Kotecha added that work on the song was a group effort: “We all wrote it, but she never really loved the verses we had.
We were with her for a week in New York witnessing that, witnessing her feelings on that.” Meanwhile, Savan Kotecha, who co-wrote the song with Ariana, told Rolling Stone of working on the track: “ ‘Ghostin,’ we were in New York… The song speaks for itself in terms of what it’s about.
Journalist Natalie Weiner possibly referred to the song in a Billboard feature last September, suggesting that it was about Mac Miller, writing at the time: “Just before this interview, she was working on a new song, which, when she plays it for me later, I realize is about Miller.” In a GQ interview during August 2018, Davidson confirmed that he had moved into Grande’s apartment in the New York neighbourhood of Chelsea.Įlsewhere, “Look at the cards that we’ve been dealt” could refer to the hardships that Davidson and Ariana have suffered in their lives: Davidson lost his father in the 9/11 attack, while Grande’s Manchester concert was targeted by a suicide bomber in 2017. In the first verse, Grande sings: “I know you hear me when I cry / I try to hold it in at night / While you’re sleepin’ next to me”. There are also several other lyrical references in ‘Ghostin’ that seem to suggest Grande is referencing both Davidson and Miller. The lyrics in question from ‘Cinderella’ are “You in my dreams, that’s why I sleep all the time”, while on ‘Ghostin’, Ariana sings: “He just comes to visit me / When I’m dreaming every now and then”. There are also similarities in the lyrics between ‘Ghostin’ and Miller’s 2016 song ‘Cinderella’, which Mac penned about Ariana. Although it’s not known whether it’s a direct sample, fans have suggested that the backing for ‘Ghostin’ features a slowed-down version of the ‘2009’ intro. It has been noted how there are similarities between the instrumental of ‘Ghostin’ and Miller’s track ‘2009’ from his 2018 album ‘ Swimming’, the last album he recorded before passing away.