After 9 days of teasing, Selena Gomez has released her first new single of 2018: 'Back to You,' which appears on the soundtrack for 13 Reasons Why season 2. Gomez premiered the track on Beats 1 Radio, where she told host Zane Lowe, that the song was more personal and not just written for the show. 'With this song, it’s a very special record,' she said. 'I want it to be a beautiful message in a really complicated way but really fun. But that I think ‘Back to You’ was more of my special project that I wanted to give to season 2.'
Lyrically, fans suspected the song could be inspired by her on-off-on-and-off-again relationship with Justin Bieber, which was just reported by E! and Us Weekly to be over for good yesterday. And there's plenty of maybe-Bieber references in these lyrics, though Gomez shares the writer's credit with Parrish Warrington, Diederik van Elsas, Micah Premnath, and Amy Allen. Here, all the references annotated, lyrics via Genius.
Verse 1:
Took you like a shot
Thought that I could chase you with the cold evening
Let a couple years water down how I'm feeling about you (feeling about you)
Bieber and Gomez have been on-off dating since 2010. Their last off stretch officially started in 2012, though as late as 2015, Gomez conceded she didn't know whether she and Bieber would get back together again someday. She dated other people, including The Weeknd for 10 months in 2017; said in interviews she was 'so beyond done' talking about Bieber. But ultimately, Gomez gave Bieber another chance, and they did get back together officially in early November 2017 until March 2018.
And every time we talk
Every single word builds up to this moment
And I gotta convince myself I don't want it, even though I do
Bieber reportedly started talking to Gomez around the time she announced she had a kidney transplant last summer. The two reconnected again, TMZ reported, and were seen hanging out in October. Gomez could be alluding to all the private discussions they had before they fully reconciled last fall.
Chorus:
You could break my heart in two
But when it heals, it beats for you
I know it's forward but it’s true
I wanna hold you when I'm not supposed to
When I'm laying close to someone else
Gomez and Bieber reconnected when Gomez was still dating The Weeknd. But rumoured fling Charlie Puth hinted that when he and Gomez were together back in March 2016, she was also not over Bieber either. Their romance was 'very short-lived, very small, but very impactful,' Puth told Billboard in this February. 'And it really messed me up. I’m trying to put this the best way possible: It wasn’t like I was the only person on her mind. And I think I knew that going in—what I was getting myself into.'
You're stuck in my head and I can't get you out of it
If I could do it all again
I know I'd go back to you
I know I'd go back to you
I know I'd go back to you
Verse 2:
We never got it right
Playing and re-playing old conversations
Overthinking every word and I hate it
’Cause it’s not me ('Cause it’s not me)
And what's the point of hiding?
Everybody knows we got unfinished business
And I'd regret it if I didn't say this isn’t what it could be
Gomez and Bieber eventually went public with their renewed romance and were seen kissing at the ice rink he plays hockey at. But when the two went on their break, Us Weekly reported that the old issues Gomez had with Bieber resurfaced. '[He] doesn’t care about anyone but himself,' a source told Us on March 12. 'The second she saw it, she walked away, especially now with her health. She knows she doesn’t need him.'
Ultimately, Us Weekly reported yesterday that a source said: 'Selena started seeing the bigger picture when it came to their relationship, like what was more important: her general happiness and her family and friends approval, or her being together with Justin, where no one really supported their relationship. She obviously chose happiness and her friends and family and is so thrilled about her decision-making process.'
Chorus:
You could break my in two
But when it heals, it beats for you
I know it's forward but it's true
I wanna hold you when I'm not supposed to
When I'm laying close to someone else
You're stuck in my head and I can't get you out of it
If I could do it all again
I know I'd go back to you
I know I'd go back to you
I know I'd go back to you
I go back to you
I go back to you
I know I said I wasn't sure
But I go back to you
I know I'd go back to you
Gomez could be referring here when she told ELLE in 2015 that 'I don't know!"'if she'd go back to Bieber and her general uncertainty whether reconciling with him was a good idea.
Bridge:
You could break my heart in two
But when it heals, it beats for you
I know it's forward but it's true
Won't lie, I'd go back to you
You know, my thoughts are running loose
It's just a thing you make me do
And I could fight, but what's the use
I know I'd go back to you
Chorus:
I wanna hold you when I'm not supposed to
When I'm laying close to someone else
You're stuck in my head and I can't get you out of it
If I could do it all again
I know I'd go back to you
I'd go back to you
I'll go back to you
I know I'd go back to you
(I go back to you, I go back to you)
I know I'd go back to you
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.
