Honeymoon Avenue

Honeymoon AvenueSong by
General information
Release date	September 3, 2013
Recorded	August 10, 2011
Studio	Brandon's Way Recording Studios (Los Angeles, California)
Genre	Pop, R&B
Length	5:39 (album) 3:54 (original)
Label	Republic Records
Songwriter(s)	Kristopher Riddick-Tynes, Leon Thomas III, Antonio Dixon, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Thomas Lee Brown, Travis Sayles, Victoria McCants, Roahn Hylton, Dennis "Aganee" Jenkins, Maurice Wade
Producer(s)	Babyface, Dixon, The Rascals
Credits	Honeymoon Avenue credits
"Honeymoon Avenue"
Audio

"Honeymoon Avenue" is the first track from Ariana Grande's debut album Yours Truly. With a duration of 5:39 minutes, it is the longest track off the album. It was released through Republic Records on September 3, 2013.

Background

There is an original version of the song, which is much different from the version that appears on Yours Truly. Grande said in an interview when the song was originally recorded, it sounded very upbeat and bright and happy and mo towny and didn't really capture the emotional part of what the song was about. So between 2012 and 2013, Grande's good friends and producers The Rascals, rearranged the song to better fit the message. They added violins and cellos, slowed down the tempo, and changed some on the arrangement. Grande said she feels, "like it finally captures what the song's really about."

On November 6, 2015, Grande posted on Snapchat that she would be releasing the original version of "Honeymoon Avenue" that same week as well as the studio version of "Voodoo Love". Grande also played short snippets of the original composition on Snapchat. Several days later, Grande apologized to fans for the delay but still did not release the songs. In February 2016, promised she would release it by the end of the year but it taking time because there was a lot of paperwork involved. Finally, the "OG Honeymoon Avenue" (along with "Voodoo Love") was released on August 2, 2016 through her SoundCloud account.

Composition

Literally, the song speaks of someone in a car being driven by her (romantic) partner. The driver is stuck to the same old route and driving mode that may make them crash. The passenger knows that well and tries to make their partner turn away, but is (almost) unable to.

Metaphorically, the song speaks of two people who used to be very in love and in that "honeymoon phase". The spark has faded though and they are drifting farther and farther apart. The relationship is not where it used to be. The singer says that they want to go back to the way things were. In order to do that, they need to make a change in the relationship, or else they might "crash and burn" meaning they might break up.

Grande revealed in an interview with Cosmopolitan, that she was "in some relationships that actually took a toll on me mentally and made me feel like a different person in a bad way." She then went on to say that "Honeymoon Avenue" was written about "a very confused relationship that I stayed in for all the wrong reasons. I was so incredibly sad while I was with this person. I'm a happy girl — I love laughing. But I don't remember smiling once when I was with him."

Live performances

Grande performed the original version of "Honeymoon Avenue" live for the first time in December 2011 with two dates and in 2012 with five dates. It was also performed on February 9, 2016, at her Dangerous Woman Tour and August 22, 2018, at The Sweetener Sessions in support of her albums Dangerous Woman and Sweetener, respectively.

The official album version of the song was first performed live on August 13, 2013, during Grande's The Listening Sessions promoting her debut album. She also performed the song at her The Honeymoon Tour in 2015 promoting her sophomore album, My Everything.

Videos

Ariana Grande - "Honeymoon Avenue" (Live in San Diego 2-20-12)

Ariana performing the original version in San Diego 2012

Honeymoon ave - lullaby edition

Ariana Grande - "Honeymoon Avenue" (Live in Anaheim 4-10-15)

Trivia

• It is one of Grande's favourite songs she has ever recorded.
• The original version features The Dap Kings.
• Grande said on Twitter that when she recorded this song along with "Tattooed Heart", she was ill with a skull and lung infection. She would sing for ten minutes then nap for twenty.
• It is one of the only three songs that weren't scrapped from the original album (the other two being "Tattooed Heart" and "Daydreamin'").
• Grande got a "honeymoon" tattoo written out in cursive on the side of her right middle finger.
• The first voice on the track is Leon Thomas III. Thomas and Grande both starred in the Nickelodeon show, Victorious.
• Grande sang this song on her YouTube segment called Lullaby Friday on her YouTube account.
• On August 25, during The Sweetener Sessions, Grande performed the original version in Los Angeles.

