Shawn Mendes Sings He Was ‘About to Be a Father’ on New Track

Shawn Mendes marked his birthday, Aug. 8, with a double release on Thursday — unveiling tracks “Why Why Why” and “Isn’t That Enough” from his upcoming fifth album, Shawn.

The former was shared alongside a new video featuring Mendes strumming his guitar and singing inside a barn and along a river, spliced with footage of him performing solo on a dark stage. Anthony Wilson and Connor Brashier directed the visual for “Why Why Why,” while the lyrics see Mendes remember a former lover while pondering the cyclic nature of life.

“Visions of her naked in my head/But I went off and chose myself instead,” sings Mendes in the opening verse, while later in the song, he reveals: “I thought I was about to be a father/Shook me to the core I’m still a kid/Sometimes, I still cry out for my mother.”

When discussing “Why Why Why” in an upcoming interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, Mendes told the host that “there was something anthemic about those words.” He added, “It almost felt like a cry. It felt like … I don’t know. It just felt powerful and beautiful.”

He also said that “Isn’t That Enough” felt like “I had a conversation with the fans and with the public.” He explained, “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.’”

The new ballads arrive nearly three years after Mendes and Camila Cabello announced their breakup in November 2021. In 2019 they released their collaborative track “Señorita,” which reached Number One on the Billboard Hot 100.

He also shared that the process of making his fifth album, was “the most natural thing I’ve ever made.” Mendes added that it “feels like the most natural thing to talk about it. It feels like the most natural thing to play live. And so it’s just giving me all these … It just kind of feels easier than it ever has in a really lovely way.”

With Shawn set to drop on Oct. 18, Mendes announced earlier this month that he will perform the album from top to bottom on an upcoming six-show run making stops at theaters in Woodstock, London, Nashville, Brooklyn, Los Angeles, and Seattle. The trek kicked off on Thursday at Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, and next week, he’ll take the stage at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London.