Lyrical Breakdown

Part 4: Side to Side

Ariana Grande is said to be a perfect representation of a good girl gone bad in today's age. Starting out as a Disney pop princess, Grande started out with a clean image and was very appealing to young teens. After releasing her third studio album Dangerous Woman in May 2016, Grande has made it clear that she is no longer interested in keeping a clean image. Her most recent single from the album, Side to Side, features the world's most significant female rap artist Nicki Minaj. Most people will be well aware of Minaj's mature lyrics and themes from her own music, and she has moved in next to Grande to influence some sexual innuendos upon her music. This may be the case according to the press, however Grande still owns her squeaky clean image. A deeper look into the lyrics of Side to Side will reveal that it is actually a sponsored song brought to you by a fancy restaurant she recently attended. 

The song introduced her position in the restaurant. Grande reveals that she has been present in the restaurant all night and all day. She then states that a boy has got her walking side to side. This is the first misunderstood phrase from the song, and is also the main part of the chorus. The first verse refers to another human that she sees also in the restaurant. She begins talking to this person and starts commenting on his/her body. Their body appears to be satisfying as she mentions wanting to "rock" with the body. She confesses that she feels as though she "don't gotta think 'bout nothin'" whilst with the body. Most people get the impression that the start of this verse is about a boy that she would looks to "chat up". However, this is about a crab that she spots when choosing her meal. Side to Side is set in a restaurant where there are multiple crabs situated in a fish tank. While ordering your meal, you proceed to choose which crab you desire to eat for your meal. The start of this verse is actually an insight into the thoughts going through her mind when she first saw the crab. Grande decides to choose the crab when she sings "I'm comin' at ya 'cause I know you got a bad reputation". In some countries, it is frowned upon to eat crabs, especially in vegan cultures because fish are friends, not food. Although crabs are not a species of fish, they are still an aquatic animal. 

The pre-chorus begins with Grande stating that her friends keep talking way too much. They tell her to give up the crab. Grande said in an interview once that she has a lot of vegan friends. Clearly, they were referring to her inappropriate food choice. They do not believe that she should choose to eat the crab because it deserves to live a fulfilling life like humans do. Grande says that she cannot hear them because she's been here all night and all day. This is where the pre-chorus flows into the chorus of the song. She continues to state how long she has been at the restaurant and that the boy has gotten her walking side to side. This is where the "boy" she is speaking of is properly revealed. After the details seen in the first verse, it is clear why she is walking side to side. She is mimicking the movements of a crab. Because of the physiology of a crab, it is caused to walk side to side due to the muscles contained in its legs. 

The second verse starts out with Grande confessing the secrecy surrounding her meal from the restaurant. She tries to hide it and tries to convince herself that eating an animal will not hurt her friends if they do not know about it. As long as the crab knows that he has got Grande in his corner, then it will not cause issues. Grande has the crab and starts making deals with the devil - she is served the crab. If Grande was a Christian, then she knows that God would not approve of her going against her friends. God believes in getting along with everyone, and eating an animal could potentially destroy the relationship with her friends. Grande states that she knows eating the crab is going to get her into trouble, but she figures that it will not matter if the crab knows that there is no hard feelings or any personal matters involved. She continues to repeat the pre-chorus and chorus, showing that she still mocks the crab's movements to show her appreciation of the animal.

The third verse is where Nicki Minaj chimes in. It is said to be the most sexual part of the song. Little does the public know, her rap has nothing to do with anything sexual. She begins by stating that Side to Side is a new style with a fresh type of flow. This refers to the fact that Grande no longer wants to be a pop princess; she wants to be saucy. Wrist icicle, ride d*** bicycle is referring to how rich she is. Minaj owns bracelets that are sparkly, much like an icicle. Riding a d*** bicycle refers to the type of bicycle that she owns. Instead of having a wheel at the front and a wheel at the back, it only has two wheels at the back, giving an outline which represents the relative genital. 

Moving into the rap, Minaj speaks about other females copying her flows and wanting to be like her. Her body is so visually pleasing that people call her Young Nicki Chimney due to the smoke present because of the high temperature her body possesses. Even though other rappers start to copy her emotional lyrics in her songs, she does not care and she does not contain any relaxation within her. Minaj reveals perhaps a new relationship, as she says "kissing me, copped the blue box that say Tiffany". The jewellery brand Tiffany & Co is famous for using blue boxes as their packaging, so it can be assumed that her new lover has bought her a piece of jewellery to represent his love for her. She refers to herself as being an NBA star Stephanie Curry, which is unrealistic because she is a rapper, not a basketball player. Gun pop is inappropriate because a gun is a weapon, so this part will not be interpreted. Minaj finished strongly as being the queen of rap and Ariana running pop music.

The rest of the song finishes with Grande repeating her movements of a crab. From this lyrical breakdown, it is clear that Side to Side is not an inappropriate song and should still be played on mainstream radio.