Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears. Getty Photographs (2)
Justin Timberlake’s new single “Drown” appears to trace at a previous failed relationship — and a few followers assume the singer could also be referencing ex Britney Spears.
“Drown” was dropped on Friday, February 23, and the monitor might be featured on his upcoming album, All the things I Thought It Was, which is about to be launched on March 15.
The lyrics in “Drown,” which Timberlake cowrote with Louis Bell, Henry Walter, Amy Allen and Kenyon Dixon, mirror on a romance that after crashed and burned after a former accomplice “confirmed” him who they “actually had been.”
“You left me alone out in thе darkish with your whole demons,” Timberlake sings within the first refrain of the tune. “Obtained caught up within the tidе of all of the tears you cried / I used to be blinded by my coronary heart, sinking from the beginning / Ought to’ve by no means adopted you this far, now I’m within the deep finish.”
Within the second verse, Timberlake croons that he ought to have “by no means adopted” his ex “this far” however was “blinded by his coronary heart” — and is now caught within the “deep finish.”
The subject material has led some followers to invest if the previous boy bander is referencing his messy breakup with Spears, 42, on the monitor. The pair dated from 1999 to 2002 earlier than calling it quits amid rumors Spears cheated on Timberlake with choreographer Wade Robson.
Timberlake additionally questions if the romance might have labored out if issues had been completely different. “Generally I sit and fantasize / Perhaps someday in one other life / We might’ve bought it proper, bought it proper,” the bridge decrees.
Whereas Timberlake by no means formally confirmed who the tune was about, the discharge comes almost 4 months after Spears dropped her tell-all memoir, The Girl in Me. Within the e-book, Spears revealed particulars about her and Timberlake’s romance, together with claims that she had an abortion and that Timberlake had cheated on her a number of instances and broke up together with her over textual content. (Following the e-book’s launch, a supply instructed Us Weekly that Timberlake had no clue he can be featured a lot within the e-book.
Alexa, play “Cry Me a River” by Justin Timberlake — after which, cue up “Everytime” by Britney Spears. Timberlake and Spears referred to as it quits twenty years in the past, however followers are nonetheless invested of their rocky romance. The previous boy bander and pop princess met within the early ’90s whereas filming The Mickey Mouse Membership. In […]
“Justin thought Britney may speak about their ups and downs in additional basic phrases – not air out their very private, soiled laundry,” the insider defined in October 2023. “He’s dissatisfied she went this route a long time after they break up up.”
One other supply claimed that Timberlake – who shares sons Silas and Phineas with spouse Jessica Biel – feels remorseful however hopes they’ll transfer previous this.
“Justin regrets that he harm Britney. He was younger,” the second supply shared with Us. “He thinks Britney has each proper to inform her story and hopes they’ll transfer on now.”
Whereas Timberlake confronted backlash after Spears’ memoir, she appeared to difficulty him an apology final month.
Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. KMazur/WireImage
“I wanna apologize for a few of the issues I wrote about in my e-book,” Spears captioned an Instagram publish on the time, which included a clip of Timberlake performing throughout a “Classroom Devices” phase on The Tonight Present Starring Jimmy Fallon. “If I offended any of the individuals I genuinely care about I’m deeply sorry. Additionally wished to say I’m in love with Justin Timberlake’s new tune ‘Egocentric.’ It’s so good and the way come each time I see Justin and Jimmy collectively I chuckle so laborious ???”
Shortly after Spears’ appeared to apologize, Timberlake carried out a live performance in New York. Whereas introducing his 2002 tune “Cry Me a River,” which seemingly alludes to his breakup with Spears, Timberlake spoke to the viewers.
“I’d wish to take this chance to apologize to completely f–king no person,” he stated, per footage shared through social media.
Spears rapidly retracted her apology afterward.
“Somebody instructed me somebody was speaking s–t about me on the streets !!!” the singer wrote through Instagram on February 1. “Would you like me to deliver it to the courtroom or will you go dwelling crying to your mother such as you did final time ??? I’m not sorry !!!”
“Drown” wouldn’t be the primary time Timberlake allegedly sang about his break up from Spears. “Cry Me a River,” off his 2002 album Justified, seemingly accused the pop star of infidelity, with Timberlake casting a Spears lookalike as the feminine lead within the music video. “What Goes Round … Comes Round,” the second single from the file, additionally appeared to reference their relationship.
Spears opened up about being the topic of Timberlake’s early ‘00s music in The Girl in Me, saying Timberlake bought “energy” from “shaming” her for the breakup. Spears wrote that though her managers tried to painting her as “an everlasting virgin” — regardless of shedding her virginity on the age of 14 — she was subsequently labeled as a “dishonest slut” and a liar after Timberlake publicly confirmed their relationship was sexual.
Timberlake, for his half, shared in his personal 2018 memoir, Hindsight: & All of the Issues I Can’t See in Entrance of Me, that he wrote “Cry Me a River” after feeling “scorned” and “pissed off” in regards to the break up. “The emotions I had had been so robust that I needed to write it, and I translated my emotions right into a type the place individuals might hear and, hopefully, relate to it,” he wrote. “Folks heard me and so they understood it as a result of we’ve all been there.”
