In the closing months of 2019, Selena Gomez earned the first No. 1 song of her career with “Lose You To Love Me,” which many believed referred to her past relationship with Justin Bieber. The song was also her first solo release of 2019, which helped the rollout of her third album Rare, released in early 2020. At the time of the album’s release, Gomez said the track was inspired by life events that occurred after her previous album, Revival, from 2015. Joining the Song Exploder podcast on Tuesday along with songwriting friends Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter, Gomez opened up about the part of recording the song that “killed” her the most.
“This song alone represents what a lot of people who are heartbroken have gone through,” she said. “One of the hardest parts for me to sing in the song was the bridge. It’s the ending of the song, and that’s the part where it’s like, ‘You know, I guess this is goodbye forever for us.’ And that killed me.”
Michaels then revealed that it was she who suggested the song be a ballad, which made Gomez emotional. “She just started crying. She was like, ‘This is so beautiful. This is exactly what I wanted,” Michaels recalled. Tranter praised the pop singer for her ability to be honest in her music. “One of her superpowers is being so honest, and she’s going to give you her life in the lyric, but then when she gets on the mic, she does the same thing,” she explained. “She tells you the story, she brings you through her truth, and that is what makes great art.”
Fans can check out the full Song Exploder episode here.