00:07Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're ranking the songs from the masterpiece
00:12that is Ariana Grande's eighth studio album, Petal.
00:25Number 12, Warning Signs, Interlude.
00:37Don't mistake this placement for faint praise.
00:40Warning Signs lands at the bottom on a technicality.
00:44Across a minute and 17 seconds, Grande delivers a breathtaking interlude
00:48that embodies the specific brand of controlled, coiled rage that echoes throughout the record.
01:02The writing is refreshingly self-aware and strikingly intelligent,
01:07especially in the irony of being listened to yet not heard.
01:11Rather than a bleary-eyed lament for an inconsistent partner, the song offers startling clarity that is strangely empowering,
01:17even in its pain. Though it cruelly ends at its peak, Warning Signs is impossible not to replay.
01:24Do you feel me?
01:29I wish someone could help me.
01:33Number 11, Big Feelings.
01:36Baby, what's your call my life?
01:39This boy, you must have earned me historically.
01:43Sarcasm and self-satisfaction disguised as sweet seduction, no one could do it better.
01:48Big Feelings has the R&B dreaminess of a love song,
01:52but the title is more of a tease than a genuine expression of emotional depth.
01:56Though Ari's angelic vocals will convince you otherwise,
02:00the darker sonic flourishes make it amply clear that we're not dealing with a lover girl,
02:05but a femme fatale here.
02:15She's more amused by her subject getting overwhelmed with feelings simplistically described as big,
02:21while she remains firmly in control.
02:23The pop star does slip in a touch of vulnerability though,
02:26and while that punctures the song's bold confidence for a brief moment,
02:30perhaps that's also what makes it feel human.
02:35Don't need to stop it.
02:36Once you express yourself, I can become so aquatic.
02:40Come swim in these waters.
02:42Number 10, Oh Well.
02:52When Ariana said Petal was born from a place of, quote, unfiltered rage, she wasn't kidding.
02:59Oh Well is a stunning display of speed, garage, propulsion, and featherlight harmonies,
03:03with unapologetically candid lyrics.
03:14There's a certain detachment in the track that could be read as artistic restraint or emotional indifference.
03:21As a creative choice, one might argue that the song could have reached greater heights,
03:25yet as a study in anger stripped of heat, there's merit in Ariana holding back the vocal fireworks.
03:39The result is deliberately calm, reflecting the sheer peace that comes from simply showing someone the door to the underworld.
03:54Number 9, Nowhere Nobody.
04:05After everything is said and done, Ariana closes Petal on a devastatingly soft note.
04:10Nowhere Nobody is painfully sincere, a testament to the tenderness that has been protectively hidden until the end.
04:17The garage pulse, combined with the shimmering vocoder elements, places the song in a retro lane,
04:23while the reverberant guitar and Grande's layered vocals give it an otherworldly touch.
04:38Lyrically, it is drenched in hope. The singer doesn't present herself as an untouchable ideal.
04:44Rather, she reinforces the idea that her heart remains open to love.
04:48Fairy tale endings may not exist, but the journey is worth it.
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05:19Number 8, Never Get Over Me.
05:29With one of the smoothest R&B and funk grooves on the album, this song is instantly catchy.
05:34It is less of a power play than big feelings, but just as self-assured, if not more.
05:40There is directness in desire here, a shared surrender that's as tempting as it is potentially dangerous.
05:55The sensuality in Ariana's lush vocals, amplified by her effortless ad-libs near the end,
06:01are enough to put you in a trance.
06:02But the song also makes for prime pre-game material before a night out.
06:07If you don't leave this song feeling like that girl, just listen to it again.
06:11Then somehow every ex disappears, the vision is clear so clear, now you'll never...
06:19Number 7, Stay.
06:22Wait, baby, take your time, you got me selling like, oh yeah, I need you...
06:29For a song about staying, the urgency is hard to miss.
06:33Stay is for anyone tired of the universe disguising another heartbreak as character development.
06:38There is palpable desperation in the singer's plea for reassurance from her partner,
06:42but the lyrics also seem to be addressed inward,
06:45as though she's convincing herself of her need to stay or perhaps not abandon herself.
06:50I just wanna stay this time, I really got you...
06:57The stellar self-harmonizing only intensifies this emotional complexity.
07:01Placing a steady, composed lead vocal against a higher, crystalline layer that feels more exposed.
07:09Stay takes its time to start growing on you, but once it does, it becomes impossible to forget.
07:14Stay hands tight and hard to reach, but for mine, I don't wanna be...
