After a few days of pretty teasers on social media, Selena Gomez officially dropped her new single, 'Bad Liar', overnight (May 17). Fans have now had ample time to dissect every single word of the track, just in time for today's Twitter, which has been on fire between at least two camps: those who think the song is about current boyfriend The Weeknd, and those who think it's about ex Justin Bieber.
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If 'Bad Liar' sounds familiar, that's because Selena and songwriters Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter, who helped co-create 'Hands to Myself' and 'Good For You', wrote the song around the bassline of 'Psycho Killer' by Talking Heads. According to Tranter, Selena is a huge Talking Heads fan [via Variety].
But enough with this, let's get to the lyrics.
Selena has been dating The Weeknd, aka Abel Tesfaye, since January, but they didn't make things (Insta) official until April, when they went to Coachella together. They also waited until May to make their first red carpet appearance together at the Met Gala in New York City.
In between, the couple has mostly been private, and as history tells us, there was some drama in the initial stages of their relationship, when Abel was fresh from his break-up with Bella Hadid. To further confirm that it's definitely about "someone new", someone whose name rhymes with the "Meeknd", co-writer Tranter corrected Genius on its reading of the lyrics late last night…
With all this in mind, consider the opening lines to 'Bad Liar':
I was walking down the street the other day
Trying to distract myself
Then I see your face
Ooo, you got someone else
Tryna play it coy
Tryna make it disappear
But just like the battle of Troy
There's nothing subtle here
Yes, Selena goes way back and references the great Trojan war as she realises she has feelings for someone, who happens to be taken.
When she gets to the chorus, though, Selena is no match for her feelings:
Oh I'm tryin', I'm tryin', I'm tryin'
I'm tryin', I'm tryin'
Oh tryin', I'm tryin', I'm tryin'
I'm tryin', I'm tryin'
Not to think about you
No, no, no, no
Later, when Selena delivers the bridge, she pleads with her new guy to take things to the next level: reality…
And oh baby let's make reality, actuality, a reality
Oh baby let's make reality, actuality, a reality
That's pretty much the song. To conclude, Selena's new feelings confuse her at first but then she eventually gets together with this new person she has feelings for, which confirms you should never ignore your feelings.
Naturally, there's also been a lively discussion about whether or not the song is about Justin, because this is the world we live in. It's probably not about him, is it?
Peggy is Cosmopolitan.com’s entertainment writer, specializing in Leonardo DiCaprio, This Is Us, and the royals. She’s also a proud Canadian and pug lover. When Peggy’s not obsessing over Leo’s latest lover or gut size, she can be found watching old episodes of Friends or Gilmore Girls. Her dream is to one day live on a pug farm and write children’s books, with illustrations by her very talented husband Greg.
