Songfacts®:

• On "Never Get Over Me," Ariana Grande delivers a confident message: once someone has been with her, they're not going to forget her. She casually points out that leaving won't change much anyway - she's going to linger in their head regardless.
• You'll be dreaming 'bout the taste of me
  But look, at least you'll have the memory
  
  The lyric directly mirrors a line from "Thinking Bout You," a fan-favorite track on her 2016 album Dangerous Woman:
  
  I don't have you here with, here with, here with me
  But at least I have the memory
  
  The two songs share almost the same exact phrase but flip the emotional perspective. On "Thinking Bout You," Grande was the one left behind, clinging to memories as a consolation prize. A decade later, on "Never Get Over Me," she becomes the memory itself, predicting that her ex will be the one unable to move on.
• So who inspired this cut? There is no confirmed muse for "Never Get Over Me." The song could be read through the lens of Ariana Grande's relationships with former husband Dalton Gomez or Broadway actor Ethan Slater, whom she dated following her divorce, particularly given the period in which Petal was written, but there is no public confirmation that either man inspired the track.
  
  More likely, "Never Get Over Me" is a classic R&B/pop confidence statement. Flexing pop and R&B tracks like this song often function as swagger anthems rather than targeted diary entries (similar to Dua Lipa's "Don't Start Now" or Doja Cat's "Boss Bitch"). The "ex who can't move on" trope gives the song its bite, letting Grande project effortless charisma and control without needing a specific real-world target.
• Ariana Grande wrote and produced "Never Get Over Me" with Ilya Salmanzadeh. Built on a smooth, jazzy R&B groove, the track revisits the sleek production style of the Dangerous Woman era, substituting nostalgia for pure self-assurance.