07:22Number 6, Bad Thing, Bunny Hop.
07:32What's not to love about this absolute dopamine rush of a song?
07:36Bad Thing, Bunny Hop is distinctly brighter than the rest of the record,
07:40barreling toward youthful, reckless abandon.
07:51Sonically, this is new ground for Ariana, but the blend of pop rock with synth-pop
07:56and relentless percussion feels more current than distinctive.
07:59That familiarity does little to dampen its impact, though.
08:02How can you feel in my body now, how can you hear it in these sounds, cause it's too late
08:12to...
08:12With lyrics about running toward the thing that scares you,
08:15with the giddy exhilaration of a teenager falling in love for the first time,
08:18this song is breathlessly alive.
08:21Oh baby, you're a real nightmare.
08:25I'm so unfulfilled, I'm just as a glad thing.
08:29Number 5, Freak.
08:31Baby, will you come with me nowhere before they shoot me...
08:40The cool older sister of Warning Signs is a subversive departure from the rest of the album.
08:45It is a fine example of Ariana's ever-evolving musical identity and versatility.
08:50Her blatant refusal to cater to external fantasies and expectations projected onto her
08:55is not only conveyed through the lyrics, but also through the experimental genre.
09:07Even the title of the song is defiant.
09:10Ari could have easily gone the rebellious rock explosion route here,
09:14but the hazy, hypnotic shoegaze elevates Freak to a class of its own.
09:18If you don't like it, that's kind of the point.
09:20Lost, without your light.
09:24I can't leave a sight that's so peculiar.
09:29Number 4, Like I Do.
09:40In Ariana's own words, Petal is quote, a little feral.
09:43This is the song that best embodies that wild freedom.
09:47Like I Do will probably be the song that makes the rounds on social media,
09:50soundtracking countless TikTok videos about stepping into the most powerful version of yourself.
10:03The toxic transactional relationship described in the lyrics
10:07can be interpreted as that between the artist and the industry,
10:11or between Ariana and her audience.
10:13This naturally includes both supporters and naysayers,
10:17who she says, quote, hate to love her.
10:26It is especially apt, then, that this bass-heavy R&B pop track
10:30is unabashedly crowd-pleasing and bound for virality.
10:34The song is going to be everywhere, whether the haters like it or not.
10:47Number 3, Kiss Me.
10:56Ariana could not have picked a stronger opener for this album.
11:00Kiss Me is an iridescent pop track with vocals as delicate as Gossamer laid on an electronic spine.
11:06On the surface, it belies the darker subject matter of the tracks to come.
11:10One look at the lyrics, though, and Ari's thesis statement for Petal becomes crystal clear.
11:15Kiss Me like you know this is great, but we could try to make it...
11:24Addressing themes of attachment, emotional surrender, hope, intimacy, and endings,
11:29the song serves as a starting point for a transformative experience.
11:33The only way to move forward is by letting go of both the love she's trying to hold on to
11:38in the lyrics,
11:38and her creative inhibitions.
11:47Number 2, Hate That I Made You Love Me.
11:58This one's a chart topper for a reason.
12:01Ariana unleashes some of her best songwriting in Hate That I Made You Love Me.
12:06She captures the universality of how society treats women,
12:09while also zooming in on her individual experience of life in the public eye.
12:15Hate That I Made You Love Me.
12:22Rather than feeding into toxic parasocial attachment,
12:26she denies accountability for the projections placed on her.
12:29Musically, the song is another triumph.
12:31The star allows her lower register to shine,
12:34grounding the track rather than letting it float like many of the songs on Petal do.
12:38I will find my way from you, I guess it's kind of cute.
12:43Add to that the cinematic music video, and you have a timeless hit on your hands.
12:58Number 1, Pedal.
13:08There's something deeply satisfying about the title track of a record,
13:12also being its piece de resistance.
13:14This pop R&B track is old Hollywood drama and dark glamour distilled into a haunting tune
13:20about the dehumanizing price of stardom.
13:30It's packed with classic Ariana signatures,
13:34albeit presented through a decadently gothic lens.
13:36Like warning signs, this song finds her pushing back against the idea of commodifying her pain.
13:49She's determined to make art on her own terms, and that conviction informs the entire album.
13:55Petal is a declaration that she's done playing the perfect pop star.
13:59Instead, she's embracing authenticity with fearless resolve.
14:03What an icon.
14:11What is your favorite track on Petal, and which one do you think deserves more love?
14:16Let us know in the comments.
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