Ariana Grande's latest album was highly-anticipated following the successful release of its title track, "thank you, next." The song took many forms, which is common considering the typical music production process. In this case, the reason for the alternatives was quite personal. Grande and her co-writers had to consider her relationship status.
"In my relationship [with Pete Davidson] at the time, things were like up and down and on and off, and so I didn't know what was going to happen and then we got back together," Grande explained. "So I had to make a different version of it, and then we broke up again, so we ended up going with that verse."
The singer explained how her potential marriage inspired a few scenarios. "There's a version where I was getting married, there's a version where I'm not getting married, there's a version with nothing—we're not talking about anything... But we all knew that the first version was gonna be the version we ultimately went with."
There was also a rendition that excluded the names of her exes completely. "It was still embracing my mistakes and what I've done, and how everything has contributed to how I am, but it was just less direct," the artist added. Grande also revealed the opening lines one of the canned tracks: "They say I'm too young, had too many boyfriends."