Saturn Returns Interlude

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"Saturn Returns Interlude"
Song by Ariana Grande
from the album Eternal Sunshine
ReleasedMarch 8, 2024 (2024-03-08)
Studio
Length0:42
Label
Songwriter(s)
Lyricist(s)Diana Garland
Producer(s)
  • Ariana Grande
  • Max Martin
  • Ilya
  • Will Loftis
Lyric visualizer
"Saturn Returns Interlude" on YouTube

"Saturn Returns Interlude" is a song by American singer Ariana Grande from her seventh studio album, Eternal Sunshine (2024). It is the album's 42-second spoken interlude, sampling a monologue from a YouTube video by Scottish astrologer Diana Garland about what a Saturn return is.

Music and lyrics[edit]

"Saturn Returns Interlude", Eternal Sunshine's 42-second spoken interlude,[1] samples a video about the Saturn return published by Scottish astrologer Diana Garland on YouTube in November 2013.[2] Setting the tone of the album,[3] 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.[4] Garland says this is the moment when one should "wake up and smell the coffee" (to face the difficulties of life),[5] 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.[6] Her voice is distorted[2] and backed by airy synthesizers that transition into Eternal Sunshine's next song, the title track.[4]

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.

Diana Garland, 2024 BBC News interview about "Saturn Returns Interlude"

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.[note 1] 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.[6][12] 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.[13] 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".[14]

Garland was completely unaware about Grande when she was first asked to clear the sample for "Saturn Returns Interlude".[14] 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.[2] 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.[2][14] 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."[14]

Credits[edit]

Recording and management

Personnel

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

Charts[edit]

Chart performance for "Saturn Returns Interlude"
Chart (2024) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[15] 71
France (SNEP)[16] 174
Portugal (AFP)[17] 88
UK Streaming (OCC)[18] 78

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Cited to multiple sources.[2][7][8][9] "Saturn" was released on February 22, 2024,[10] while "Deeper Well" was released on February 8.[11]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Hunt, Elle (March 19, 2024). "Why Do Pop Stars Align Themselves with Astrology? Heaven Knows". The Guardian. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e Paul, Larisha (March 9, 2024). "How a Retired YouTube Astrologer Ended Up on Ariana Grande's 'Saturn Returns Interlude'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  3. ^ Denis, Kyle (March 8, 2024). "Ariana Grande's Eternal Sunshine: All 13 Tracks Ranked". Billboard. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Hé, Kristen S. (March 15, 2024). "Every Ariana Grande Song, Ranked: Critic's Picks". Billboard. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  5. ^ Allaire, Christian (March 8, 2024). "29 Thoughts I Had Listening to Ariana Grande's Eternal Sunshine". Vogue. Archived from the original on March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Abad-Santos, Alex (March 13, 2024). "What's a Saturn Return — And Why Are Our Favorite Pop Stars Singing About It?". Vox. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  7. ^ Wang, Steffanee (March 18, 2024). "From Ariana to SZA, Why Everyone's Singing About Saturn Returns Right Now". Nylon. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  8. ^ Rojas, Frank (March 13, 2024). "Saturn's Been Doing a Lot of Returning Lately". The New York Times. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  9. ^ Bell, Alice (March 10, 2024). "What Is a Saturn Return, and Why Is Everybody Talking About It?". Vogue. Archived from the original on March 20, 2024. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  10. ^ Mamo, Heran (February 22, 2024). "SZA Unleashes Enchanting New Single 'Saturn'". Billboard. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  11. ^ Strauss, Matthew (February 8, 2024). "Kacey Musgraves Announces Album, Shares Video for New Song 'Deeper Well'". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  12. ^ Stardust, Lisa (March 8, 2024). "What Is a Saturn Return? An Astrologer Answers All Your Questions". Today. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  13. ^ Ivie, Devon (March 14, 2024). "Saturn Really Is That Girl". Vulture. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  14. ^ a b c d Pandey, Manish (March 22, 2024). "Eternal Sunshine: How Ariana Grande and Saturn Collided on Her Album". BBC News. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  15. ^ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 18 March 2024". The ARIA Report. No. 1776. Australian Recording Industry Association. March 18, 2024. p. 4.
  16. ^ "Top Singles (Week 11, 2024)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved March 18, 2024.
  17. ^ "Ariana Grande – Saturn Returns Interlude". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  18. ^ "Official Streaming Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
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