Demi Lovato doesn’t hold back with those powerhouse pipes – and she doesn’t hold back with her confessional lyrics either.
In fact, her new album, “Dancing With the Devil … The Art of Starting Over” plays like musical therapy as the 28-year-old diva works through her issues in pop catharsis.
Lovato bares her soul about everything from her substance abuse struggles (including a near-fatal overdose in 2018) and her broken engagement to Max Ehrich last year to her body image issues and recently coming out as pansexual.
She’s also been getting real in her four-part YouTube docuseries, “Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil,” which ends Tuesday.
For a deeper look at Demi, here are some of the most revealing lyrics on her latest LP.
On Her Substance Abuse Struggles
Multiple songs from her new album deal with her substance abuse issues, most notably the title track, whose video re-creates Lovato’s 2018 overdose from heroin and fentanyl-laced oxycodone, from which she suffered three strokes and a heart attack. Lovato recently identified herself as “California sober” on “CBS Sunday Morning,” which means making some exceptions for alcohol and, in her case, “smoking a little bit of weed.” The term is also a song title on the album.
“Dancing With the Devil”
“I was dancin’ with the devil, out of control/Almost made it to heaven, it was closer than you know/Playin’ with the enemy, gamblin’ with my soul/It’s so hard to say no, when you’re dancin’ with the devil/It’s just a little white line, I’ll be fine/But soon that little white line is a little glass pipe/Tinfoil remedy, almost got the best of me/I keep prayin’ I don’t reach the end of my lifetime”
“California Sober”
“Cashing in my chips for forgiveness/Trading in my shame for perspective/Tired of being known for my sickness/Didn’t work, I’m trying something different … I used to live in fear of always slipping/But living for perfection isn’t living”
“What Other People Say”
“Thought when I grew up/I would be the same as the ones who gave me my last name/I would not give in, I would not partake/In the same old drugs everyone else takes/I’m better than that, I’m better than that”
“Met Him Last Night”
“I’ve seen the devil/Yeah, I met him last night … You got me f–ked up/I won’t let this happen again/This is the last time/You won’t take advantage of my innocence”
BTW: Lovato has reportedly revealed that this song was a gift from fellow pop star Ariana Grande, leading to the current #MetHimLastNight Twitter trend.
“Good Place”
“I’ve been called an emotional disaster/By myself and by so many others/After I had trials and tribulations mastered/Tune it out with a little bit of paint and plaster/When I chose drugs over love, money over trust”
On Her Breakup
In her new docuseries, Lovato spoke about her whirlwind two-month engagement to former “The Young and the Restless” actor Ehrich that she broke off last September: “I think I rushed into something that I thought was what I was supposed to do,” she said. “I realized as time went on that I didn’t actually know the person that I was engaged to.” And she gets into it even more on these “Dancing With the Devil” tracks:
“The Art of Starting Over”
“He was the cure/I was ready to be sure/And so I let him deeper under the surface/But it didn’t take long to realize/That the woman in me does not cry/For a man who is a boy and he does not deserve this/Guess I’m mastering the art of starting over”
“Lonely People”
“All that love is/Is a means to an end/I’m always finding/Broken hearts instead/The sad and scary truth is we all die alone/So you better love yourself before you go”
“15 Minutes”
“Change your colors so fast/Tried to turn my friends into friends of my past/Always putting you first/Could have been your future/But you didn’t even care about me like that/’Cause you were looking for 15 minutes”
On Her Body Image Issues
After coping with anorexia and bulimia — which she recently told the New York Times were triggered by her mom’s eating disorder — Lovato has become an advocate for body positivity. But she shares her struggle to get to a healthier place on her album:
“The Way You Don’t Look at Me”
“I’ve lost 10 pounds in two weeks/’Cause I told me I shouldn’t eat/Gained a new vice way more than twice/I’ve slept on bathroom floors”
“Melon Cake”
“There was a time/I was living as a prisoner inside my own mind/And there was a time/Where the cat and mouse tried to make me Barbie sized/And I obliged”
On Her Pansexuality
This week, Lovato described herself as “pansexual” on the “The Joe Rogan Experience,” telling the host she doesn’t know if she’ll end up with a male or female partner or become pregnant. On the new album, she delves into her “sexually fluid” nature.
“The Kind of Lover I Am”
“I’m the type of morning after your sister wants around/Might not believe in monogamy … Doesn’t matter, you’re a woman or man/That’s the kind of lover I am”
