Everyone gets songs stuck in their heads that just won’t go away. They sneak into your subconscious. They are epic earworms that you find yourself humming uncontrollably, singing in the shower, or tapping the beat to with your foot or ballpoint pen when you should be working. Sometimes they even keep you awake at night. Whether they are current hits, one-hit wonders, movie soundtrack gems, holiday favorites, or songs from your youth, their catchy vocals, riffs, hooks, and choruses seem to linger for days.
Here, those songs find a home, no matter the genre. Here, those epic earworms are revisited, explained, and celebrated. Here, you may find the song that haunts you tomorrow. Here is today’s unescapable song of the day…and the story behind it.
Today’s Epic Earworm: Ariana Grande — “Thank U, Next”
Today’s epic earworm comes from pop diva Ariana Grande. The “Wicked” star unknowingly created a pop culture phenomenon with her 2018 smash “Thank U, Next.” The song not only hit Number One in 23 countries, but it also became a meme, a diss, and a catchphrase that is still used in pop culture today. The single stayed atop the charts in the U.S. for seven weeks and has been certified octuple-platinum. “Thank U, Next” was nominated for 13 awards, winning a Kid’s Choice Award and a Teen Choice Award in the U.S., and International Song of the Year in Denmark.
Una Decisión Grande
Everyone knows that the song is about Grande’s failed relationships. The song mentions Big Sean, Ricky Alvarez, Pete Davidson, and Mac Miller right in the first verse. What most people don’t know is that this song could have ended up sounding very different. Grande and her co-writers penned the lyrics at a volatile time in the singer’s life. Miller had just passed away. She was engaged to Davidson, but things were not going well.
Unsure of how things would play out with Davidson and whether it was wise to mention her exes’ names (especially Miller’s), Grande ended up recording several different versions of the song. In one version, she left out everything about the exes. In one version, she gets married; in another, she doesn’t. There is a version that references her relationships without any names that started, “They say I’m too young/had too many boyfriends.”
In the end, Grande stuck to the original version. On November 2, 2018, Davidson joked about the broken engagement on “Saturday Night Live.” The next day, Grande surprise-released the song without any prior announcement or promotion. The song immediately broke numerous streaming records. It appears Grande’s choice paid off…all the way to the bank.
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