Justin Timberlake is opening up about his new single “Selfish,” noting the late Beatle John Lennon inspired the song.
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Comparing the style of Timberlake to Lennon is like comparing apples to oranges. But Timberlake’s new single shares a similar theme as Lennon’s classic “Jealous Guy.” Both deal with a male expression on negative emotions like jealousy and selfishness.
Speaking with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 (via NME), Timberlake said he initially thought about doing a cover.
“A friend of mine, who’s also my music director, who’s probably a friend of the whole family over there, Adam Blackstone, he was doing these small jazz nights at a place in LA,” Timberlake began. “And he invited me to come down and he said, ‘Hey, man.’ He was like, ‘You want to come up and sing something?’ And I randomly threw out, “Oh, yeah, let’s do Donny Hathaway’s cover of ‘Jealous Guy’ by Lennon.’ And by the way, if you’re a Gen-Zer right now, you have no idea who I’m talking about!”
However, after further reflection, Timberlake decided to break down the themes of that song and create something new.
“So we were talking about the song itself and just breaking down the idea that you just don’t hear that from men often, that they would express an emotion that makes them vulnerable. And then growing up the way I grew up, you’re taught not to do that,” he continued.
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“It Just Felt Like a Really Honest Song”
Timberlake said the song is about honesty and facing one’s emotions. “But I don’t know, it just felt like a really honest song. The lyrics just started to come out honestly,” he explained. “And when I listened to the whole album, I felt like it’s probably, of all the songs on the album, production-wise, probably the most straightforward, and I don’t want to say simple because it’s complex within its simplicity to me.”
Timberlake said he’s enjoyed the reaction from fans his new songs have had. “I was playing [the album] for people around me,” he recounted. “They’re like, ‘Oh, this sounds like everything we know you for.’ And then another friend of mine was like, ‘Oh, this sounds like everything I thought I wanted from you.’ It was like that sort of phrase, in one way or another, was in the air. And I thought to myself about how some of the songs are more introspective and some of them are more what I think people know me for.”
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Photo by Justin Timberlake
