From being a child actress in movies such as Another Cinderella Story to having her song “Back to You” in the show 13 Reasons Why, Selena Gomez has demonstrated her talent in multiple disciplines. Her songs are well known for their exploration of themes such as love and are diversified in style. They range from energetic and upbeat, to a more introspective and melancholy perspective. The album captures the emotional aspects of love and really accentuates both the ups and downs of being in love.
On March 21, 2025, Gomez released her album “I Said I Love You First”, a collaboration with her boyfriend and music producer Benny Blanco. This album explores themes of doubt, love, change, and gratitude through different rhythms and musical concepts.
In her first song of the album “Younger and Hotter Than Me”, Gomez expresses doubt about a relationship that she has. The song tells a story about a former ex-boyfriend and how her relationship started off as something beautiful by singing, “I used to feel like an angel / now I’m a dog on your leash”. Gomez explains that things had started off strong, but have started to fall apart and now it is a controlling relationship. The beat to the song has a slow, almost sad melody, capturing the hurt and heartbreak that Gomez had to face. The song was a strong opener since it didn’t just focus on the highs of being in love and it focused on the aspects that don’t deserve to happen to anyone. It set a tone for the album as well, showing Gomez’s ambivalence about love as a whole.
In addition to Gomez and Blanco working together, indie-pop singer Gracie Abrams is also featured on Gomez’s track “Call Me When You Break Up”. With its upbeat melody and the pleasant nature of the song, Gomez explores themes of being in love, and the role she wants to play in someone’s life. However, the song also explores the effects of a break up. In Abrams’ feature for her song, she sings, ” I’ve looked for medication / Tried every obvious replacement / In bars […] until my faith was in the basement”. Despite the song’s upbeat rhythm, it weaves in difficult topics and the aftermath of a break up in a creative way. This portrayal of emotion is raw and focuses on the ugly aftermath of a break up. It is a very frank point of view about the unresolved feelings and emptiness felt after a break up, which makes it easier for listeners to empathize with.
Another song that stood out in the album was “Sunset Boulevard”. This track provided a very airy, movie-like vibe. The scene that the song paints is one filled with intimacy. Gomez talks about holding her lover in the middle of the Sunset Boulevard while everyone is watching. She talks about what her lover gives to her and how he helps her open up. She explains that she is ” [a] Woman of few words/ But for you, I’d keep my mouth wide open”. This lyric reveals an aspect of love that people frequently find as they start to get closer to their partners. Gomez shows that she has been able to open up to her partner, and that she wants to share an intimate moment with him. Sunset Boulevard was appealing due to its cheery rhythm and catchy chorus. Gomez is also able to stay grounded in her approach to her desire for intimacy as well.
The song “Cowboy” was one that especially caught my attention. Gomez beautifully crafts this song with her soft vocals and a very gentle piano melody and a beat in the background. Gomez uses her vocals to help portray feelings of intimacy towards her lover, and describes her yearning for his touch. She uses figurative language to describe her moment with her lover and sings about, “Lips like rain, remind you of summer/ Say you’ll never leave”. Gomez invokes feelings of love and passion while singing this song in a very delicate manner as well.
Gomez further showcases her flair for music by diversifying her style of songs in the album. In her song “Ojos Tristes” (Sad Eyes)…” Gomez explores themes of having to say goodbye to a boy. Her song features both Blanco and indie pop band The Marías. It starts in English, where she expresses her feelings about saying goodbye to her partner, but as the song moves forward, we see more verses in Spanish and the chorus becomes a mix of both languages. This song shows Selena’s diverse style of music and includes aspects of her Spanish culture and heritage that she has made an effort to reconnect with.
Aside from her engaging songs, Gomez engages in a monologue promoting positivity in “Do You Wanna Be Perfect”, a rallying cry for self-love and fighting against the harsh standards of social media. She states, “Hi! Do you wanna be perfect? / Do you wanna be sexy? / Do you wanna live up to completely unrealistic standards set by the current landscape of social media?” The track showcases Gomez cautioning others against the harsh reality of social media. Social media forces people to try to compare themselves to unrealistic beauty standards. Unfortunately, many of these standards aren’t realistic and people start to feel inadequate about themselves. In her later dialogue, she states that, “No more of the unrealistic standards of perfect / It’s so boring / Actually, just be exactly who you are / There’s literally no one like you”. These lyrics are extremely powerful for people to hear, as many compare themselves to others on social media, trying to fit in to the definition of perfection.
Overall, the album perfectly explored themes about love, going into both the heartbreak and doubt that sometimes can get in the way. Gomez also focuses on the positives of love and embraces her culture throughout the album. Done as a collaboration with Blanco, the songs that she sings shows how much effort she puts into her music. Her lyrics fly out of speakers and we can see how much love she feels for Blanco as well as the past heartbreaks that she writes about. The album gives an emotional touch to her music and results in listeners truly empathizing with her.
The one thing that I didn’t like about the album was the song “Bluest Flame”,which just felt frenetic and repetitive. In addition, it went very fast for me and it didn’t feel right for the mood. The rest of the songs in the album were a continuation of the themes of love as well. A lot of Gomez’s unique traits are found through her voice as well as the way that she mixes different rhythms.
If you are looking for an album with positive energy, but at the same time one that explores the nuances of a relationship, then “I Said I Love You First” would be a great listen. In addition, it also has a wide variety of styles to choose from. If you like this album, I’d recommend listening to The Tortured Poets’ Department by Taylor Swift as well as Gracie Abrams’ So Close To What, as both of these explore themes of finding love, telling a story through song.
9/10
