Selena Gomez had a storied romantic history with multiple stars before she found the “love of my life” in her fiancé, Benny Blanco, with whom she created her new album, I Said I Love You First. The singer reflects on how happy she is in her new relationship while also revealing the literal “dream” conversation she had with an ex in the song “You Said You Were Sorry.”
She sings about finding closure with that person in the pre-chorus and chorus: “Don’t think about you / Happy without you / More now than I ever was / But I had a dream
You said you were sorry, said you were sorry / Sorry for everything / That you put on me, that you put on me / Our eyes were bawling rain / We finally both forgave / I had a dream, that’s all it was / Yeah, that was enough for me.”
I Said I Love You First by Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco
In the narrated edition of her album, Gomez revealed “You Said You Were Sorry” was based off a real dream she had. “This might be my favorite off the album,” she confessed, before adding, “I woke up from this wild dream, and I dream vividly, so I see colors, I see faces, I see everything. Benny and I woke up one morning, and I told him about my dream. It was just more about a conflicted issue that I felt needed to be resolved, and then, in reality, I realized sometimes you don’t need it to be. Sometimes being who you are and moving forward is the best option for you. But I love the fact that we were able to take it to a dream world.”
Before beginning her relationship with Blanco in June 2023, Gomez was romantically involved with Justin Bieber, Zayn Malik, and Drew Taggart among others. But only Gomez and Blanco know who was in Gomez’s dream—and whether that person is the one she is singing about in the track.
Gomez told fans during Spotify’s Countdown To... that she and Blanco pulled inspiration from many parts of their lives. “I would like to say most of this album has nothing to do with what everyone may go to,” she cautioned. “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 songs 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.”
Blanco admitted to Gomez in the same interview that writing songs is like therapy: “You can almost say anything. It’s like saying your deepest darkest secret, and it doesn’t count because it’s in a song. It was really interesting getting to learn things about you that I’m not sure I’d be able to get out if we were in a different arena.”
Gomez added, “Yeah, that was so crazy that while we were doing this album, we told each other [so much]—because mind you, the whole album isn’t just about my life. It’s about your experiences, our experiences together.”
Gomez’s track “You Said You Were Sorry” ties the loose ends of her romantic past into a pretty bow, as she makes peace with an ex who hurt her and embraces her present with Blanco. Read through the lyrics below:
Verse 1
PCH, driving Malibu, baby
Type of love that can make a bitch crazy
He feels me up, yeah, he never gets lazy
I wouldn’t leave him even if you paid me
Pre-Chorus
Don’t think about you
Happy without you
More now than I ever was
Chorus
But I had a dream
You said you were sorry, said you were sorry
Sorry for everything
That you put on me, that you put on me
Our eyes were bawling rain
We finally both forgave
I had a dream, that’s all it was
That was enough for me
Post-Chorus
Ah, na-na-na, ah, na-na-na, yeah
Ah, na-na-na, that was enough for me
Ah, na-na-na, ah, na-na-na, yeah
Ah, na-na-na, that was enough for me
Verse 2
My new flame, he could melt a damn diamond
Spell my name, see the back of my eyelids
Oh, this is love, now I get why people like it
I really like it, you should try it
Pre-Chorus
Don’t think about you
Happy without you
More now than I ever was
Chorus
But I had a dream
You said you were sorry, said you were sorry
Sorry for everything
That you put on me, that you put on me
Our eyes were bawling rain
We finally both forgave
I had a dream, that’s all it was
Yeah, that was enough for me
Post-Chorus
Ah, na-na-na, ah, na-na-na, yeah
Ah, na-na-na, that was enough for me
Ah, na-na-na, ah, na-na-na, yeah
Ah, na-na-na, that was enough for me
