--- title: Ariana Grande Explains 'Break Free' Ungrammatical Lyrics description: Producer Max Martin made her become who she really are canonical: https://time.com/3088143/ariana-grande-break-free-lyrics/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-07T14:33:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T09:32:45.445Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Ariana Grande Knows the “Break Free” Lyrics Make No Sense og:description: Max Martin made her become who she really are og:url: https://time.com/3088143/ariana-grande-break-free-lyrics/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt85ce312f7bc4c987/69869ea6f983e73b1604f231/ariana-grande.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Ariana Grande og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ariana Grande Knows the “Break Free” Lyrics Make No Sense twitter:description: Max Martin made her become who she really are twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt85ce312f7bc4c987/69869ea6f983e73b1604f231/ariana-grande.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ariana Grande Is Fully Aware That the Lyrics of 'Break Free' Make No Sense > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with Ally. Ally is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: July 2026. ## Ally: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Ally is a digital financial services company offering online-only banking, including checking and savings accounts, through Ally.com and its mobile apps. Launched in 2009 as an original disruptor in financial services, Ally was built to challenge outdated banking norms with a simpler, more convenient way to bank. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Aug 7, 2014 2:33 PM UTC  Ariana Grande Ariana Grande  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Aug 7, 2014 2:33 PM UTC When Ariana Grande released [“Break Free,”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ek3WMM7I-0) her club-banger follow-up to song-of-the-summer contender [“Problem,”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS1g8G%5Fnjx8) she got more attention for her nonsensical lyrics than for dabbling in EDM. But don’t blame the songbird for lines such as “Now that I’ve become who I really are” and “I only wanna die alive” — blame über-producer Max Martin, who made her do it. “I fought him on it the whole time,” Grande tells TIME. “‘I am not going to sing a grammatically incorrect lyric, help me, God!’ Max was like, ‘It’s funny — just do it!’ I know it’s funny and silly, but grammatically incorrect things make me cringe sometimes.” Eventually she acquiesced, and the singer, whose album _My Everything_ drops later this month, says she’s learned to love the lyrical quirks of “Break Free” given the song’s message. “I was like, whatever, let’s do it and have some fun,” Grande says. “I need to shake it off and let it go and be a little less rigid and old. I’m like 90\. I need to not be that old.” As for only wanting to die alive? “It means life is so short — there’s no reason to not enjoy it and there’s no reason you should be anything but yourself,” she says. “Have fun, be spontaneous and let go. It’s O.K. to cut off whatever you feel is holding you back.” Even if what’s holding you back is proper grammar. _Read next:_ [_Ariana Grande Got Hit in the Head by a Victoria’s Secret Model’s Angel Wing_](http://time.com/3615886/ariana-grande-got-hit-in-the-head-by-a-victorias-secret-models-angel-wing/?xid=time%5Freadnext) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3088143/ariana-grande-break-free-lyrics/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3088143/ariana-grande-break-free-lyrics/"},"headline":"Ariana Grande Is Fully Aware That the Lyrics of 'Break Free' Make No Sense","datePublished":"2014-08-07T14:33:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:32:45.445Z","description":"Producer Max Martin made her become who she really are","url":"https://time.com/3088143/ariana-grande-break-free-lyrics/","keywords":["Music","Ariana Grande"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt85ce312f7bc4c987/69869ea6f983e73b1604f231/ariana-grande.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt85ce312f7bc4c987/69869ea6f983e73b1604f231/ariana-grande.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ariana Grande","caption":"Ariana Grande","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3088143/ariana-grande-break-free-lyrics/","name":"Ariana Grande Is Fully Aware That the Lyrics of 'Break Free' Make No Sense"}}]}] ```