Bad Idea

Album: Thank U, Next (2019)
Charted: 27
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Ariana Grande wrote the songs for her Thank U, Next album following the breakup with her fiancé Pete Davidson just a month after the death of her ex, Mac Miller. She said a lot of the record "mourns failed yet important beautiful relationships in my life."

    Here, the singer sings of a need to try to "numb the pain" by hanging out with someone she knows she shouldn't.
  • I got a bad idea
    How 'bout we take a little bit of time away?
    I got a bad idea
    Forget about it, yeah, forget about him, yeah


    Grande acknowledges it is a "bad idea" to hook up with this guy but sees him as somebody who can help him escape her pain.
  • The trappy new wave track was produced by Max Martin and Ilya Salmanzadeh. The Swedish pair previously collaborated with Grande on another track with the theme of being drawn to someone you know is bad for you - the Dangerous Woman cut "Bad Decisions."
  • Ariana Grande is passionate about Japanese culture. She has a tattoo on her palm, intended to say "seven rings" in Japanese kanji (it has a spelling error), and the cover art for her single "Imagine" is a close-up of Grande's open mouth with the Japanese word for "imagination" in the middle. During this song's chorus, Grande calls herself "Ari-chan" as another reference to her admiration of Japanese culture.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Greg talks about writing songs of "universal truth" for King Crimson and ELP, and tells us about his most memorable stage moment (it involves fireworks).

Mark Arm of Mudhoney

Mark Arm of MudhoneySongwriter Interviews

When he was asked to write a song for the Singles soundtrack, Mark thought the Seattle grunge scene was already overblown, so that's what he wrote about.

Artis the Spoonman

Artis the SpoonmanSong Writing

Even before Soundgarden wrote a song about him, Artis was the most famous spoon player of all time. So why has he always been broke?

Christopher Cross

Christopher CrossSongwriter Interviews

The man who created Yacht Rock with "Sailing" wrote one of his biggest hits while on acid.

Spot The Real Red Hot Chili Peppers Song Titles

Spot The Real Red Hot Chili Peppers Song TitlesMusic Quiz

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have some rather unusual song titles - see if you can spot the real ones.

John Doe of X

John Doe of XSongwriter Interviews

With his X-wife Exene, John fronts the band X and writes their songs.