Ghostin

Album: Thank U, Next (2019)
Charted: 25
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Ariana Grande's two-year relationship with Mac Miller ended in May 2018. The singer started dating Saturday Night Live cast member Pete Davidson the same month, but then had to endure the tragedy of Miller dying from a drug overdose in September 2018. This haunting ballad (no pun intended) finds her grieving for the late rapper while still in a relationship with Davidson.
  • I know that it breaks your heart when I cry again
    Over him
    I know that it breaks your heart when I cry again,
    'Stead of ghostin' him


    The track is a ghostly take on a love triangle. Grande is mourning Mac Miller and apologizing to her current lover for the rapper's spectral presence hanging over her. Though she seems hopeful that they'll get through her trauma, Grande also sings about wishing "he were here instead."
  • "Ghostin" means cutting off communication to avoid a person and the confrontation that would inevitably arise. Grande said the song is about "feeling badly for the person you're with because you love somebody else. Feeling badly because he can tell he can't compare... and how I should be ghosting him."

    Grande's relationship with Davidson didn't survive. They broke up a month after the passing of Mac Miller.
  • It's been pointed out on social media that the song's background moans sound very much like a slowed down version of the strings on Mac Miller's 2018 contemplative Swimming track, "2009."
  • The song features backing vocals from two of its co-writers, Victoria Monét and Tayla Parx. Monet and Parx also co-penned Thank U Next's title track and "7 Rings."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

James Williamson of Iggy & the Stooges

James Williamson of Iggy & the StoogesSongwriter Interviews

The Stooges guitarist (and producer of the Kill City album) talks about those early recordings and what really happened with David Bowie.

In The Cards

In The CardsSong Writing

Songwriters have used cards and card games to make sense of heartache, togetherness, and even Gonorrhea.

Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty

Rob Thomas of Matchbox TwentySongwriter Interviews

Rob Thomas on his Social Distance Sessions, co-starring with a camel, and his friendship with Carlos Santana.

Jack Tempchin - "Peaceful Easy Feeling"

Jack Tempchin - "Peaceful Easy Feeling"They're Playing My Song

When a waitress wouldn't take him home, Jack wrote what would become one of the Eagles most enduring hits.

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In Songs

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In SongsSong Writing

Songs where something goes horribly wrong (literally or metaphorically), and help is needed right away.

Yacht Rock Quiz

Yacht Rock QuizFact or Fiction

Christopher Cross with Deep Purple? Kenny Loggins in Caddyshack? A Fact or Fiction all about yacht rock and those who made it.