shawnmendes has tweeted: my third studio album is out now!! thank you so much to andrew, scott, and teddy for helping me out with the entire album 🤍🤍 and to julia, taylor, and khalid for joining me on like to be you, why, and youth!! i love you all so much ❤️
replies
juliamichaels let's go!! 🥰🥰 ⤷ shawnmendes 😊😊
user87 THE ALBUM IS FUCKING INSANE SHAWN I LOVE IT SO MUCH ⤷ user2 quick everyone drop ur fav track!! ⤷ user16 ooh definitely why i love taylorrrr ⤷ user44 ruin and perfectly wrong 🥹🥹
aaliyahmendes so proud of you
ryantedder absolute fire album
user26 general question: has a certain girl with a name that rhymes with valley heard it?? ⤷ user44 i'm trying to figure out who these songs are about lol
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shawn mendes new york city, new york ———
after the longest year of my life, the album was finally out. i was fucking ecstatic. people finally got to hear this thing that i'd been working on for so long.
but i, of course, was still awaiting halley's reaction to even see if she realized any songs were about her. unfortunately for me, i was going to have to endure a full reaction in real time.
last night at the victoria secret after party, she told me that today at 11am we were gonna sit and listen to the album together. 11am is in about 4 minutes.
halley walked out of the bathroom, clad in her glasses, low bun, sweatshirt, and pajama shorts. i have no idea how she even looks good like that.
"look what i bought," she said, walking over to her suitcase and grabbing a white shopping bag. "so we can fucking blast this thing," she pulled out a speaker and threw it to me.
"oh, nice," was all i could muster out and say. she sat down on the bed and shoved her phone under the covers, picking up a pillow and hugging it.
"alright, let's go: track one," she smiled and i found the album on spotify (i still can't believe it's out) and pressed play.
"this one isn't gonna be that exciting, you've heard it before..." i said when 'in my blood' started pouring out the speaker.
"shh...no talking. i just wanna listen to you," she whispered. maybe silence would be better.
'in my blood' wrapped up and i knew that 'nervous' was coming next. the first song i ever wrote about halley—the day after i met her. call me romeo.
my favourite guitar riff played and i watched her body start thudding and bopping to the beat. "i saw you on a sunday in a cafe, and all you did was look my way..." i tried to decipher the look in her eyes, but i honestly had no idea what she was thinking. did she even remember that i saw her at the cafe?
nervous is such a good fucking song. i should've released it as a single—maybe more people would hear it. it wrapped up and next was 'lost in japan'; one she'd heard before, phew.
she danced and laughed to the entire song and i was smiling the entire time. next was 'where were you in the morning?', one song that wasn't about her. we listened to it silently and i was running through memories of producing it in my mind.
'like to be you' with julia was next. "ahh, julia!" halley whispered and i grinned. i remembered writing the song so vividly; julia was a genius.
the song ended and it was time for 'ruin'. fuck. this song was written the day after the launch party—a time when i wrote a lot. the opening riff blasted through the speakers and i looked straight at the wall for the entirety of the song.
i wanted to know what she was thinking. i wanted to know if she knew it was about her. but that's the pain of not knowing what's going on in her mind.
after those awful four minutes, it was time for 'since we're alone'. you guessed it, definitely about her. my favourite line in the song was "all your thoughts running through your head, the things you think better left unsaid."
the song i had been dreading to listen to in front of her was next up. when i told her that i was going to do a song with taylor, she immediately started bombarding me with questions, but i could really only tell her the title was 'why'.
the opening played and my voice rang through the speaker. i turned my body to look at her in the other bed. taylor's verse began and halley glanced down. did she know?
i didn't see her pretty face until the song was over and she looked back up. we zoomed through 'if i can't have you', 'queen', 'youth' with khalid, and 'mutual' relatively quickly.
we were nearing the end of the album and it was time for 'perfectly wrong'. i wrote it before i even met halley, but recently i've been feeling like maybe i am perfectly wrong for her. maybe she deserves someone else.
i absolutely adored this song. it was such a nice, heartbreaking song. when i first showed it to aaliyah, she starting sobbing. my thumbs ran past each other as i fidgeted, not really paying attention to anything but the song. i heard a sniff and looked up, to see that halley's eyes were glossy and she was wiping them dry.
i smiled adoringly at her and she got herself together right in time for 'when you're ready'.
"maybe i had too many drinks, but that's just what i needed...i hope that you don't think that what i'm saying sounds conceited,"
we listened to the song and for the first time during our listen, our gazes matched. i saw a look of softness in her eyes as the music played...and i think she caught on. she awkwardly (and cutely) smiled and shoved her face down into her shoulder in embarrassment.
the closing notes played and the music ended. the album was done. she had finally heard the project that was 50% about her. my halley finn album.
"so yeah, that's it..." i muttered out, disconnecting my phone from the speaker. she didn't say anything; she just looked at me and at that moment it was solidified that she knew.
i didn't want to bring up anything first. what if i asked her if she felt the same and she said no?
"it...it's really good," she finally gulped. she took a breath and i could tell she was going to continue, but before she could her phone rang.
she sprung up and answered it, walking out the hotel room door.
— notes! no i legit think this is so shit but here's a new part 🫣
also, the song 'since we're alone' on the album is by niall horan!
