Fake Smile

Album: Thank U, Next (2019)
Charted: 26
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Ariana Grande wrote most of the songs for her Thank U, Next album in the aftermath of several traumatic events. In May 2018 she broke up with rapper Mac Miller, who a few months later died after a drug overdose. Then in October of that year she split from her fiancé Pete Davidson. She was also dealing with the heartbreak of the 2017 terrorist attack at her concert in Manchester, England. On "Fake Smile" Grande sings about life in the public eye, where she's expected to show up and pretend everything's okay because she's famous.

    I can't fake another smile
    I can't fake like I'm alright
    And I won't say I'm feeling fine
    After what I been through, I can't lie


    Grande doesn't want to paste on a fake smile just because she's a celebrity - she wants to fully embrace the emotions that her recent life has thrown at her.
  • The song starts of with a sample of Tennessee soul singer Wendy Rene's 1964 hit, "After Laughter (Comes Tears)" which continues to feature throughout the track. The Stax tune has formed the backbone of more than a dozen songs since Wu-Tang Clan borrowed it for their 1993 cut "Tearz." Alicia Keys, ("Where Do We Go From Here") and Metro Boomin ("Borrowed Love") are among the artists that have incorporated it.
  • Ariana Grande wrote the song with Justin Tranter, whose resumé includes hit tunes penned for the likes of Hailee Steinfeld ("Love Myself"), Justin Bieber ("Sorry") and Selena Gomez ("Good For You").

    The pair penned "Fake Smile" on the last night of a week-long session. "It was just one of those things when the song fell out," Tranter recalled to MTV News. "Ari's a legitimate co-writer on the song, and at one point she said, 'Stop playing, I'm getting in the booth right now. And boom! She sits down and recorded the vocals herself, which I've never seen a singer ever do."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

U2 Lyrics

U2 LyricsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the lyrics of U2?

Elton John

Elton JohnFact or Fiction

Does he have beef with Gaga? Is he Sean Lennon's godfather? See if you can tell fact from fiction in the Elton John edition.

Mike Scott of The Waterboys - "Fisherman's Blues"

Mike Scott of The Waterboys - "Fisherman's Blues"They're Playing My Song

Armed with a childhood spent devouring books, Mike Scott's heart was stolen by the punk rock scene of 1977. Not surprisingly, he would go on to become the most literate of rockers.

Bill Withers

Bill WithersSongwriter Interviews

Soul music legend Bill Withers on how life experience and the company you keep leads to classic songs like "Lean On Me."

Daryl Hall

Daryl HallSongwriter Interviews

Daryl Hall's TV show is a hit, and he's been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - only one of these developments excites him.

Dave Alvin - "4th Of July"

Dave Alvin - "4th Of July"They're Playing My Song

When Dave recorded the first version of the song with his group the Blasters, producer Nick Lowe gave him some life-changing advice.