Lyrics

• Album version
• Original version

[Intro: Leon Thomas III]
It's The Rascals!

[Verse 1]
I looked in my rear view mirror
And it seemed to make a lot more sense
Than what I see ahead of us, ahead us
I'm ready to make that turn
Before we both crash and burn
'Cause that can be the death of us, the death of us

[Pre-Chorus]
Baby, you know how to drive in rain
And you decided not to make a change
Stuck in the same old lane
Going the wrong way home

[Chorus]
I feel like my heart is stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic
I'm under pressure 'cause I can't have you the way that I want
Let's just go back to the way it was
When we were on Honeymoon Avenue
Honeymoon Avenue, baby
Coasting like crazy
Can we get back to the way it was?

[Verse 2]
Hey, what happened to the butterflies?
Guess they encountered that stop sign
And my heart is at a yellow light, a yellow light
Hey, right when I think that we’ve found it
Well, that’s when we start turning around
You're saying, "Baby, don't worry."
But we're still going the wrong way

[Pre-Chorus]
Baby, you know how to drive in rain
And you decided not to make a change
Stuck in the same old lane
Going the wrong way home

[Chorus]
I feel like my heart is stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic
I'm under pressure 'cause I can't have you the way that I want
Let's just go back to the way it was
When we were on Honeymoon Avenue
Honeymoon Avenue, baby
Coasting like crazy
Can we get back to the way it was?

[Bridge]
They say only fools fall in love
Well, they must've been talking about us
Sometimes I feel like I've been here before
I could be wrong, but I know I'm right
We're gonna be lost if we continue to fight
Honey, I know that we can find our way home

[Chorus]
I feel like my heart is stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic
I'm under pressure 'cause I can't have you the way that I want
Let's just go back to the way it was
When we were on Honeymoon Avenue
Honeymoon Avenue, my baby
Coasting like crazy
Can we get back to the way it was?
When we were on Honeymoon Avenue
Honeymoon Avenue, baby
Coasting like crazy
Can we get back to the way it was?

[Breakdown]
Baby, you know how to drive in rain
And you decided not to make a change
Stuck in the same old lane
Going the wrong way home

[Outro]
I feel like my heart is stuck in... traffic
I'm under... pressure, pressure
Let's just go back to the way it was
When we were on...
(Honeymoon Avenue, Honeymoon Avenue, Honeymoon Avenue, Honeymoon Avenue)
Let's just go back, back, back

[Verse 1: Ariana Grande]
I looked in my rear view mirror and
It seemed to make a lot more sense
Than what I see ahead of us, ahead of us, yeah
I'm ready to make that turn
Before we both crash and burn
'Cause that could be the death of us, the death of us

[Pre-Chorus]
Baby, you know how to drive in rain
And you decided not to make a change
Stuck in the same old lane
Going the wrong way home

[Chorus]
I feel like my heart is stuck in bumper to bumper
Traffic, I'm under pressure
'Cause I can't have you the way that I want
Let's just go back to the way it was

[Post-Chorus]
When we were on Honeymoon Avenue
Honeymoon Avenue
Baby, coastin' like crazy
Can we get back to the way it was?

[Verse 2]
Hey, what happened to the butterflies?
Guess they encountered that stop sign
And my heart is at a yellow light (a yellow light)

[Pre-Chorus]
Baby, you know how to drive in rain
And you decided not to make a change
Stuck in the same old lane
Going the wrong way home

[Chorus]
I feel like my heart is stuck in bumper to bumper
Traffic, I'm under pressure
Cause I can't have you the way that I want
Let's just go back to the way it was

[Post-Chorus]
When we were on Honeymoon Avenue
Honeymoon Avenue
Baby, coastin' like crazy
Can we get back to the way it was?

[Bridge]
They say only fools fall in love
Well, they must've been talking about us
And sometimes I feel like I've been here before
I could be wrong, but I know I'm right
We gon' be lost if we continue to fight
Honey, I know, yeah
We can find our way home

[Chorus]
I feel like my heart is stuck in bumper to bumper
Traffic, I'm under pressure
'Cause I can't have you the way that I want
Let's just go back to the way it was

[Post-Chorus]
When we were on Honeymoon Avenue
Honeymoon Avenue
Baby, coastin' like crazy
Can we get back to the way it was?

When we were on Honeymoon Avenue
Honeymoon Avenue
My baby, coastin' like crazy
Can we get back to the way it was?