A Very Important Duet surprised the internet this weekend — like, a Beyoncé secret album-level shock.
On Saturday, Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez sneakily debuted a duet track on Drake's OVO Sound Radio. Titled "Strong," the song is a stripped down ode to post-breakup angst. Bieber and Gomez dated on-again-off-again since 2011, and the pair have publicly discussed their lingering fondness for each other, despite relationship problems.
Gomez kicks off the lyrical convo, saying, "I'm just wishing you were better at communication..." and later, "Wishing I was better with the distance."
And who is the "you" who's so far away?
Bieber, of course, who chimes in with, "You're the only one I'm really missing."
Since the song hasn't been officially released, Cosmopolitan helpfully transcribed the full lyrics, though the real fun is reading between the lines. After all, with lines like this, it's impossible not to: "What should I do? Should I go? / Who do I talk to? Nobody knows."
Nobody knows, indeed. Does this mean Bieber and Gomez might be changing their relationship status?
Neither have publicly commented on the track, nor has Bieber confirmed whether or not it will be on his upcoming album, "Purpose," which is set for release in November. But in recent interviews, both Bieber and Gomez have made it clear they both think about each other and their relationship, romantic or otherwise, often.
For instance, in a Complex cover story, Bieber said, "We were so in love. Nothing else mattered."
Echoing the heartache of the 'Strong' lyrics, he continued: "But when it's like that and you get your value from that, people will always disappoint you. Your girl or your dude, they're always going to disappoint you."
In a recent interview with Refinery29, Gomez also spoke at length about the initial pain and self-healing stemming from her and Bieber's tabloid-friendly breakup.
"At this point, there is no anger. There's closure in a very good, healthy way,” she said. “We’ve seen each other. I'm always encouraging and I am proud of his journey. I think people are making it out to be something that is more tragic than it really was. We grew up together. We both made mistakes. That's it."
But is that really "it" for the former couple, as Gomez suggested?
If "Strong" contains the answer, then it depends on how the listener interprets it. It could either be a prelude to a renewed romance or, as Gomez put, a healthy — and beautifully composed — type of closure.
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