb was about Miller.<\/b>
\nAriana Grande released her dreamiest track yet, \u201cImagine,\u201d on Friday, and the singer’s devoted fan base suspect the single is about her late ex-boyfriend, Mac Miller.
\u00ab\u00a0Imagine\u00a0\u00bb is the first promotional single to debut from Grande’s upcoming fifth studio record, Thank U, Next, which follows her album, Sweetener, which was released in August. According to Genius, \u00ab\u00a0Imagine\u00a0\u00bb tells the story of \u00ab\u00a0an unattainable love that is ‘now and forever’ unreachable, and has been compared as the opposite of ‘Thank U, Next,’ whose central message is about self-empowerment.'\u00a0\u00bb
The \u00ab\u00a0Imagine\u00a0\u00bb lyrics:
\u00ab\u00a0Knew you were perfect after the first kiss\/Took a deep breath like, ‘Ooh’\/Feels like forever, baby, I never thought that it would be you\/Tell me your secrets, all of the creep shit\/That’s how I know it’s true\/Baby, direct it, name in the credits\/Like the movies do\/Click, click, click and post\/Drip-drip-dripped in gold\/Quick, quick, let’s go\/Kiss me and take off your clothes\/Imagine a world like that.\u00a0\u00bb
Grande’s lyrics don’t specifically pinpoint a particular guy from her past. She dated Big Sean, dancer Ricky Alvarez, Jai Brooks and Nathan Sykes. She was also famously engaged to Saturday Night Live ‘s Pete Davidson.
Arianators reasoned over why the song was about the Pittsburgh native.
For one, Miller had a large tattoo on his upper arm with the word \u00ab\u00a0Imagine\u00a0\u00bb in cursive.
Fans noticed that \u00ab\u00a0Imagine\u00a0\u00bb seemingly responded to lines featured in Miller’s song \u00ab\u00a0Cinderella\u00a0\u00bb from 2016’s The Divine Feminine . \u00ab\u00a0Cinderella\u00a0\u00bb featured the line \u00ab\u00a0When you hungry I can shut you up with stir fry,\u00a0\u00bb and Grande’s new song goes, \u00ab\u00a0Staying up all night, order me pad Thai.\u00a0\u00bb While Miller said, \u00ab\u00a0You used to tell me all the time I ain’t your type,\u00a0\u00bb Grande’s \u00ab\u00a0Imagine\u00a0\u00bb has, \u00ab\u00a0Baby I never thought that it would be you.\u00a0\u00bb
Grande has remained coy about who inspired \u00ab\u00a0Imagine,\u00a0\u00bb but Genius noted how the track’s inspiration \u00ab\u00a0likely lies in the death of Grande’s ex-boyfriend Mac Miller, who passed away from a drug overdose shortly after the pair’s breakup.\u00a0\u00bb Genius additionally suggested how \u00ab\u00a0Imagine\u00a0\u00bb was about the \u00ab\u00a0unattainability of their love now that Miller has passed.\u00a0\u00bb Grande had stated in May via Twitter that \u00ab\u00a0Cinderella\u00a0\u00bb was the only song on Miller’s The Divine Feminine that was about her.
Thank U, Next doesn’t have a release date as of yet. Grande has said on social media that \u00ab\u00a0a lot of this album mourns failed yet important, beautiful relationships\u00a0\u00bb she has experienced. The Nickelodeon alum claimed the album was also about her significant growth and independence, and that it explored \u00ab\u00a0denial\u00a0\u00bb as well.
Grande explained her reasons for making \u00ab\u00a0Imagine\u00a0\u00bb Thank U, Next ‘s first promotional single, tweeting on Wednesday, \u00ab\u00a0I think it’ll balance the energy between thank u, next and seven rings nicely as those are super self assured \/ commanding and this one is more vulnerable \/ unsure. I wanted to mix up the energy a lil bit as both of those themes are equally prevalent on the album \/ in my life rn.\u00a0\u00bb
Ariana Grande at the Billboard Women in Music 2018 event in New York on December 6. Mike Coppola\/Getty Images for Billboard<\/p>\n