Julia Michaels and Selena Gomez sing a duet on anxiety, FOMO, and exes

“It’s almost like a female empowerment song without it being a female empowerment song. It’s us saying, ‘Hey we have anxiety and we’re okay with it,’” said Julia Michaels in an interview with E! News. She shared that she wrote the song “Anxiety” and shared it with Selena, they both thought it would be great to sing about something they both struggle with instead of the usual story of two women fighting for a man. (If you can see me now, I am intensely nodding in agreement.)

The song was released last night as part of Julia’s EP called Inner Monologue Part 1.

Selena also posted a sweet message for her friend Julia on Instagram, “My sweet soul sister. Julia you have been a huge part of my life. You have taught me how to have courage when I have self doubt. This song is extremely close to my heart as I’ve experienced anxiety and know a lot of my friends do too. You’re never alone if you feel this way. The message is much needed and I really hope you guys like it!”

It’s great that women like Julia and Selena are more than willing to talk about these issues that we all go through when it was usually just shoved to the back of the room. Anxiety and depression are never easy, and it’s not a topic that everyone is comfortable talking about, but baby steps like this song can help uplift, don’t you think?

I, myself, suffer from anxiety, so if you can relate to this new song just like I do, can you put your hands up?

Listen and read the lyrics to “Anxiety” below.

Verse 1 (Julia Michales):
My friends, they wanna take me to the movies
I tell ’em to f*ck off, I’m holding hands with my depression
And right when I think I’ve overcome it
Anxiety starts kicking in to teach that sh*t a lesson
Oh, I try my best just to be social
I make all these plans with friends and hope they call and cancel
Then I overthink about the things I’m missing
Now I’m wishing I was with ‘em

Pre-chorus (Julia Michaels):
Feel like I’m always apologizing for feeling
Like I’m out of my mind when I’m doing just fine
And my exes all say that I’m hard to deal with
And I admit it, yeah

Chorus (Julia Michaels):
But all my friends, they don’t know what it’s like, what it’s like
They don’t understand why I can’t sleep through the night
I’ve been told that I could take something to fix it
Damn, I wish it, I wish it was that simple, ah
All my friends they don’t know what it’s like, what it’s like

Verse 2 (Selena Gomez):
Always wanted to be one of those people in the room
That says something and everyone puts their hand up
Like, “If you’re sad put your hand up
If you hate someone, put your hand up
If you’re scared, put your hand up”

Pre-chorus (Selena Gomez):
Feel like I’m always apologizing for feeling
Like I’m out of my mind when I’m doing just fine
And my exes all say that I’m hard to deal with
And I admit, it’s true

Chorus (Selena Gomez):
But all my friends, they don’t know what it’s like, what it’s like
They don’t understand why I can’t sleep through the night
And I thought that I could take something to fix it
Damn, I wish it, I wish it was that simple, ah
All my friends they don’t know what it’s like, what it’s like

Bridge (Both):
I got all these thoughts, running through my mind
All the damn time and I can’t seem to shut it off
I think I’m doing fine most of the time
I think that I’m alright, but I can’t seem to shut it off
I got all these thoughts, running through my mind
All the damn time and I can’t seem to shut it off
I think I’m doing fine most of the time
I say that I’m alright, but I can’t seem to shut it off
Shut it, shut it, yeah

Chorus (Both):
But all my friends, they don’t know what it’s like, what it’s like
They don’t understand why I can’t sleep through the night
I’ve been told that I could take something to fix it
Damn, I wish it, I wish it was that simple, ah
All my friends they don’t know what it’s like, what it’s like
Li-i-i-i-ike
What it’s like, what it’s like
Hmm-mm-mm, mmm
What it’s like
I love this song

[E! News and Harper’s Bazaar]

 

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Jacque De Borja: Jacque De Borja is an introvert pretending to be an extrovert, who gets insanely emotional about things—especially if they’re about dogs, women’s rights, and Terrace House.