As if she knows that I've been desperately in need of new music to listen to on my runs, everyone's favorite wearer of cat ears just put out a new single. And, since I've fallen in love with far too many songs in my lifetime without actually hearing what they're saying, I need to do a thorough analysis of Ariana Grande's "Dangerous Woman" lyrics to find out what it's about before I fall head over heels. Not that I think there are gonna be any misogynistic lyrics or anything like that; I've just been burned before and it pays to do your research.
Grande has spoken a bit about her inspiration for this track, which also happens to share a title with her album, and says that it's about really owning your feelings and standing behind them. She told Billboard :
I want to be empowering my fans... I feel like my personal growth is reflected in the sound. I’m really proud of it… To me, a dangerous woman is someone who’s not afraid to take a stand, be herself and to be honest.
Pretty interesting, right? So let's take a closer look and see if we can break these lyrics down even further to see what it's about.
"Don't Need Permission / Made My Decision To Test My Limits / Cause It's My Business, God As My Witness"
This feels like a pretty direct shot at her haters, maybe people who have called her out for being a diva or that whole donut-licking incident. It feels like her making it clear that no one's in charge of Ariana Grande except Ariana Grande.
"Somethin' 'Bout You Makes Me Feel Like A Dangerous Woman / Somethin' 'Bout, Something' 'Bout, Somethin' 'Bout You / Makes Me Wanna Do Things That I Shouldn't"
And then she's back to remind us that — oh yeah — this song is ultimately about being with the guy she's singing about, how empowering it is to do whatever she wants with him.
"Nothing To Prove And I'm Bulletproof And / Know What I'm Doing"
Hey, don't forget how many records she's sold either, OK? We can probably all keep our advice to ourselves at this point.
"All Girls Wanna Be Like That / Bad Girls Underneath, Like That / You Know How I'm Feeling Inside"
It may not sound like it right at first, but I think this song has a heavy dose of feminism; Grande isn't saying that every girl is a bad girl per se, just that we all have something underneath that we hide. And the dream is to be confident enough to let the world see all of you, and to be with someone who knows the real you.
All right, I've seen all I need to see to be confident that this is a solid song for me to work out to. It has a message to Ariana Grande's haters, an invitation to other women to be their real selves, and some real catchy melodies besides, so I couldn't be more in. Check out the song below.
Images: Giphy (4)
