“Ghost of You” by Selena Gomez

As pointed out later in the article, Selena Gomez’s “Ghost of You” made headlines in 2021, over a decade after it was released, due to comparison in name it drew to a song Justin Bieber dropped in March of that year entitled “Ghost“. 

You can view the lyrics, alternate interprations and sheet music for Selena Gomez's Ghost of You at Lyrics.org.

At the time we debunked the theory that the two were related since fans of pop stars as monumental as these tend to search for even the most superficial evidence to link their lyrics to true-life romances, for as you probably already know Bieber and Gomez dated for some time. 

However, in now researching “Ghost of You” also, it must be said that the two tracks are not only similar in name but also very alike in sentiment. 

And we’re not going back now and say that “Ghost” is actually about Selena or anything like that. Rather let’s just say it wouldn’t be completely ludicrous to believe that it was inspired by “Ghost of You” overall.

Similarities between “Ghost of You” and “Ghost”

For instance, both cases are in fact love songs in which the singer is missing the “ghost” of an ex. And whereas on the surface, using such terminology may imply that said individual is dead, again in both cases this is apparently not the case. 

Rather the titular terminology is more of a metaphor. And what it actually points to is this ex, whom the singer was close to, no longer being in her (or in Bieber’s case his) life. 

And even more specifically despite this person being permanently gone, his “ghost” still lingers, which is an allegory for her being unable to get over him.

Differences

But there are some differences also between the songs also. For instance, Selena doesn’t focus so much on the present per se.  Or rather, it’s more like the way she has changed in the aftermath of falling in love. 

She isn’t the same person that she was before, being “too naïve” back then. And apparently the reason she refers to her former self in such a less-than-flattering manner is because in the midst of everything falling apart, she kinda feels dumb for falling in love with this guy in the first place. 

Or as she puts it in the first verse, she “feel(s) so much better now” that he’s gone. So it’s pretty apparent that she considered him to be akin to a toxic partner.

Sentiment of “Ghost of You”

Yet and still, as stated earlier such is not the thesis sentiment. Instead it is the fact that this ex still holds a lasting presence in her heart. 

The vocalist is hopeful that with enough time and prayer, she will be able to completely get him out of her system. Yet for the time being, she concludes that she must still be stuck on him for “a reason”.

So it is arguable that the reason she no longer views him favorably isn’t so much because he mistreated her during their relationship. Rather she really lost faith in him after their romance fell apart, insinuating that his behavior may have been the catalyst which caused such to happen. 

In other words, what she is primarily upset about is him leaving in the first place.

So conclusively, the vocalist of this song is heartbroken in the worst kind of way. And that is likely due to being jilted by the man who stole her heart.

Lyrics of "Ghost of You"

Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez was actually an actress before becoming a music star. In fact she was a young child actress, appearing on Barney & Friends from around the time she was 10 years old. 

Then later she got down with Disney before fully venturing into music. And upon doing so she had her own band called the Scene. 

In fact she released three albums as the lead singer of Selena Gomez & the Scene before eventually going solo. And they were pretty successful. For instance, those three albums (which are listed below) all made it within the top 10 of the Billboard 200.

  • “Kiss & Tell” (2009)
  • “A Year Without Rain” (2010)
  • “When the Sun Goes Down” (2011)

And the song “Ghost of You” is from the second of those projects, which reached fourth place on the Billboard 200.

But of course upon going solo, Gomez became an even bigger success. In fact all of the solo albums she has released to date, “Stars Dance” (2013), “Revival” (2015) and “Rare” (2020), scored a number 1 on the Billboard 200.

Release of “Ghost of You”

At that time this track was dropped, on 21 September 2010, the main membership of the Scene consisted of Greg Garman (drums), Joey Clement (bass guitar), Dane Forrest (keyboards) and Ethan Roberts (lead guitar).

Ghost of You

Writing and Production Credits

This song was produced and co-written by Jonas Jeberg, a musician from Denmark. And the other cowriters are Ahmed Bittar, Shelly Peiken and Rasmus Seebach.

Resurgence in Popularity in 2021

This track experienced a slight bump in popularity – or at least quite a few mentions – in early 2021 when some people began speculating that Selena Gomez’s ex-boyfriend, Justin Bieber, named his track “Ghost“, which came out during that time, after this one. 

As argued earlier, that may have been the case – and then some. However, some fans then took the theory a step further to actually postulate that “Ghost” is about Selena Gomez, which seems less likely.

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