Selena Gomez ‘It Ain’t Me’ Is The Breakup Anthem For 2017

Take heart, those of you who are already fed up with something or someone this year. Selena Gomez’s “It Ain’t Me” is the breakup anthem for 2017 that you didn’t know you needed. Forget for the moment about Selena being romantically linked with the Weeknd, or her on again, off again, it’s complicated status with The Bieber. Forget about her recent stay in rehab or the rumors about her troubled relationship with Tay-Tay and the ultimate Girl Squad. Focus instead on the music. Focus on this new track. Selena Gomez’s “It Ain’t Me,” produced by Kygo, is what you need to dance your way out of that tired relationship you’re currently mired in.

Just take a listen to the song and reflect on some of the lyrics that Selena lays down.

“Who’s gonna walk you through the dark side of the morning?
Who’s gonna rock you when the sun won’t let you sleep?
Who’s waking up to drive you home when you’re drunk and all alone?
Who’s gonna walk you through the dark side of the morning?
It ain’t me”

The song’s relatively upbeat tempo hides a much more serious message, charting the progression of a relationship between two people that goes sour as they each grow apart. And who hasn’t felt that way; who hasn’t felt the urge to say to someone the classic line, “Look, it’s not you, it’s me”? This song is literally about that type of situation. In Selena Gomez’s “It Ain’t Me,” she is speaking from the point of view of someone who doesn’t want to follow someone else down a road she sees as destructive or pointless. Sure, there are good times to remember, but she’s out. Because face it, like the song says, “it ain’t me.”

“I’ll take with me the polaroids and the memories
But you know I’m gonna leave behind the worst of us”

It has been speculated that this song is about Justin Bieber because of how well it parallels the entire Jelena saga. If that’s true, then it joins the litany of other songs that Selena has helped pen or sung about the two of them. It’s also interesting to see how the breakup songs about Bieber have changed in the five years since the first.

That First Breakup

Who can forget the first time the two of them broke up back in 2012, which fueled Selena Gomez’s 2013 hit, “Love Will Remember”?

From the opener, where Selena included a voicemail from Justin to the heartfelt lyrics, this breakup song was more of a wistful look back at a love derailed by something.

“Break down the walls,
Let heaven in.
Somewhere in forever
We’ll dance again.”

This type of breakup song exemplifies the first type of breakup that most of us go through. Our first love was ideal, and if only things hadn’t gone wrong, we’d still be in that relationship. And after all, even if we forget how perfect it really was, love will remember.

Who Even Are You?

In 2015, Selena Gomez released “Same Old Love” as a promotional single for preordering her new album. Many interpreted this song as a jab at Justin, and it might very well have been.

But the message the song gives is one that shows the frustration everyone feels when they get into one of those off and on again relationships where nothing is permanent and confusion is the only constant companion.

“I’m so sick of that same old love, that s**t, it tears me up
I’m so sick of that same old love, my body’s had enough”

All of your friends tell you how great you and this other person are, and sure, you can see it, but realistically, you know it doesn’t work. So you have to break it off, this time for good.

Taking Control, Because “It Ain’t Me”

That’s why this latest breakup song from Selena is everything you need now in a breakup anthem. This one doesn’t romanticize your relationship, and it doesn’t say anything about how you’re getting bored. Selena Gomez’s “It Ain’t Me” takes the control and power back in a relationship that may leave you feeling a little powerless. It’s a way to say, “It’s not you. It’s me. But really, it ain’t me.” Wrapping that delicious truth in Kygo’s laid back beats only puts the icing on the cake.

https://youtu.be/V0UZTRyWJDM

[Featured Image by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]