Songfacts®:

• On January 14, 2021, Joshua Bassett released "Lie Lie Lie" as the lead single from his debut EP. The song found him accusing someone close of betraying him. Two weeks later he dropped this piano-driven ballad where he appears to be addressing the same two-faced friend.
• On "Lie Lie Lie," Bassett's reaction was simply to cut the friend off. Here, he warns that karma or fate will catch up with them one day.
  
  But it's only a matter of time
  An eye for an eye, you'll go blind
  
  "An eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth" was originally part of The Old Testament law whereby a person who injured another person was penalized to a similar degree. In the New Testament, Jesus quoted the principal when teaching his followers about retaliation, "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matthew 5 v 38-39).
• According to Bassett, he wrote this vulnerable song in the summer of 2020 when the addressee was spreading falsehoods about him while hiding behind a screen. He added: "It was healing to put my phone down, turn off the noise and just write. There's good that comes from social media, but it's also become a place where people can say anything about anyone, no matter how false or damaging with no accountability."
• Bassett is believed to have dated his High School Musical: The Musical: The Series co-star Olivia Rodrigo during the filming of the show in 2019 before splitting in early 2020. Later that year, rumors started that Bassett was seeing another Disney star, Sabrina Carpenter. When Rodrigo released "Drivers License" on January 8, 2021, fans figured it was about her heartache over breaking up with Bassett and his relationship with The Girl Meets World actress. Many also believe "Lie Lie Lie" and "Only a Matter of Time" are his take on romantic entanglement. In both songs, the singer doesn't name names but calls the subject "darling," implying she is a woman.
• Joshua Bassett wrote the song with Amy Wadge. A childhood friend of Ed Sheeran, the English songwriter co-penned Sheeran's hit singles "Thinking Out Loud" and "Galway Girl."
• Bassett co-produced the song with Jake Gosling, who has also worked with One Direction ("Little Things"), Ed Sheeran ("Thinking Out Loud"), and Shawn Mendes ("Mercy").