Entertainment

Ariana Grande’s Upside-Down Christmas Tree Is More Meaningful Than You Think

by Parry Ernsberger
Rich Polk/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Does anyone else have a sneaking suspicion that people trying — and probably failing — to glue their Christmas trees to the ceiling is about to become the next big meme? After posting a picture of her gravity-defying holiday decoration to Instagram on Dec. 18, Ariana Grande explained her upside-down Christmas tree, according to The Cut. And what the singer had to say might just blow your mind.

There are all kinds of creative things you can do to spice up your average Christmas tree. Give it a theme, like the color pink or Star Wars or your favorite hobby. Top it off with something other than a gleaming star or heavenly angel. Or you could even just leave the thing completely bare, save for a single ornament depicting your dog.

When it comes to Christmas decorations, the possibilities are endless. Grande took things to an entirely new level, though, when she decided to hang her tree upside-down from the ceiling. A true visionary, that one.

On Dec. 18, Grande posted a picture of her tree without so much as an emoji in the caption. Shortly thereafter, The Cut reported, photographers asked the singer to explain its unconventional positioning, to which she replied, "Sometimes life just be upside-down."

Huh, interesting. Let's take a moment to consider that answer, shall we? "Sometimes life just be upside-down." *Scratches head, strokes imaginary beard, squints eyes, and furrows brow in contemplation* You know what? Sometimes life do just be upside-down — especially when you've had the kind of rollercoaster year that Grande has.

Now, when people compare life to a rollercoaster, they're basically saying that they've experienced a series of ongoing ups and downs. In this day and age, rollercoasters don't only go up and down — the most wild rides go upside-down, too. Did your mind just get blown?

So, yeah. When Grande said, "Sometimes life just be upside-down," she wasn't wrong. (Well, in theory, at least. Grammatically, that sentence could use an edit.) Hang on, though — you know what else her response might explain? Why she started using upside-down font earlier this year. Did your mind just get blown again?

It wasn't until looking at the photo Grande's brother Frankie posted of her inverted tree that this connection became clear. In Frankie's snap, he's seated on the floor, gazing up at his sister's suspended decoration. There's an itty-bitty tree on the floor in the corner, and six stockings hanging from the mantle.

It's not what's in the picture that harkens back to the font. It's what — and how — Frankie wrote in the caption. "Waiting for Santa ... " it read, in the exact same upside-down style that Ariana was once so fond of.

Was that the whole idea behind Sweetener then? Was the album meant to signify that "Sometimes life just be upside-down?" — with the upside-down font as a sneaky wink to that theme? Grande hasn't actually confirmed this theory, so currently that remains unclear. But you kind of have to admit, it doesn't *not* make sense.

Anyway, Grande's inverted Christmas tree is definitely pretty wild, and could very well become a trend among her fans. If you do decide to try and hang your tree from the ceiling, though, just make sure that — actually, maybe leave this kind of thing to the professionals.