Back in 2014, Ariana Grande sweetened up the holidays with her Christmas single “Santa Tell Me,” but now she’s ready to add some spice. The pop star surprised her fans with an early holiday present in 2023: a brand-new version of Santa-inspired bop with a sultry twist. While most of “Santa Tell Me (Naughty Version)” sounds the same as the original, there are two lyric changes that will have listeners blushing.
Grande dropped her naughty version of “Santa Tell Me” on Dec. 11, over nine years after she originally released what has become one of the most popular modern Christmas tunes. The new version doesn’t actually contain too many big changes, although Grande did update the bridge with spicier lyrics. In the original version, Grande longs for her distant love interest to sit beside her by the fireplace on Christmas day:
“Oh, I wanna have him beside me, like oh-woo-oh / On the 25th, by that fireplace, oh-woo-oh”
But the naughty version’s bridge reveals Grande wants to do much more than just sit beside her boo. The new lyrics are:
“Oh, I wanna let him unwrap me, like oh-woo-oh / Get on top of him, by that fireplace, oh-woo-oh”
Longtime fans have known about the existence of this explicit version of “Santa Tell Me” for years, ever since Grande performed the naughty version’s bridge live during her Sweetener World Tour. Since then, Arianators have been hoping for an official release, and this Christmas, Grande gave them the ultimate present.
The new release has also fueled rumors that Grande is preparing to release new music at long last. A few months prior, Grande re-released her debut album Yours Truly for its tenth anniversary, but she’s been pretty quiet on the music front since dropping Positions in 2020. Of course, Grande’s personal life has been a whirlwind since then, and she’s been focusing on her upcoming Wicked movies, but fans have been on high alert for a new album ever since Grande posted photos in a recording studio earlier in December.
She may be feeling naughty this holiday season, but it sure looks like 2024 is going to be very nice for Grande’s fans.
