Justin Timberlake has announced the March 15 release of Everything I Thought I Was, his first album since 2018’s rustic-pop experiment Man of the Woods, and with the news comes the lead single, “Selfish”, a mid-tempo R&B song about loving someone to the point of jealousy.
Timberlake wrote the song with Theron Thomas, Amy Allen, Cirkut, and Louis Bell, the latter two of whom he produced it with. In a 2023 interview with Variety, Timberlake said the new LP would mark a return to “fun Justin,” and “Selfish” kind of fits that description. In the first verse, he declares his eternal love for his lady.
If they know what I know
They would never let you go
So guess what?
I ain’t ever lettin’ you go
On the pre-chorus, Timberlake claims he would be lost—perhaps even dead—without this person.
’Cause your lips were made for mine
And my heart would go flatline
If it wasn’t beatin’ for you all the time
What Timberlake is trying to say is that he’s madly, deeply, hopelessly in love, and that’s why he gets a little possessive sometimes. “Selfish” is not quite an apology, but he’s clearly trying to explain his actions.
So if I get jealous, I can’t help it
I want every bit of you, I guess I’m selfish
It’s bad for my mental, but I can’t fight it, when
You’re out lookin’ like you do, but you can’t hide it, no
On the second verse, Timberlake is ready to hop on the line and bare his soul.
Every time my phone rings
I hope that it’s you on the other side
I wanna tell you everything
Everything that’s on my mind
On the bridge, he tells his lady that she’s got him on lock. That means taking the good with the bad.
Owner of my heart, tattooed your mark
There for the whole world to see
You’re the owner of my heart and all my scars
Babe, you’ve got such a hold on me, so
“Selfish” arrives with a music video in which Timberlake struggles through a doomed video shoot on a giant soundstage before disappearing through a secret door that leads to a hallway where everything is miniature.
You can read all the lyrics to “Selfish” on Genius now.
