Image Source: Getty / Kevin Mazur, George Pimental
Did The Weeknd take a page out of Taylor Swift’s book when writing the songs for his new EP, My Dear Melancholy? It actually looks as if it. The Canadian singer, née Abel Tesfaye, debuted six new songs on Thursday evening, and plenty of of them have pretty big nods to ex-girlfriends Selena Gomez and Bella Hadid. While it looks as if he may probably be trying to win back the supermodel, the lyrics about Gomez vary from mournful to straight-up scathing given how their relationship ended (she began courting ex Justin Bieber virtually instantly). Overall My Dear Melancholy is a darkish, lovely addition to The Weeknd’s discography, however should you’re concerned with decoding who, precisely, his songs are about, be part of us as we undergo the album, line by line.
“Call Out My Name”
- “We found each other / I helped you out of a broken place / You gave me comfort / But falling for you was my mistake” — Selena Gomez
- “I claimed you so proud and openly / And when times were rough, when times were rough / I made sure I held you close to me” — Selena Gomez
- “I want you to stay, even though you don’t want me / Girl, why can’t you wait? / Girl, why can’t you wait ’til I fall out of love?” — Selena Gomez
- “Guess I was just another pit stop / ‘Til you made up your mind / You just wasted my time” — Selena Gomez
Oh boy. The first track on My Dear Melancholy goes straight for the jugular. Gomez’s jugular, to be particular. The line about serving to somebody “out of a broken place” certain looks as if a reference to her ongoing health and mental health struggles, in addition to her restoration from a kidney transplant surgical procedure. It may be interpreted as a nod to her roller-coaster romance with ex-boyfriend Bieber. The actual kicker comes when The Weeknd makes it clear that whoever he is singing about was a “mistake.” Harsh.
“Try Me”
- “Don’t you mess with me / The way I kissed your scars / The way I fixed your heart / Don’t you mess with me, babe” — Selena Gomez
- “You’re the best I ever had / Baby girl, remind me” — Bella Hadid
- “You’re lookin’ grown since the last time I looked at you / It might have been, been about a couple months / But I just got the picture that you texted to me” — Bella Hadid
Kissing scars? That has to be a nod to Gomez’s kidney transplant surgery, which left her with a literal scar on her leg. As for lyrics like “You’re the best I ever had” and “It might have been, been about a couple months,” each try when it comes to his relationship with Hadid (he was photographed leaving her apartment in November 2017, FYI). We’ll most likely by no means know what was in that image she texted to him, sadly.
“I Was Never There”
- “Ooh, when no one know what love is / And I know it ain’t you for sure / You’d rather something toxic / So, I poison myself again, again” — Selena Gomez
Gomez’s unstable on-again, off-again relationship with Bieber has been extremely publicized for years, and labeling it “toxic” undoubtedly would not be misplaced. The lyric “I know it ain’t you for sure” hints that The Weeknd discovered one thing from their relationship, no less than.
“Hurt You”
- “And now I know relationship’s my enemy / So stay away from me / I’m warning you / You try to fill the void with every man you meet” — Selena Gomez
- “When you’re with him, you close your eyes and think of me / Just call me up again” — Selena Gomez
Since her break up from Bieber, Gomez has been linked to musicians like Charlie Puth, Zedd, and clearly The Weeknd. There’s nothing flawed with courting a number of guys (we will not even make sure which of these relationships had been legit, apart from her courtship with The Weeknd), however that is doubtless what the singer means with the lyric “You try to fill the void with every man you meet.” As for the second line, it virtually feels like Gomez has reached out to her former beau since transferring on — after which breaking apart — with Bieber.
“Wasted Times”
- “Wasted times I spent with someone else / She wasn’t even half of you” — Bella Hadid and Selena Gomez
- “And now I’m askin’, who do you belong to now? / Who you give that love to now? / Who you pullin’ up on? / Who you gettin’ sprung for now? / And what they got that I ain’t got? ‘Cause I got a lot” — Bella Hadid
- “These girls only want you when you’re winnin’ / But you’ve been with me from the beginnin’ / And I know right now that we’re not talkin’ / I hope you know this dick is still an option” — Bella Hadid
- “You were equestrian, so ride it like a champion” — Bella Hadid
“Wasted Times” is the one observe on My Dear Melancholy that almost all explicitly references Hadid. It begins by taking one other shot at Gomez (“She wasn’t even half of you,” oof), after which goes on to surprise if Hadid is single (the 21-year-old mannequin has been notoriously tight-lipped about her personal life since their breakup in 2016). The most blatant reference to her, nevertheless? It’s gotta be “You were equestrian, so ride it like a champion.” Not solely has Hadid ridden horses for years, however her ardour for horseback driving was so intense that she even thought of competing within the Olympics at one level.
“Privilege”
- “Enjoy your privileged life / ‘Cause I’m not gonna hold you through the night / We said our last goodbyes / So, let’s just try to end it with a smile” — Selena Gomez
- “And I don’t wanna hear that you are suffering / You are suffering no more / ‘Cause I held you down when you were suffering” — Selena Gomez
- “They said our love is just a game, I don’t care what they say / But I’ma drink the pain away, I’ll be back to my old ways” — Selena Gomez
“I held you down when you were suffering” may very well be one other reference to the way in which he helped Gomez through some trying times over the course of their relationship. As for “They said our love is just a game,” we’re guessing it is meant to put the individuals who speculated that they had been solely courting for the publicity on blast.
If you need to strive your hand at uncovering all of The Weeknd’s lyrical shout-outs in My Dear Melancholy, pay attention to the complete EP beneath.
To Be Updated ASAP!