Either it’s further evidence that the pop world revolves around Taylor Swift or a mere coincidence, but Tay’s ex-boyfriend, Calvin Harris, just dropped a song featuring her best friend’s ex-boyfriend. Calvin and The Weeknd, former the flame of one Selena Gomez, teamed up for “Over Now,” a song that — even more ironically — is indeed about an ex. “I need you to know that / We ain’t ever gonna go back / This time, it got so bad / It’s best for me, it’s best for you / I need you to know that,” The Weeknd sings in the pre-chorus.
There’s no obvious hints as to who he doesn’t want to “go back” to, if The Weeknd is actually singing about someone in particular. Surprisingly, Twitter didn’t do its usual detective work. Instead of sussing out a possible ex that could’ve been The Weeknd’s muse (which tends to happen immediately after his new music drops), fans were too busy being mesmerized over the track’s accompanying music video, which looked like if vaporwave and a VFX program had a baby. However, The Weeknd did suggest that this ex is with “somebody else” — and so is he!
“Feedin’ the press, but we don’t speak / But we’re both with somebody else / So please stop calling me,” The Weeknd sings. Of course, this left a few fans who were listening extra closely scratching their heads. “@theweeknd sir i need answers with your new song when you said ‘But we’re both with somebody else So please stop calling me’ like i need answers who are you seeing?,” one such fan tweeted.
It’s a bit gauche to always tie all of Calvin’s musical output to his ex-girlfriend, though. After all, both parties have moved on following their split in 2016. Calvin reunited with Aarika Wolf and Taylor’s currently involved with Joe Alwyn, after a brief romance with Tom Hiddleston. The Calvin-Taylor romance was three albums ago (Reputation, Lover, folklore), after all. Yet, it’s The Weeknd who recently brought up the subject of “writing music about your exes,” so this Taylor-Calvin-Selena-Abel rectangle-of-drama construct can be traced to his recent interview with Esquire.
The Weeknd (aka Abel Tesfaye) was asked to name five of his songs that he thinks define him. None of the tracks from My Dear Melancholy, the EP he put out in 2018 following his breakup from Selena, made the cut. It was a five-track, 22-minute long release that left many thinking he returned to his House of Balloons sound. Without bringing up Selena or his other high-profile ex, Bella Hadid, the Weeknd said the album helped get a lot off his chest. “The reason why it was so short is like, I think I just had nothing else to say on this…whatever…It was just like this cathartic piece of art. And yeah, it was short, because that’s all I had to say on this situation.” When asked if he felt better after putting out the EP, he said, “Yeah, of course. I mean, that would have sucked if I didn’t.”
Though Calvin Harris hasn’t had much success in the US since “One Kiss,” his song with Dua Lipa, reached No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2018, he’s found his way to the top of the charts in the UK with “Promises,” his collab with Sam Smith, and “Giant,” a 2019 song with Rag’n’Bone Man. 2020 has also seen Calvin unleash his new project, Love Regenerator. “I wanted to rediscover the way I originally began producing music 22 years ago,” he said of the project, per NME. “Just pure fun and experimentation with what sounded good to me.”
The Weeknd, on the other hand, has found his way to the top of the charts in both the U.S. and the U.K. with his 2020 album, After Hours. Released in March – at a time when everything was getting delayed due to COVID-19 – the album was a No. 1 hit on both sides of the Atlantic. “Heartless” and “Blinding Lights,” the two lead singles off the album, found their way to the top of the charts, with the latter reaching No. 1 in both the U.S. and United Kingdom.
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