Jessica Simpson says she thought she had to be "artsier" and "more intellectual" when she was dating guys like John Mayer after her divorce.
"I didn't try anything to change my life other than dating different types of guys and conforming to their worlds. I thought I had to be artsier, more intellectual," the singer tells Elle magazine.
As for Mayer, whom she dated last year, Simpson will always cherish their relationship.
"John believed in the Jessica Simpson that's within," she said. "He cherished our love. He helped make me the woman I am today."
Simpson alludes to abuse in one of her new songs, and she tells Elle, "There's nothing on my album that you're gonna hear that I don't relate to or that I haven't experienced."
"Remember That," contains the lyrics, "It doesn't matter how he hurts you / With his hands or with his words / You don't deserve it / It ain't worth it / Take your heart and run."
She doesn't, however, want to talk about what led to recording such a song.
"I don't want to talk about it," she says. "But I have definitely experienced abuse in a way that I would tell people to take their heart and run."
Simpson is now smitten with boyfriend Tony Romo, gushing that "Tony understands me. He appreciates my talent. He's the first person I've spiritually connected with. I'm a girl that loves to be in love. I love love!"
Though the singer, 28, has found happiness with Cowboys quarterback Romo, 27, she admits it wasn't easy. After her much-publicized breakup with Nick Lachey in 2005, Simpson "was going through a lot of pain," she told the magazine for their September issue.
Simpson's next album, titled "Do You Know," will be released Sept. 9, and the singer said Romo is supportive of her new country sound. "It's the cutest thing. He'll say, 'Jessica, 75 percent of the comments about your new single ['Come On Over'] are favorable.'"
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