Song Analysis Blog

•Hyperbole                         • Personification

•Idiom                                  • Repetition 

Breathin’ - Ariana Grande

[Verse 1]
Some days, things just take
Way too much of my energy
I look up and the whole room's spinning
You take my cares away
I can so over-complicate, people tell me to medicate

Feel my blood runnin', swear the sky's fallin'
I know that all this sh*t's fabricated, mmm
Time goes by and I can't control my mind
Don't know what else to try, but you tell me every time

[Chorus]
Just keep breathin' and breathin' and breathin' and breathin'
And oh, I gotta keep, keep on breathin'
Just keep breathin' and breathin' and breathin' and breathin'
And oh, I gotta keep, keep on breathin', mmm-mmm

[Verse 2]
Sometimes it's hard to find
Find my way up into the clouds
Tune it out, they can be so loud
You remind me of a time
When things weren't so complicated
All I need is to see your face

[Pre-Chorus]
Feel my blood runnin', swear the sky's fallin'
I know that all this sh*t's fabricated, mmm
Time goes by and I can't control my mind
Don't know what else to try, but you tell me every time

[Chorus]
Just keep breathin' and breathin' and breathin' and breathin'
And oh, I gotta keep, I keep on breathin'
Just keep breathin' and breathin' and breathin' and breathin'
And oh, I gotta keep, I keep on breathin', mmm, yeah

[Bridge]
My, my air, my, my air
My, my air, my air
My, my air, my, my air
My, my air, yeah

[Chorus]
Just keep breathin' and breathin' and breathin' and breathin'
And oh, I gotta keep, I keep on breathin'
Just keep breathin' and breathin' and breathin' and breathin'
And oh, I gotta keep, I keep on breathin', mmm, yeah

[Outro]
Feel my blood runnin', swear the sky's fallin', oh, whoa
I keep on breathin', oh yeah
Time goes by and I can't control my mind
I keep on breathin', mmm, yeah


Poetic Devices & Uses
The whole room’s spinning - This is personification. The room cannot spin, she is giving the room a human like quality. Although you can see the effect of a room spinning if you were dizzy, the room does not spin. Therefore, being personification.  

You take my cares away - This is a hyperbole. Nobody can physically take your cares away, this is an over exaggerated way of saying she worries less from the help from someone else. 

Feel my blood runnin' - I believe this is a hyperbole. She cannot feel her blood running. I do not know if this would be personification too as blood cannot run like a human, but it can run as a liquid. 

The sky is falling - This is an idiom. She doesn’t actually mean the sky is falling. The meaning is not literal but at the same time the sky IS falling with a different meaning. 

Breathin’ and breathin’ and breathin’…. - This is repetition. The word breathing is being repeated in this sentence. This part of the song is also repeated multiple times as it’s part of the chorus.  

Find my way up into the clouds - This is an idiom. Obviously, nobody can just go up into the clouds (excluding airplanes.) She isn’t being literal about finding her way into the clouds but instead has another meaning that still fits. 

Connection
I do not have a specific connection to this song. However, this is a song that has helped me through rough times and has always had such a positive impact on me. Ariana wrote this song about her anxiety, and personally I also struggle with anxiety so to have this song about dealing with anxiety and struggling to get through rough times is truly amazing. When I found myself struggling with anxiety, this song was always such a mood lifter and always gave me the “I can do it” feeling. I even suggested other people listen to this song if feeling anxious. Most of the words to the song are very meaningful as well. Ariana had a lot of anxiety after the tragic attack that happened at her concert in Manchester in 2017. This actually caused her to develop post-traumatic distress disorder. While dealing with this, Ariana created the beautiful single breathin to remind everyone that sometimes you just need to keep on breathing. And by her doing that, it’s helped me through thick and thin and I couldn’t be more grateful for this song.  


Ariana Grande - breathin. Genius. (2018, August.)

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