Treat Myself

"Treat Myself"
Victoria Justice
General information
Type:	Single
Released:	December 11, 2020
Genre(s):	Soft pop
Length:	2:42
Writer(s):	Jonathan Pakfar Shane Eli Abrahams Tayler Buono Victoria Justice
Producer(s):	Campfire
Singles chronology
Previous:	"Gold"
Next:	"Stay"

"Treat Myself" is a song performed by American actress and singer Victoria Justice, co-written with Tayler Buono and its producers, Campfire (Jonathan Pakfar and Shane Eli Abrahams). It was released as a single on December 11, 2020.

Background and release

Victoria Justice spoke about the creation of "Treat Myself" in interviews with Forbes and Billboard published in the year following the single's release. Justice wrote the song months before the COVID-19 pandemic, later deeming it was the perfect time to release it as many people were struggling during the pandemic. The singer wasn't very prepared before making the song. When she and Tayler Buono were writing it together at the piano, they already had the line "I wouldn't say the things I do to anybody else", then Justice suddenly came up with "So why is it okay to say it to myself?", creating the concept for the song that began to "flow out" of her. Justice admitted she was unsure about releasing the song, because she wondered whether the public would be interested in it and how they would rate it; later considering it was "a good confidence boost" when the single began to receive positive reviews.

On December 7, 2020, Justice shared a snippet of the song with the caption "If only you could hear what goes on in my mind..." on her social media. The next day, she revealed her new song "Treat Myself" would be released on December 11. Originally, the singer wanted to release her debut studio album or solo extended play that year, but stated "2020 has not exactly turned out as many of us planned", and she has written and recorded many songs, but decided to release this song as it "has a message that I think is more important than ever to share now". She also posted two other lines of the song before its release. It's Justice's first single since 2013's "Gold" and the first music release since the contribution on the soundtrack to Get Squirrely in 2016. According to the single's official credits, Justice co-wrote the song with Jonathan Pakfar, Shane Eli Abrahams, and Buono, with the former two also responsible for production—being credited under their group name Campfire. The lyric video was uploaded on the singer's YouTube channel on the same day as the single's release.

About the song, the singer later made several posts on X, stating she learned to trust herself and to not fear being vulnerable through writing it, and its message "could help people", as "that's what music's about. Being real & honest & hoping that someone connects." At the time of the Billboard interview, published on March 5, 2021, "Treat Myself" had over 2.5 million streams on Spotify. Justice said it wasn't her primary goal to get the song on the charts or radio, although she admitted she was near tears when she noticed the song appeared on Spotify's New Music Friday playlist. The singer also stated she isn't sure if "Treat Myself" and the next single, "Stay", will be on the album, as she needs to get back in the studio first before making any promises.

Journalistic commentary

Gabrielle Sanchez of Vulture described "Treat Myself" as "a soft pop bop" in which Victoria Justice "works through harsh inner monologues to reach a state of self-compassion". The song was included in the list of "10 Cool New Pop Songs to Get You Through the Week" published by Jason Lipshutz for Billboard on December 14, 2020, in which he called the track "lovely" and wrote it's "both a document of self-discovery for the former Nickelodeon star, and, with its unfussy production, a good reminder of her vocal skill". Brenton Blanchet, another writer for the magazine who interviewed Justice the following year, added in his article "Treat Myself" is "a gentle, guitar-plucking self-love pop anthem with a bridge pretty enough to melt its listeners".

Idolator's Mike Wass deemed it "was worth the wait" for Justice's musical comeback with "Treat Myself", describing it's "a raw, emotional ballad with deeply relatable lyrics". Similarly, Treva Bowdoin briefly reviewed the song for Inquisitr, noting Justice's "real, raw lyrics" in the song, which are about "the need to engage in some serious self-care". Brendan Wetmore of Elite Daily wrote Justice's song "was the perfect single to kickstart her new venture into a full-time career as a pop star, and a perfect way to close out 2020", additionally commenting on her voice as "perfectly suited for modern pop tropes, like soft guitar plucks and haunting choruses reminiscent of Olivia Rodrigo's 'Drivers License' and other sad TikTok bangers".

Music video

On December 14, 2020, Victoria Justice announced on her social media the music video would premiere in two days and shared a snippet of it. The next day, she shared a photo of herself in a bathtub from the set of the video. The video was uploaded on singer's YouTube account on December 16. It was directed by John Logsdon and Patrick Dwyer, and filmed in one day. The behind-the-scenes video was released a month later.

The entire music video takes place during the night time. The first scene features Justice, who appears to listen to many superimposed whispers that can be heard in the background, lying alone in bed. When she starts singing, a clone of herself appears on the other side of the bed. This version appears to be the negative side of the singer, as she sings the part of the song's first verse that states that she isn't good enough. The next scenes feature both sides of Justice in the bathroom, where she washes her face and her negative side sits on the counter; in the car, where she drives the car while the other side of her sits in the back and dreams while watching the city; in another bathroom, where both sides of her are relaxing in the same tub; and at the pool, where the first Justice is seen jumping into the water while the other side of her is sitting above it, before entering the water too. During the song's post-chorus, some of the scenes are reversed. One of the Justices comes out of the water and gives the other one her hand. In the bed scene at the end of the video, the real Justice corrects the hairstyle of her negative side, who repays her by showing a slight smile and then disappears.

