Selena Gomez's new era in music began at midnight—and her first single, "Lose You to Love Me," is an emotional glimpse at her headspace over the last year. Gomez reflects on reclaiming herself at the end of a relationship, one fans speculated ahead of the song's release was probably hers with Justin Bieber.
Ahead of the song's release, Gomez wrote on Vevo that the song was about several life events. "This song was inspired by many things that have happened in my life since releasing my last album," she said. "I want people to feel hope and to know you will come out the other side stronger and a better version of yourself."
Bieber and Gomez ended their on-off relationship for good in March last year. The split began as a break turned breakup, and Bieber would go on and start dating Hailey Baldwin in June. Baldwin and Bieber got engaged a month later and married in September 2018.
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Gomez said nothing directly about them. Us Weekly reported in September 2019 that Gomez is still healing a bit from their breakup but ultimately believes it was for the best. “Selena knows she’s better off without Justin, and that it’s the healthiest decision for her,” the source said. “She is open to dating, but right now she is solely focused on herself and enjoying life to the best of her ability, and getting back to being the Selena that she and all of her close ones knew prior to dating Justin.”
Gomez's song tonight is her first public comment on her love life period since she was dating Bieber at the end of 2017 and early 2018. She wrote it with Finneas, Robin Fredriksson, Mattias Larsson, Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter, according to Genius.
Here, the lyrics, via Genius, with any possible Bieber references indicated, along with the gorgeous song and music video to watch below.
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Selena Gomez - Lose You To Love Me (Official Music Video)
You promised the world
And I fell for it
I put you first and you adored it
Set fires to my forest
And you let it burn
Bieber and Gomez reconciled for the last time in October 2017 where Gomez suggests she put him above everything, but they had a lot of interactions between the release of Revival (in October 2015) and her single today. Bieber posted throwback photos of them together in 2015 and 2016, nostalgic for their relationship before they reconciled. And in the darker moments, he set multiple fires to her forest, long before he set what could be considered the the final one: him dating, getting engaged, and ultimately married to Hailey Baldwin less than six months after he and Gomez took a break (turned breakup).
The two got into a very viral Instagram comment fight in August 2016 when Gomez commented on a photo of Bieber complaining about the hate his then-girlfriend Sofia Richie was getting, "If you can't handle the hate, then stop posting pictures of your girlfriend lol," she wrote. "It should be special between you two only. Don't be mad at your fans. They love you." Bieber brutally responded back, "It's funny to see people that used me for attention and still try to point the finger this way." That was the darkest public moment in Jelena's history.
Sang off-key in my chorus
'Cause it wasn't yours.
I saw the signs and I ignored it
Rose-colored glasses all distorted
Set fire to my purpose
And I let it burn
You got off on the hurting when it wasn't yours, yeah
This isn't the first time Selena Gomez has seemingly sung about the pain her relationship with Bieber caused her. In her song "The Heart Wants What It Wants," (a song with a music video similarly shot in black and white) Gomez included a intro monologue where she spoke about being hurt by someone she loved, believed to be Bieber then. She said in that intro, "When I was on stage and I was thinking of... I know him, though. I know his heart, and I know what he wouldn’t do to hurt me. But I didn’t realize that feeling so confident, feeling so great about myself and then it just be completely shattered. By one thing. By something so stupid. But then you make me feel crazy, you make me feel like it’s my fault. I was in pain."
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Selena Gomez - The Heart Wants What It Wants (Official Video)
Bieber also admitted this summer that he mistreated all the women he dated, including Gomez, before he ultimately married Hailey Baldwin. "I started doing pretty heavy drugs at 19 and abused all of my relationships," he wrote last month. "I became resentful, disrespectful to women, and angry. I became distant to everyone who loved me, and I was hiding behind a shell of a person that I had become. I felt like I could never turn it around. It’s taken me years to bounce back from all of these terrible decisions, fix broken relationships, and change relationship habits. Luckily god blessed me with extraordinary people who love me for me."
