Shawn Mendes got candid in his new song ‘Why Why Why,’ which he released on Friday.
In the track, the Canadian singer revealed that he nearly became a father, despite not feeling ready to enter that chapter of his life.
“I thought I was about to be a father / Shook me to the core, I’m still a kid,” the 26-year-old sings in the bridge. “Sometimes I still cry out for my mother / Why, why, why? Why, why, why?”
He continues, “I don’t know, I don’t know why … Feels like everything goes ’round and ‘round / And ’round, and ’round, and ’round it goes / Feels like everything goes ’round and ‘round.”
Mendes has not addressed the supposed pregnancy scare any further, nor has he mentioned who else was involved. The ‘Stitches’ singer, who has been single since his split from on-off girlfriend Camila Cabello in June 2023—after seriously dating from 2019 to 2021—wanted the song lyrics to be very honest.
“I realized there were two options for me. It was literally like, ‘I’m going to go down this path of speaking my exact truth or I’m going to dance around it,’” the three-time Grammy winner told Zane Lowe in an Apple Music 1 interview released on Friday.
He also mentioned that he “felt no pressure to address anything,” but dealing with something uncomfortable and difficult could produce a great song because of “some sort of healing crisis, some sort of breakthrough.”
“I was like, ‘Why are we here dancing around it?’ So yeah, it felt like I crossed a big threshold. I think it feels just really liberating, even just to be in a space where I’ve done that as a writer. Now I feel more free to do that as a human.”
The song’s title, Mendes said, is another nod to the steps it takes to go through something difficult.
“There was something anthemic about those words, ‘why, why, why.’ It almost felt like a cry. It felt like… I don’t know. It just felt powerful and beautiful.”
The music video, which shows Mendes performing in a barn with his guitar and by a river, was directed by Anthony Wilson and Connor Brashier.
“I wanted people to feel the spectrum of the song and space,” he said of the musical juxtaposition. “I felt, like, I had a conversation with the fans and with the public just to be, like, ‘How are you?’ I needed to address that ‘Hey, how have you been?’ And I needed to say back, ‘I’m good. Everything’s good. It’s going to be good. It’s all right.’”