Saturn Returns Interlude

"Saturn Returns Interlude", Eternal Sunshine{{'s}} 42-second spoken interlude,{{Cite news |last=Hunt |first=Elle |date=March 19, 2024 |title=Why Do Pop Stars Align Themselves with Astrology? Heaven Knows |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/mar/19/saturn-pop-stars-astrology-ariana-grande-sza-kacey-musgraves |access-date=March 25, 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB}} samples a video about the Saturn return published by Scottish astrologer Diana Garland on YouTube in November 2013.{{Cite magazine |last=Paul |first=Larisha |date=March 9, 2024 |title=How a Retired YouTube Astrologer Ended Up on Ariana Grande's 'Saturn Returns Interlude' |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/ariana-grande-saturn-return-interlude-astrologer-1234982964/ |url-access=limited |access-date=March 25, 2024 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}} Setting the tone of the album,{{Cite magazine |last=Denis |first=Kyle |date=March 8, 2024 |title=Ariana Grande's Eternal Sunshine: All 13 Tracks Ranked |url=https://www.billboard.com/lists/ariana-grande-eternal-sunshine-songs-ranked/ |access-date=March 25, 2024 |magazine=Billboard |language=en-US}} the monologue begins by explaining the Saturn cycle, an astrological concept surrounding the planet's revolution around the Earth that takes about 29 years to complete.{{Cite magazine |last=Hé |first=Kristen S. |date=March 15, 2024 |title=Every Ariana Grande Song, Ranked: Critic's Picks |url=https://www.billboard.com/lists/ariana-grande-songs-ranked-best-songs/ |access-date=March 25, 2024 |magazine=Billboard |language=en-US}} Garland says this is the moment when one should "wake up and smell the coffee" (to face the difficulties of life),{{Cite web |last=Allaire |first=Christian |date=March 8, 2024 |title=29 Thoughts I Had Listening to Ariana Grande's Eternal Sunshine |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/eternal-sunshine-ariana-grande-29-thoughts |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240311050116/https://www.vogue.com/article/eternal-sunshine-ariana-grande-29-thoughts |archive-date=March 11, 2024 |access-date=March 25, 2024 |website=Vogue |language=en-US}} and she concludes that when Saturn "hits [one] over the head and says 'wake up{{' "}}, one should begin changes in how they live and reflect on their sense of self.{{Cite web |last=Abad-Santos |first=Alex |date=March 13, 2024 |title=What's a Saturn Return — And Why Are Our Favorite Pop Stars Singing About It? |url=https://www.vox.com/culture/24094766/saturn-return-ariana-grande-kacey-musgraves-sza |access-date=March 25, 2024 |website=Vox |language=en}} Her voice is distorted and backed by airy synthesizers that transition into Eternal Sunshine{{'s}} next song, the title track.

{{quote box

| quote = Each time Saturn makes that return, it's sort of an opportunity to go through a kind of upgrade, if you have gotten to a level of awareness within yourself. Or you have the appetite for new learning through building.

| author = Diana Garland

| source = 2024 BBC News interview about "Saturn Returns Interlude"

