It doesn't seem that long ago that Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson announced their engagement. The whirlwind romance had escalated to marriage talk in June, and the two stars raved about how happy they were. It was enough that when Grande released her album Sweetener in August, she added a last minute track dedicated to her paramour called "Pete Davidson."
In the short time since, the young couple have called off the engagement and broken up, but Grande is still one of the biggest stars in the world. Fans listen to her works repeatedly and analyze them ad nauseum. Which is why it's surprising it took this long to discover the hidden message in "Pete Davidson" that Grande left for her then-partner.
Twitter user Grace Barry, a fan of Grande, made a post about looking up the chords for the song. The song uses three chords on repeat, "B," "A," "E" which spells bae, slang for a person's significant other.
I was looking up Ariana Grande guitar chords (I don’t have a guitar) and discovered the chords to “Pete Davidson” a… https://t.co/QsrHCxp5z6— Grace Barry (@Grace Barry) 1544118940.0
This discovery is blowing people's minds.
@gracelbarry @ArianaGrande POWERFUL— magaluna (@magaluna) 1544160264.0
@gracelbarry @ArianaGrande Omg. The kind of investigative journalism we deserve— Hannah Palmer (@Hannah Palmer) 1544147589.0
@gracelbarry @ArianaGrande shoooketh— elle♡ (@elle♡) 1544162394.0
@hatiekeath @gracelbarry @ArianaGrande Omg absolute witchcraft— Breanna Lind (@Breanna Lind) 1544479273.0
@gracelbarry @ArianaGrande Reminds me of Frank Ocean's Pyramids - the notes on sheet music step up one note at a ti… https://t.co/ljKE2bk7Np— Tate (@Tate) 1544205874.0
@Disco_Bees @gracelbarry @ArianaGrande Illumiana Grande! https://t.co/e5NXfI79Wx— Christopher (@Christopher) 1544569584.0
It could be a stretch. Those chords aren't uncommon and modern pop songs are infamous for their repeating structure. However, the song being a last minute addition to the album, and Grande's penchant for these kinds of details leads many to believe there's more to it.
On another track on the album, "Get Well Soon" the song ends and plays 40 seconds of silence before the track ends. This makes the track exactly 5 minutes and 22 seconds long, a likely tribute to the May 22nd, 2017 terrorist attack at Grande's Manchester show. Considering the song only exists because Pharrell Williams told Grande to write about her emotions over the incident in order to heal, it seems accurate.
@billboard It definitely is— Isabella 🍂 (@Isabella 🍂) 1534523790.0
the fact that ariana put 40 seconds of silence at the end of get well soon to make the song last 5:22 in honor to t… https://t.co/3BN1A1wYri— ً (@ً) 1534687839.0
Last track on Ariana Grande #sweetener ‘get well soon’ is 5.22 long. 40 second silence at the end. Date of Manches… https://t.co/pSsPKkuKQ5— Fiona. (@Fiona.) 1534523586.0
Dentist: open up. Me: the fact that Ariana deliberately added 40 seconds onto get well soon just so it was 5:22 i… https://t.co/ok1zY1bXDb— Tallulah ♡☁️ (@Tallulah ♡☁️) 1534510215.0
Grande and Davidson may be over now, and Grande is focusing on loving herself, but this theory is a reminder of the impact the couple had on the world for a few short months.