Justice revealed it was her idea for the video: "I always saw this video as me being with myself. And I always wanted there to be an underwater element. I loved the idea of not being able to escape the other 'me' that represents the more negative thoughts in my head." Treva Bowdoin from Inquisitr detailed the video is "the physical manifestation of her personal demons, self-doubt, and fear", and its darkness "was possibly meant to represent the dark places that the lyrics initially went to". She also noted the comment section under the video is full of rave reviews. At the time of the Billboard interview, published on March 5, 2021, the video had over 3.5 million views.

Credits

Song

Personnel

• Tayler Buono – Writer
• Campfire (Shane Eli Abrahams and Jonathan Pakfar) – Producers, writers
• Victoria Justice – Performer, writer

Management

• Published by JPakfar Music (BMI); Shane Eli Music (BMI); Tayler Buono Music (BMI)

Music video

• aaro Entertainment – Behind-the-scenes
• Patrick Dwyer – Camera, director
• Lily Dowling – Body double
• Lusine Galdjian – Hair, makeup
• Madison Guest – Styling
• Victoria Justice – Performer
• John Logsdon – Director

Lyrics

[Intro]
Ooh, ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh

[Verse 1]
Can't sleep through the night again
Dammit, here I go again
Conversations never end (oh, oh)
You'll never be good enough
You're not capable of love
Might as well just give it up (oh, oh)

[Pre-chorus]
Lies, lies, lies
Overwhelmed inside
Haven't loved myself for a minute
Try, try, try
To be on my side
I'm my own worst enemy, admit it

[Chorus]
I need to treat myself better
I really can be so unkind
I know that I deserve better
If only you could hear what goes on in my mind
I wouldn't say the things I do to anybody else
So why's it okay to say to myself?
I need to treat myself better
I need to treat myself, treat myself

[Verse 2]
I don't need nobody else
Learnin' this shit for myself
Lighten up and smell all of the roses (oh, oh)
Voices keep on whisperin'
But you should just stop listenin'
You got all that magic and you know it (oh, oh)

[Pre-chorus]
Lies, lies, lies
Overwhelmed inside
Haven't loved myself for a minute

[Chorus]
I need to treat myself better
I really can be so unkind
I know that I deserve better
If only you could hear what goes on in my mind
I wouldn't say the things I do to anybody else
So why's it okay to say to myself?
I need to treat myself better
I need to treat myself, treat myself

[Post-chorus]
Better than I do
Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh
Better than I do
Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh
Better than I do
Ooh-ooh
Better than I do
Ooh-ooh
Better than I do
Ooh-ooh

[Outro]
I need to treat myself, treat myself

Trivia

• "Treat Myself" is Victoria Justice's first released explicit song, as it contains the word "shit".
• The same day the music video premiered, Justice answered questions about the song and its video on X:
  • The pool scene was the hardest one to film because the water was extremely cold.
  • Her favorite shots from the music video were all the underwater moments and when she was in the tub "with [herself]".
  • Her favorite lines from the song are "I don't need nobody else, learnin' this shit for myself" and "You got all that magic and you know it".
  • Some of the scenes in the video showing Justice twice were stitched together in editing, but she also had a body double (Lily Dowling, as confirmed later in the behind-the-scenes video).
  • Contrasting to the cold pool water, the bath water was so warm the singer felt she was sweating at one point.
  • Answering the question of whether filming was difficult because of the pandemic, Justice wrote "Definitely harder than normal, but we all were tested and wore masks on set... and even with a much smaller crew we were able to get it done".
  • She claimed her dog Sammy loves this song because he loves treats. (She later posted a photo of the dog.)
• In an MTV video "20 Questions for 2024", when asked which lyrics from her songs describes her right now, Justice replied with "Voices keep on whispering, but you should just stop listening, you got all the magic and you know it" from "Treat Myself".
• In an interview with Billboard during the 9th Annual Latin American Music Awards in 2024, when asked which of her songs connected with her fans, Justice replied "Treat Myself", stating many people told her this song helped them through difficult times in their lives, which she found "amazing".
• To celebrate World Mental Health Day in 2022, Justice posted a video with this song on seven ways she treats herself better; through meditation, healthy eating, exercising, massage, having time for herself, being in nature, and spending quality time with Sammy.
• "WATCH TREAT MYSELF" was a trending topic on X.
• Many celebrities and friends of Justice congratulated her on the release of "Treat Myself", including her former Victorious co-stars Leon Thomas III and Ariana Grande. Grande also later added the single to the Who Runs the World playlist for Apple Music, for which Justice thanked her on X.

Videos

Victoria Justice - Treat Myself (Official Music Video)

Music video

Victoria Justice - Treat Myself (Behind the Scenes)

Behind-the-scenes of the music video

Victoria Justice - Treat Myself (Official Lyric Video)

Lyric video

Treat Myself

Audio

My 1st release as an independent artist turned 3 yesterday 🤍

How do you treat yourself better? Here are my 7 go-to’s

Victoria Justice On New Single "Raw" & Dream Collab With Karol G - Latin American Music Awards 2024

Billboard interview at the 9th Annual Latin American Music Awards