Whether you love it or hate it, one of Ariana Grande’s newest songs, “7 Rings,” is extremely popular. It has been number one on Billboard’s Top 100 for the past three weeks but faces criticism for stealing work from other artists. The chorus’ melody of “7 Rings” sounds very similar to “Pretty Boy Swag” by Soulja Boy and “Spent It” by 2 Chainz. The verses of “7 Rings” are a sample from “My Favorite Things,” a song from the movie The Sound of Music and sung by Julie Andrews. Personally, I enjoy the familiarity of “My Favorite Things” in “7 Rings,” but not everyone agrees. Some of my friends are actually angry about it because children today will associate that melody with “7 Rings.”
Lyrics
Julie Andrew’s character in The Sound of Music has very simple tastes. “Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens” are but a few of her “favorite things” that she likes to think about when “[she’s] feeling sad.” Ariana Grande sings about her favorite things too, like “diamonds, ATM machines” and “bottles of bubbles.” Grande is a pop star and has plenty of money to spend, but in the song, she references the reason why she likes buying all these things. In the past year, she has gone through a lot, coping with the death of her ex-boyfriend and breaking off her engagement with her fiance. She sings that she should be sad, but instead it’s turned her into a “savage.” To deal with everything she’s been through, she’s turned to “retail therapy” and has gone on a massive shopping spree. Not all her money is being spent on herself though. She “bought matching diamonds for six of” her friends and herself, hence the name of the song “7 Rings.”
Scale
One would assume that a song about “favorite things” would sound upbeat and happy, but that is not the case for “7 Rings.” The song is written in a minor key, E minor to be exact, and minor keys are known for sounding sadder than major keys. “My Favorite Things” is also in a minor key, but if you watch The Sound of Music, you’ll understand the context around it. Julie Andrews sings the song to comfort some frightened children. Her reasoning is that by thinking of things that make you happy, you’ll forget about what’s scaring you. The music sounds sad because they’re scared, but Julie Andrews singing about happy things over it makes you forget about “the dogs that bite.” In “7 Rings,” Ariana Grande is unhappy and in order to feel happy, she goes on a shopping spree.
Range
Ariana Grande is known for her wide vocal range. She can sing so high, it sounds like whistling, which is called whistle tone. Grande keeps it low-key and does not show off her range in “7 Rings.” There still are some leaps in the song, mainly in the bridge of the song, but for the most part, she sings in smaller intervals. If you want to hear her whistle tone, I’ve included a link to another one of her songs, “Imagine.” Watching her perform it live makes it seem more possible for a person to actually hit those notes.
Form
The song has multiple parts to it. Aside from the normal versus and chorus, there is a bridge and two pre-choruses. This makes the song sound a lot more interesting. The bridge is very different from the rest of the song because it is sung/rapped. In the bridge, she brags about how she can spend so much money and emphasizes from the chorus that if she wants it, then “[she’s] got it.”
Meter and Rhythm
The meter of this song is tricky, but after listening to it many, many times, I think that it is in fast 4/4, or common time, 2/4. What makes determining the meter tricky is the rhythm. The song starts off with four notes, which should make it easy to determine the meter, but Grande gives the song a ¾ feel by singing the verses in triple-quarter notes. However, those four notes are kept throughout the song and keep the beat.
Citations
Lockett, D. (2019, February 11). Ariana Grande’s ‘7 Rings’ Co-Writer Hits Back at Appropriation Accusations. Retrieved from https://www.vulture.com/2019/02/ariana-grande-7-rings-sample-drama.html
Reitman, S. (2019, January 18). Ariana Grande’s ‘7 Rings’ Samples ‘My Favorite Things’ and Twitter Can’t Handle It. Retrieved from https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/8494057/ariana-grande-7-rings-my-favorite-things-sample-fan-reactions
Daphne's Blog 
This is one of those songs that’s catchy, I both dislike it and like it at the same time. I don’t care for the lyrics because in my opinion they’re very self-centered, but I like the rhythm and melody. I agree with you on liking the use of the melody from “My Favorite Things”. It’s probably the only reason the song got my attention.
I’m a little bit of a nerd and reading your blog made me think about singers with really high vocal ranges. That then made me think about how in movies and cartoons sometimes they’ll show a really high pitch breaking glass. So I looked it up and found this video, it’s fun, maybe not quite like the movies.
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