Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco explore their romantic past, present, and future on their album I Said I Love You First, and no track captures the agony of a past on-off relationship quite like “Don’t Wanna Cry.”
In the song, Gomez sings about seeing her partner, likely someone in the spotlight, involved with another woman in the first verse: “Left the door wide open for the whole wide world to see you / And you kiss her right in front of me like I’m not even there.”
I Said I Love You First by Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco
In the pre-chorus, she talks about all the trauma the relationship has caused her and how much she has kept to herself. She sings, “I should cause a scene for shit you have done to me / The saddest part is we both know that I would never leave / You know how it goes, everybody knows / I’m just another hand you hold.” She blames herself in the chorus for continuing the relationship even though she knows her partner’s character.
Gomez didn’t reveal the song’s subject. In the narrated edition of her album, she said of the track, “‘Don’t Wanna Cry’ is a song that’s about when you’re feeling like you’re done, if that makes sense. When so much has happened, we’ve learned so much, but, you know, people always joke, or not joke, they actually say this about me, but I love, I love songs that are about, are about the heart, are about love or something, and I know that feeling when you felt tied up and you just wanna be free of something that may not be right, but I’m really, really happy because this song is like a therapeutic way of letting that go because, well, I do cry still, but, hey, don’t cry as much as I used to.”
While those who know the singer’s dating history may be quick to assume the song is about her ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber, with whom she had a turbulent six-year on-off relationship that ended in 2018, Gomez cautioned fans to be careful about jumping to conclusions.
In an interview with Benny Blanco for Spotify’s Countdown To..., the singer revealed she was inspired by her friends’ experiences as well. She explained that while ultimately, the audience will interpret things as they will, “I would like to say most of this album has nothing to do with what everyone may go to. And I think it’s important for me to say that because I’ve evolved so much, and I have experienced life with new people. I’ve had to go through transitions with friends and lose people in my life and gain new people, and I’ve had a whole new life forever so it’s up for whatever people want [to interpret things as], but to me, it was about both of our pasts and our history and also just inspired by friends and relationships, like some songs were actually meant [to be] about friendships in my life and I think that’s what to me the album was about.”
Blanco added, “I think the best part about music is a song that you may have written in a moment about something [may be] completely perceived as something else to everybody who has listened to it.”
Gomez’s “Don’t Wanna Cry” ends on a hopeful note, as she knows the relationship will someday end for good (She sings in the bridge: “One day, you’re gonna wake up / But all that’s left is my pillow and makeup / Saying ‘c’est la vie’ ’cause, baby, the game’s up / Now I found another hand to hold”). Gomez, of course, has realized that dream in real life, as she now has a billion-dollar makeup company and a smitten fiancé in her partner, Blanco.
But the lyrics capture the pain of a past love—and make her present romance all the more satisfying. Read through them below.
Verse 1:
Left the door wide open for the whole wide world to see you
And you kiss her right in front of me like I’m not even there
Pre-Chorus:
I should cause a scene for shit you have done to me
The saddest part is we both know that I would never leave
You know how it goes, everybody knows
I’m just another hand you hold
Chorus:
I don’t wanna cry now
I don’t wanna cry now
There’s nothing to say, it’s not gonna change
Baby, I know I’m to blame
I don’t wanna cry now
I don’t wanna cry now
There’s nothing to say, it’s not gonna change
Baby, I know I’m to blame
Verse 2:
I know that I said I’d forgive you once, but, baby
It’s been a hundred timеs, and I still crawl back for more
Pre-Chorus:
I should cause a scenе for shit you have done to me
The saddest part is we both know that I would never leave
You know how it goes, everybody knows
I’m just another hand you hold
Chorus:
I don’t wanna cry now
I don’t wanna cry now
There’s nothing to say, it’s not gonna change
Baby, I know I’m to blame
I don’t wanna cry now
I don’t wanna cry now
There’s nothing to say, it’s not gonna change
Baby, I know I’m to blame
Bridge:
One day, you’re gonna wake up
But all that’s left is my pillow and makeup
Saying “c’est la vie” ’cause, baby, the game’s up
Now I found another hand to hold
Outro:
(I’m to blame)
(I’m to blame)
