Hampstead

Album

Eternal Sunshine

Label

Republic Records

Genre

Rhythm & Blues

Composer(s)

Ariana Grande;Ilya Salmanzadeh;Max Martin

Entered Chart

Apr 12, 2025

Peak Date

Apr 12, 2025

Ariana Grande lived in the picturesque North London neighborhood of Hampstead while filming Wicked at Sky Studios Elstree between 2022 and 2024. Her stay coincided with the breakdown of her marriage to Dalton Gomez. Despite her personal upheaval, Grande took to the area enthusiastically, enjoying long walks on Hampstead Heath and browsing its shops. This period of reflection and renewal found its way into "Hampstead," recorded for the deluxe edition of her album Eternal Sunshine, Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead. The track opens with the evocative image of Grande "leaving her heart at a pub in Hampstead." The sentiment captures the emotional disarray of heartbreak and reinvention - albeit with a pleasant pint in hand. There is a lyrical nod to losing her mind "in a good way," suggesting that while the turbulence of her life was undeniable, there were still moments of joy and discovery. By the summer of 2023, Grande's split from Gomez had become tabloid fodder, made more salacious by reports of her new romance with Wicked co-star Ethan Slater, who was still married at the time. This led to a chorus of online condemnation, with some rather harsh accusations thrown in her direction. Grande sings lines on "Hampstead" like "Threw away my reputation but saved us more heartache," suggesting that while the public might have condemned her, she prioritized happiness over public approval. The song was co-written and co-produced by Max Martin and Ilya Salmanzadeh, two Swedish hit-making maestros who have a long history of working with Grande. Martin, of course, is the songwriting equivalent of King Midas, having crafted numerous chart-topping songs for the likes of Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, and The Weeknd. Salmanzadeh has lent his talents to artists like Jennifer Lopez and Nicki Minaj. The Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead album takes its name from the fictitious "Brighter Days Clinic" featured in the music video for "We Can't Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)." Grande released an accompanying short film coinciding with the album that she co-directed with "We Can't Be Friends" director Christian Breslauer. It takes place 70 years after the events of the music video and finds Grande's character, Peaches, undergoing a memory-erasing procedure - a nod to the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. One of those memories is soundtracked by "Hampstead." It shows a doctor, played by Grande's father, Ed Butera, as he stitches her back together again after a newspaper headline shows that she was "torn apart."

verse
I left my heart at a pub in Hampstead
And I misplaced my mind in a good way
Threw away my reputation but saved us more heartache
Yes, I know it seems fucked up, and you′re right
But quite frankly, you're still wrong about everything
So far off, your seat′s nowhere near the table
But I find something sweet in your peculiar behavior
'Cause I think to be so dumb must be nice
I do, I do, I do, I do
pre-chorus
What makes think you're even invited?
The doors are closed with lights off inside
And all the while
There′s no one home, you′re still outside
I wonder why
chorus
What's wrong with a little bit of poison? Tell me
I would rather feel everything than nothing every time
Fear me, stranger
A little bit of sugar, danger
I′d rather be seen and alive than dying by your point of view
I do, I do, I do, I do
verse
I don't remember too much of the last year
But I knew who I was when I got here
′Cause I'm still the same, but only entirely different
And my lover′s just some lines in some songs
Mm-hm, mm-hm, mm-hm, mm-hm
pre-chorus
You think you've read the book I'm still writing
I can′t imagine wanting so badly to be right
Guess I′m forever on your mind
I wonder why
chorus
What's wrong with a little bit of poison? Tell me (tell me)
I would rather feel everything than nothing every time (every time, every time)
Fear me, stranger (stranger)
A little bit of sugar (sugar), danger (danger)
I′d rather be seen and alive than dying by your point of view (point of view)
outro
Rather be swimming with you than drowning in a crowded room
I do, I do, I do, I do