Shawn Mendes Sings He Was 'About to Be a Father' in New Single 'Why Why Why': 'Shook Me to the Core'

Mar. 15, 2025

Shawn Mendes.Photo:Hector Vivas/Getty

Hector Vivas/Getty

Shawn Mendesis getting real about fatherhood in his new music.On Friday, Aug, 9, the singer-songwriter, 26 released his new song"Why Why Why"ahead of the release of his forthcoming fifth albumShawn. In the bridge of his upbeat single, the musician sings, “I thought I was about to be a father.“The lyric continues, “Shook me to the core / I’m still a kid.”Throughout the track, Mendes sings of a long-lost love he hoped to have a future with until their relationship ended, though he doesn’t identify who the relationship is with.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest storiesA rep for Mendes has not immediately responded to PEOPLE’s request for comment regarding the line.In an upcomingApple Music 1interview, Mendes tells host Zane Lowe that “it felt pointless” not to be incredibly candid in his new music.“I realized there was 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,’ ” he says. “It felt pointless to dance around it, even if the song was never to see the light of day.”He adds, “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 PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!Mendes says that the ”heavy anxiety” that came with his honesty only motivated him further.“It was just one of those experiences where there became this joke while we were making the album that was, like, if I started to experience some pretty heavy anxiety in the studio everyone was sure that a great song was going to be coming after it because there was some sort of healing crisis, some sort of breakthrough that was supposed to happen.”

Shawn Mendesis getting real about fatherhood in his new music.

On Friday, Aug, 9, the singer-songwriter, 26 released his new song"Why Why Why"ahead of the release of his forthcoming fifth albumShawn. In the bridge of his upbeat single, the musician sings, “I thought I was about to be a father.”

The lyric continues, “Shook me to the core / I’m still a kid.”

Throughout the track, Mendes sings of a long-lost love he hoped to have a future with until their relationship ended, though he doesn’t identify who the relationship is with.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories

A rep for Mendes has not immediately responded to PEOPLE’s request for comment regarding the line.

In an upcomingApple Music 1interview, Mendes tells host Zane Lowe that “it felt pointless” not to be incredibly candid in his new music.

“I realized there was 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,’ ” he says. “It felt pointless to dance around it, even if the song was never to see the light of day.”

He adds, “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 PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

Mendes says that the ”heavy anxiety” that came with his honesty only motivated him further.

“It was just one of those experiences where there became this joke while we were making the album that was, like, if I started to experience some pretty heavy anxiety in the studio everyone was sure that a great song was going to be coming after it because there was some sort of healing crisis, some sort of breakthrough that was supposed to happen.”

source: people.com