Chorus:
We'd always go into it blindly
I needed to lose you to find me
This dancing was killing me softly
I needed to hate you to love me
To love, love, yeah
To love, love, yeah
To love, yeah
I needed to lose you to love me (Yeah)
To love, love, yeah
To love, love, yeah
To love, yeah
I needed to lose you to love me
The dancing could figuratively be their on-off relationship cycles. And leaving Bieber behind, as Gomez ultimately did in March 2018, may have been her way of reprioritizing herself over him. Us Weekly suggested, when Jelena's break was first reported, that Bieber's selfishness was why Gomez pulled the trigger. “[He] doesn’t care about anyone but himself," a source told the outlet that month. "The second she saw it, she walked away, especially now with her health. She knows she doesn’t need him.”
Verse 2:
I gave my all and they all know it
The last comment Gomez gave about Bieber was in her Billboard November 2017 interview. She explained her decision then to bring him back into her life, hinting then how much she valued and put into that relationship. "I’m 25. I’m not 18, or 19, or 20," she said. "I cherish people who have really impacted my life. So maybe before, it could have been forcing something that wasn't right. But that doesn't mean caring for someone ever goes away.And [that goes for] people in general. I mean, I grew up with Demi [Lovato]. Nick and Joe [Jonas] and Miley [Cyrus]—we’ve gone through seasons in our lives. I don’t think it’s as serious as people make things out to be half the time. It’s just my life. I grew up with all of these people, and it’s so cool to see where everybody is. It comes back to the idea of me remaining full. I think a true representation of love is beyond just yourself. It’s me going to get coffee earlier this morning and talking with a woman who was celebrating her birthday and going to Disneyland for the first time. I told her about my favorite things there, and she got excited, and then I got excited because she was excited. The littlest things are impactful."
After their final breakup, a source would tell Entertainment Tonight in August 2018 (Bieber and Baldwin were engaged then) that Gomez's friends didn't like Bieber. "Selena is such a catch, and her friends want her to be with someone who's worthy of her," the source said. "They really didn't like Justin and her together. He didn't appreciate what he had in her."
You turned me down, and now it's showing
In two months you replaced us
Like it was easy
Made me think I deserved it
In the thick of healing, yeah
Bieber started dating Hailey Baldwin in June 2018 and got engaged to her in July. He explained to fans that he'd always love Gomez but that Baldwin was the bride he chose in a lengthy Instagram comment. He wrote, "I absolutely loved and love Selena she will always hold a place in my heart, but I am head over heels in love with my wife and she is absolutely the BEST THING that has ever happened to me period....This is a reply to all immature sick people who send Hailey hurtful messages like ' he always goes back to Selena' or 'Selena is better for him' YOU HAVE NO IDEA MY LIFE AND WHATs good for me. Hailey is my Bride period if you don’t like that or support that that means you don’t support me and if you don’t support me your not a fan nor a good person."
Pre-Chorus
We'd always go into it blindly
I needed to lose you to find me
This dancing was killing me softly
I needed to hate you to love me (Yeah)
To love, love, yeah
To love, love, yeah
To love, yeah
I needed to lose you to love me (Yeah)
To love, love, yeah
To love, love, yeah
To love, yeah
I needed to lose you to love me
Verse 1, repeated:
You promised the world and I fell for it
I put you first, and you adored it
Set fires to my forest
And you let it burn
Sang off-key in my chorusChorus:
To love, love, yeah
To love, love, yeah
To love, yeah
I needed to hate you to love me (Yeah)
To love, love, yeah
To love, love, yeah
To love me
I needed to lose you to love me
To love, love, yeah,
To love, love, yeah,
To love, yeahOutro:
And now the chapter is closed and done
To love, love, yeah,
To love, love, yeah
To love, yeah
And now it's goodbye, it's goodbye for us
And like that, Gomez says goodbye formally to the Jelena era.
Alyssa Bailey
Senior News and Strategy Editor
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she's not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.
