10 Perfect Hit Songs That Are Insanely Long

In the wake of Rock Your Body and SexyBack, the Justin Timberlake that you knew from NSYNC and the Mickey Mouse Club was officially gone. In his place now was a seasoned veteran of the pop scene, and he was looking to turn his sound inside out now that he had Timbaland as one of his main producers for FutureSex/LoveSounds. These guys would throw anything at the wall and somehow make it stick, and What Goes Around practically feels like it deserves its own mini movie.

Justin rarely ever strikes out when taking on love songs, but this is the kind of jaded goodbye song that is definitely a step up for him, talking about a woman who played him for a fool and how time is going to teach her a lesson. Like all songs like this, this could have easily just been a bounceback song like Return of the Mack, only for the track to keep playing out as the strings get more and more haunting on the back half of the song.

We don’t hear the falsetto as often here, and you feel like you’re talking to the real Justin, as he tracks his ex’s moves and sees her slowly fall apart, trying to come back to her sideman and only getting a busy tone. Spanning across 7 minutes, this feels like the kind of revenge scenario playing out in real time, as Justin sees his ex fall apart and trying not to go back to her in the process. If anything, this should be more of a lesson than a song. You may try to have it both ways in life, but time can play you for a fool as well.