Britney Spears fans are speculating that her hit 2003 song “Everytime” has a secret meaning.
Many fans are theorizing that the single, which is about heartache in the wake of a breakup, is also about the abortion Spears had after she and Justin Timberlake got pregnant while dating in the early 2000s.
On Tuesday (Oct. 17), People published an excerpt from Spears’ upcoming memoir, The Woman in Me, in which she reveals she got an abortion around the age of 19 after then-boyfriend Timberlake told her they were too young to start a family.
“It was a surprise, but for me, it wasn’t a tragedy. I loved Justin so much. I always expected us to have a family together one day. This would just be much earlier than I’d anticipated … But Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young,” Spears writes in the book.
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Ever since the revelation was made public, fans have been digging into the singer’s back catalog to find clues from that time.
Now, many on social media believe the song “Everytime,” the musical production for which sounds like a lullaby, has a double meaning, serving as both a breakup ballad and a sad song about the abortion she had, which she calls “one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life” in her memoir.
Watch Britney Spears’ “Everytime” Music Video:
Fans believe that lyrics such as “I make-believe / That you are here / It’s the only way / I see clear /What have I done?” and “And every time I see you in my dreams / I see your face / It’s haunting me / I guess I need you, baby” are not just about an ex-lover, but are also about the baby she never had.
Some fans have even pointed out that the music video contains a hospital scene in which a woman gives birth in the background while Spears sings, “And every time I see you in my dreams / I see your face, you’re haunting me.”
While Spears herself has never confirmed “Everytime” is about an actual baby, it wouldn’t be the first time she’s referenced her children in her music. She released the song “Someday (I Will Understand)” weeks before she gave birth to her first child Sean Preston in 2005, as well as the song “My Baby” about both her sons in 2008.
See what fans are saying about the “Everytime” theory on social media, below:
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