Positions (song)
"Positions" is a song by American singer Ariana Grande. It was released on October 23, 2020 by Republic Records as the lead single from Grande's sixth studio album of the same name (2020). The song was written by Grande, Angelina Barrett, Brian Vincent Bates, Nija Charles, James Jarvis, Tommy Brown, London on da Track, and Mr. Franks, and produced by the last three.
"Positions"
October 23, 2020
- Grande's home
- Champagne Therapy (Lynwood)
2:52
- Brian Vincent Bates
- Tommy Brown
- Nija Charles
- Steven Franks
- London Holmes
- James Jarvis
- Ariana Grande
- Nija Charles
- Angelina Barrett
- London on da Track
- Tommy Brown
- Mr. Franks
"Positions" is a midtempo song blending pop and R&B over trap beats, plucked guitar, and violin. Its lyrics see Grande extend romantic overtures to her love interest. The song was met with generally positive reviews from music critics, who embraced its breezy and mellow sound. The song's music video, directed by Dave Meyers, accompanied the song's release, and depicts Grande as the President of the United States. A live performance music video of "Positions" was released on July 22, 2021. It received a nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.
"Positions" debuted atop the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Grande's fifth US number-one single and her third consecutive number-one debut of 2020, following "Stuck with U" and "Rain on Me". It extended her records as the first artist to have five number-one debut singles on the chart and for having all the lead singles of each of her albums debut within the top-10 of the chart. It also debuted at number one on the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S., making "Positions" the first song to simultaneously debut atop both charts and the Hot 100. Elsewhere, the song reached atop the record charts in 16 other territories including Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Lithuania, Malaysia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, giving Grande her seventh number one in the UK. It also peaked in the top 10 of the charts in 30 other countries. "Positions" has also received sales certifications globally.
Release[edit]
On October 14, 2020, Grande took to Twitter to announce that her upcoming album was set to be released that same month.[1] On October 17, she posted a slow-motion teaser video of her typing out the word "positions" on a keyboard.[2] The teaser was followed-up by a countdown launched on her website.[3] She posted the cover art and revealed the release date of the song on October 23.[4] Later that day, she posted a snippet of the song to her social media.[5] "Positions" was released for digital download and streaming on October 23, and was serviced to contemporary hit radio stations in the United States four days later.[4][6]
Composition[edit]
"Positions" is a midtempo pop–R&B song with elements of trap.[7][8] Lyrically, the song is about Grande describing her dedication to her lover and her willingness to try new things for him.[9] Annie Zaleski of The A.V. Club wrote that the song is "a tune about settling down while preserving your sense of self".[10] Other lyrics, such as the chorus, in which she sings, "Switchin' the positions for you/Cookin' in the kitchen and I’m in the bedroom" include sexual innuendos.[11] Rolling Stone's Brittany Spanos referred to the track as a "straightforward plea to get down and dirty any time, any place".[12] It has been speculated that the song was written about Grande's husband, Dalton Gomez.[13] Others suspected that one of the song's lyrics ("I'm just hopin' I don't repeat history") was a veiled reference to her ex-boyfriend Pete Davidson, due to a pause in between the syllables in "repeat".[14][15] The song's instrumentation features pizzicato guitar plucking, violin, trap drums, and the sound of crickets chirping.[16][17][18] It was described by Dani Blum of Pitchfork as a "slinky sex jam" which "drape[d] [Ariana's] harmonies over hazy synths".[19] The Observer's Kate Hutchinson compared the song's composition to that of Craig David's 2000 single "7 Days".[20]