Entertainment

19 Thoughts You Have During "Focus"

by Mary Grace Garis

Stop and pay attention. After teasing Arianators with bleach blonde promo art earlier this month, Ariana Grande dropped the music video for “Focus” Thursday. Now, if this is a just a teaser for the rest of her next album Moonlight, then sign me up because it’s a delightful track. But I do have to say… after more than a few casual re-watches, my mind did take me to a strange place. Because, in between all that fast pace action and selfie-taking, the “Focus” music video is actually pretty strange.

Confession: while my feelings on Grande occasionally fall into the realm of “meh” (though her perfume is always pretty good) but am actually all about “Focus.” I think the color palette is sensation, the choreography is on point, and the song is the perfect mixture of modern pop with a retro riff. This little ditty will get more heavy rotation than I’d like to admit. But when you truly focus (ahem) on the music video, you begin to really question what the hell is going on.

And in the quest to find out what the hell is going on, I catalogued all the thoughts and burning questions one has when watching the music video for “Focus.”

1. "Wow, Who Even Uses A Stylus?"

Also, who uses an Android phone, what is Ariana, 50? Or, wait, are Androids now a cool thing among the kids these days, and I'm the un-hip one? Oh, no...

2. "I Don't Know If I Just Misheard This, But It Sounded Like She Said 'Bae' In Earnest."

She did. Can we retire this word yet?

3. "Whoa, Everything About This Looks Uncomfortable."

Like that's a tight circular space and she's wearing latex underwear, so I'm not really sure what she's up to, but I highly doubt it's settling down for a zen night of Netflixing.

4. "Ariana! Ariana(s)! Where Are You Going?"

Why are you spiraling away, why are you wearing six inch heels?

5. "OK, Is This Just A Space Ship With A Decor Theme Inspired By My Little Pony?"

That's the crew with Commander Grande in the middle.

6. "Oh My God, Is Her Ponytail Now Powder Blue?"

Genius.

7. "Alright, She Has It In Lilac Too And This Just Got Better."

But I'm going to be really let down if she doesn't follow up with other pastels.

8. "Whoa, Everything About This Looks Uncomfortable."

In a different way than before.

9. "How Does She Fit In There? Oh My God."

EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS VIDEO MAKES ME FEEL SO CLAUSTROPHOBIC.

10. "Don't Know How I Feel About This Lipliner."

You know what, I got on board with the hair, and even the pink eyeshadow is aggressively fine, but the lip liner, hmm...

11. "All These Dimensions Confuse Me So Much."

It's like the most lavender geometry lesson ever.

12. "These Girls Are Going To Fall If They Keep Texting Recklessly Like That."

You text aimlessly while walking in stilettos, it's going to end bad, speaking from experience.

13. "So They're Taking a Picture Of Her Taking A Picture Of Herself?"

Selfie-inception.

14. "Why is This Happening?"

Why are we just throwing in the occasional avant-garde imagery, just to mess with me?!

15. "So Now It's a Retro Space Station."

Makes perfect sense.

16. "All The Single Ladies, All The Single Ladies."

Now put your hands up!

17. "I Bet None Of Them Can Even Play The Trumpet."

Or... whatever that instrument is, I honest to God have no idea.

18. "And The End The Video With... Exercise Balls?"

Yeah, I have no idea what's going on here. Regardless, I am still all about "Focus," I would just recommend not concentrating too much when it comes to the video.

Images: ArianaGrandeVEVO/YouTube (19)