FAQs
Is Champagne Problems about Selena? ›
No one knows for sure what “Champagne Problems” is really about. Some say it's about Selena Gomez's on-again, off-again relationship with Justin Bieber. Others say it's about her struggles with fame and the paparazzi.
Did Justin Bieber made sorry song for Selena Gomez? ›...
Sorry (Justin Bieber song)
"Sorry" | |
---|---|
Released | October 22, 2015 |
Recorded | 2014-2015 |
Genre | Dancehall pop tropical house moombahton |
Length | 3:20 |
Lose You to Love Me
Who gave Selena her kidney? ›Back in 2017, the pair proved just how close they truly were after Francia donated her kidney to Selena. The singer needed the transplant due to complications from lupus, an autoimmune disease she was diagnosed with back in 2014. (She first shared her diagnosis in a 2015 interview with Billboard.)
What was Selena suffering from? ›Since her diagnosis in 2014, Selena Gomez has been open about her journey with lupus.
Why Demi and Selena aren t friends anymore? ›The source added, "Selena has always tried to be nice to Demi, but over the last couple of years especially, the both of them have been through personal struggles. In the past, Demi felt like Selena wasn't always there for her and that the friendship wasn't reciprocated."
Did Selena Gomez cry on stage for Justin Bieber? ›Selena Gomez has multiple times broken down on stage. But it was the one time in 2013 when she left her fans teary-eyed too. The Boyfriend singer was performing to 'Love Will Remember' from her recently released album 'Stars Dance. ' The song was allegedly dedicated to her relationship with Justin Bieber.
Did Justin Bieber meet Selena Gomez? ›The pair first met in 2009 when they were introduced by their managers after Bieber revealed in an interview with Los Angeles radio host DJ Skee that Gomez was his celebrity crush. "Actually, his manager [Scooter Braun] called my mom, who is my manager," Gomez revealed to David Letterman on The Late Show in 2011.
Is Justin Bieber's love yourself about Selena? ›Ironically, Justin's hit song 'Love Yourself' was apparently written about Selena and it seems as though she's taken his ode to her and flipped it on it's head, telling her own side of the story!
What song made Selena famous? ›The undisputed Selena classic is “Como la Flor.” With its lovelorn lyrics and a goosebump-inducing vocal and dynamic performance over a pop cumbia beat, this track skyrocketed Selena into superstardom and has become her most famous and representative song.
What songs did Selena Gomez write herself? ›
- Me & My Girls (Selena Gomez song)
- Me & the Rhythm.
- Middle of Nowhere (Selena Gomez & the Scene song)
- Music Feels Better.
- My Mind & Me.
champagne problems
Is Champagne Problems about Tom Hiddleston? ›One of the most talked-about tracks on the album is “Champagne Problems,” which many believe is about Swift's brief relationship with actor Tom Hiddleston. Swift and Hiddleston began dating in June 2016, just two weeks after she ended her long-term relationship with Calvin Harris.
What does the saying champagne problems mean? ›champagne problem (plural champagne problems) The need to make a decision between alternatives that are both desirable.
Is the song Love Yourself by Justin Bieber about Selena Gomez? ›Ironically, Justin's hit song 'Love Yourself' was apparently written about Selena and it seems as though she's taken his ode to her and flipped it on it's head, telling her own side of the story!
Who was Taylor with when she was 20? ›The song "All Too Well," off "Red," is believed to be about Jake Gyllenhaal, whom Swift dated when she was 20 and he was 29.
What song did Harry wrote about Taylor? ›During the interview, Harry described his version of "Daylight" as being about an "infatuation" with someone. Instead of dropping any names, the singer, who prefers to keep his dating life private, gave a bit of insight into the songwriting process for the track.
Who was Taylor with when she was 21? ›(Taylor was 20 going on 21 when she dated Jake, who was 29 going on 30.) “And I was never good at tellin' jokes, but the punch line goes / 'I'll get older, but your lovers stay my age'” Swift sings in “All Too Well (10-Minute Version).”