| width = 30em

| bgcolor = #EAD1AF

}}

Several publications noticed "Saturn Returns Interlude" was released just weeks after multiple other songs about the Saturn return, specifically "Saturn" by SZA and "Deeper Well" by Kacey Musgraves, and thus analyzed the topic with the help of astrologers and astronomers.{{NoteTag|Cited to multiple sources.{{Cite web |last=Wang |first=Steffanee |date=March 18, 2024 |title=From Ariana to SZA, Why Everyone's Singing About Saturn Returns Right Now |url=https://www.nylon.com/entertainment/saturn-return-playlist-ariana-grande-sza-kacey-musgraves |access-date=March 25, 2024 |website=Nylon |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Rojas |first=Frank |date=March 13, 2024 |title=Saturn's Been Doing a Lot of Returning Lately |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/08/style/saturn-return-astrology-ariana-grande.html |url-access=limited |access-date=March 25, 2024 |work=The New York Times}}{{Cite web |last=Bell |first=Alice |date=March 10, 2024 |title=What Is a Saturn Return, and Why Is Everybody Talking About It? |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/what-is-a-saturn-return |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320022107/https://www.vogue.com/article/what-is-a-saturn-return |archive-date=March 20, 2024 |access-date=March 25, 2024 |website=Vogue |language=en-US }} "Saturn" was released on February 22, 2024,{{Cite magazine |last=Mamo |first=Heran |date=February 22, 2024 |title=SZA Unleashes Enchanting New Single 'Saturn' |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/sza-saturn-stream-1235612981/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240223013458/https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/sza-saturn-stream-1235612981/ |archive-date=February 23, 2024 |access-date=February 23, 2024 |magazine=Billboard |language=en-US}} while "Deeper Well" was released on February 8.{{cite web |last=Strauss |first=Matthew |date=February 8, 2024 |title=Kacey Musgraves Announces Album, Shares Video for New Song 'Deeper Well' |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/kacey-musgraves-announces-album-shares-video-for-new-song-deeper-well-watch/ |access-date=February 8, 2024 |website=Pitchfork}}}} Lisa Stardust and Jake Register, speaking for Today and Vox respectively, posited that as Grande approached her Saturn return and her 30s, she engaged in deep reflections on and continued healing from her past romantic relationships, some of the main themes of Eternal Sunshine.{{Cite web |last=Stardust |first=Lisa |date=March 8, 2024 |title=What Is a Saturn Return? An Astrologer Answers All Your Questions |url=https://www.today.com/life/astrology/saturn-return-meaning-rcna140408 |access-date=March 25, 2024 |website=Today |language=en}} Talking to Vulture{{'s}} Devon Ivie about "Saturn Returns Interlude", Pamela L. Gay of the Planetary Science Institute argued from a scientific perspective that Saturn returns coincide with the human brain's full maturity and therefore result in "wake up" moments like Grande's that allow one to reflect on past mistakes.{{Cite web |last=Ivie |first=Devon |date=March 14, 2024 |title=Saturn Really Is That Girl |url=https://www.vulture.com/article/why-ariana-grande-sza-and-kacey-musgraves-love-saturn-return.html |access-date=March 25, 2024 |website=Vulture |language=en}} Garland, interviewed by BBC News, said that Grande, SZA, and Musgraves, all of whom were in their early- to mid-30s, commented the three were in a "perfect age for self-reflection".{{Cite news |last=Pandey |first=Manish |date=March 22, 2024 |title=Eternal Sunshine: How Ariana Grande and Saturn Collided on Her Album |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-68607773 |access-date=March 25, 2024 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}

Garland was completely unaware about Grande when she was first asked to clear the sample for "Saturn Returns Interlude". She had been studying astrology for around 50 years and used her knowledge to build a sizeable, 27,000-subscriber YouTube channel, where she posted videos answering astrology-related questions such as the one about Saturn returns. Garland told Rolling Stone and BBC News that she did not think much of the video and considered it a spur-of-the-moment upload; she was surprised when Grande's team contacted her son for the rights to the clip, to which he declined to respond. By that point, Garland had retired from her YouTube career, leading to further confusion on how the team found her video, so she and her son deemed their efforts as a possible scam. Despite this, Grande's team persisted in their efforts, so when Garland's son received confirmation they were not being scammed, they finally agreed. Garland reflected: "I suppose maybe my little clip was picked, because certain people were familiar with me [on the YouTube astrology community] from all that time ago."

Recording and management

• Published by Universal Tunes (SESAC), Wolf Cousins/Warner Chappell Music Scandinavia (STIM), MXM Music ({{abbr|adm.|administered}} by Kobalt Music) (STIM)
• Recorded at Jungle City Studios (New York City), MXM Studios (Stockholm), and Decoy Studios (Suffolk)
• Mastered at Sterling Sound (Edgewater, New Jersey)
• Excerpt of "Saturn Return – Why 29 Years Old Is an Important Age" used courtesy of Diana Garland

Personnel

{{div col}}

• Ariana Grande{{spaced en dash}} composition, production, programming, arrangement, backing vocals
• Max Martin{{spaced en dash}} composition, production
• Ilya Salmanzadeh{{spaced en dash}} composition, production, programming, arrangement, backing vocals, bass, keyboards, mixing
• Will Loftis{{spaced en dash}} production
• Diana Garland{{spaced en dash}} lyrics
• Sam Holland{{spaced en dash}} engineering
• Lou Carrao{{spaced en dash}} engineering
• Eric Eylands{{spaced en dash}} assistant engineering
• Rob Sellens{{spaced en dash}} assistant engineering
• Bryce Bordone{{spaced en dash}} engineering {{small|(for mix)}}
• Randy Merrill{{spaced en dash}} mastering

{{div col end}}

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{{Reflist}}

{{Ariana Grande songs}}

Category:2024 songs

Category:Ariana Grande songs