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On the heels of releasing a sexed-up, ultra workout-friendly (especially when taking into account the accompanying video) single called “Yes Baby,” Madison Beer has now offered a sharp contrast to that vibe in the form “Bittersweet.” With such a title, it should come as no shock that it’s a post-breakup track, and one that finds Beer at her most “Ariana Grande-esque,” lyrically speaking. Indeed, “Bittersweet” smacks of the sort of song one might find on Eternal Sunshine (or Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead) as Beer reflects on being both angry at the person who let her go (or perhaps forced her to let him go) as well as sad over losing the relationship—such a conundrum being well-trodden by Grande on songs like “eternal sunshine” and “twilight zone.”
In the lyric video that goes with the single (shot by Fio Karpenko), a dreamy and dissociated-looking Beer continues to either stare off into the distance or run her hands through her hair as the lyrics to the song appear on either side of the center where she stands (though the viewer is only able to see her from a chest-up perspective). Printed in cursive, the effect lends an “old-timey” quality (especially since most Gen Zers weren’t taught cursive) that almost gives the effect that the words are meant to read like a bona fide breakup letter (a “Dear John” one, if you will). The go-to option at a certain point (mainly, WWII) in the twentieth century before that gave way not only to a breakup Post-It (à la Jack Berger’s [Ron Livingston] infamous “I’m Sorry I Can’t Don’t Hate Me—” kiss-off), but, maybe even worse still, flat-out ghosting without even the thought of writing any form of “apology” at all.
However Beer’s breakup might have happened within the universe of this song, it’s apparent she’s still in shock over the loss, opening with the, that’s right, bittersweet verse, “Can’t believe it ends this way/Thought you’d always stay/Now I gotta wonder what I’ve changed/Think I have to go/Walking all alone/Hate to see it all go down the drain/Wanted to be with you/Wanted to make it through/But did you?/I swear I knew.” And what she knew, in her heart of hearts, was that it was over. Even if trying to “soldier on” for the sake of, who knows, something like “sentimentality.” Not only that, but having invested so much time and effort into something that ultimately won’t yield a “return.” Such a result prompting the likes of Taylor Swift to seethe, “And I’m pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free.”
Beer, still just twenty-six, is slightly less bitter about the failed relationship. Even if she says she’s “bittersweet”—with one definition of that term being, “arousing pleasure tinged with sadness or pain.” The “pleasure” arising from letting go of a dynamic that she knows isn’t good for her. As Beer put it to Rolling Stone, “‘Bittersweet’ is about the end of a chapter and the difficulty of coming to terms with it, while also recognizing that deep down you know it’s for the best—and finding peace in that along the journey.”
The song starts out “airily,” with minimal instrumentation until the beat, co-produced by One Love and Beer, drops around the thirty-nine-second mark, prompting Beer to delicately deliver the simultaneously vexed and depressed chorus, “Now that it’s over, you’ll blame it all on me/I know I should be bitter, but, baby/Right now I’m bittersweet/I’m getting over what you put me through/And I’d say I’m done crying, but, baby/I don’t lie like you do.” Here, too, the Grande of Eternal Sunshine flickers in, particularly on the title track when she sings, “I don’t care what people say/We both know I couldn’t change you/I guess you could say the same/Can’t rearrange truth/I’ve never seen someone lie like you do/So much, even you start to think it’s true.”
That “Ariana-ness” of it all is then further compounded by Beer layering on some “oooh’s” and “hmmm’s” into it after the first recitation of the chorus. She then proceeds to give greater insight into the definition of “bittersweet” by adding, “One day I’ll wake up sad/But go to bed so glad/Knowing you know what you could have had.” So it is that Beer’s bittersweetness (a phrase that makes it seem like one is talking about beer the drink, but no) is tinged with more than a slight desire for revenge—or rather, “Miss Karma just doing her thing.”
In the meantime, Beer will have to take comfort in the revelation, “Now I’m choosing me/It wasn’t so easy/God forbid forever on my knees” (which, yes, also feels like a blow job reference more than it does speaking on how “reverential” and “obsequious” Beer has been up until now). Beer can also take comfort in reconciling with her enduring conflicting emotions about the relationship and its end. Something that has led her to paint the picture, “I lay awake thinking, ‘How did I let you go?’/Getting away unscathed for so damn long/I got away, took my time/I’m okay alone/And you’ll stay knowing/You’ll forever know how hard I tried/With you.” But, in truth, whoever her ex may be, it’s more than likely he has no idea how hard she tried, nor does he probably care. This being just part of why it’s never been chicer to not have a boyfriend.
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Genna Rivieccio
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