Capping off a year filled with public apologies, “Sorry” is an upbeat anthem about asking for forgiveness.

On its surface, the second single from Purpose seems to be an apology to a woman for making mistakes in a relationship—Bieber said the song is “a little bit” about his ex Selena Gomez. However, Bieber has also suggested that the song is intended to be a more general apology to the world for his mistakes.

On “Sorry,” Bieber collaborated with songwriters Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter (both of whom annotated the song on Genius). Michaels and Tranter also wrote six songs from Selena Gomez’s Revival album, including several songs rumored to be about Bieber.

“Sorry” was produced by Skrillex and BLOOD, and it incorporates elements of tropical house, an EDM genre that’s characterized by a bright sound and Caribbean or Latin influences. BLOOD explained the music’s meaning:

The vocal manipulations make an ambiguous sound and a moment later Justin replies, ‘Sorry.’ Justin’s vocal delivery and the triumphant key of the song gave the narrative a warm color. The beat is saying moving forward, and apologizing, can be exciting and fun.

“Sorry” premiered on UK radio station CapitalFM. It was posted on YouTube together with a dance video featuring New Zealand’s ReQuest Crew. The video, directed and choreographed by Parris Goebel, features a unique new dance style that Goebel calls “Polyswagg,” a style she says combines “sassy woman fire with aggressive inner strength.”

The song debuted at #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, blocked from the top spot by the debut of Adele’s “Hello.” However, 10 weeks after its debut, it finally reached #1, dethroning Adele’s smash hit.