Shawn Mendes' best friend and solo artist Camila Cabello is called forth to assist him on writing and producing his sophomore album in Upstate New York. A romance sparks and the two are now closer than ever.
Started ~ 4/2/17
Camila ~ "Hmm, what about... I have to be honest with you, baby. I love you and all, but this is crazy...?" I lifted my hands up in suggestion. We've been writing for about four hours and it really has been difficult. I thought Shawn would be joking, but he isn't. My songs usually aren't this hard to write. Shawn contemplated my suggestion until he shook his head from it unpleased. He slumped in his chair, pulling at his hairs. He really was a tortured soul.
"What about," he began, grabbing hold of his guitar and lying it on top of his lap to play," I have to be honest with you baby, tell me if I'm wrong and this crazy...?" He gave me the same expression I gave him with my suggestion, but this time, it was actually good. I gave him a thumbs up as he immediately wrote it down with my approval. Intently staring down at the strings of the studio guitar, his fingers daintily ran across them, creating a smooth tone set for the song.
He greedily grinned at the sound of the small guitar riffs, fully understanding what greatness he is making all just at the palms of his simple working hands.
"Okay, so I got this idea of incorporating a rose into this song as a symbol of love wilting away, but how am I supposed to write that into words?" Shawn sipped the ceramic cup filled with brewed tea. He said it was good for preserving his voice, but I think he just likes to drink tea as a fetish.
"Maybe if you try to say it along the words of don't let this die or something." Geoff chipped into the conversation. I noticed that none of the boys here have shaved for a while and now have scruff just on their cheeks. "Too demanding." I responded to him as Shawn nodded his head in agreement. "Will you let it die?" Geoff added in once more. His suggestion actually wasn't too bad this time. "I don't want it to just be about it dying, I want the rose to represent life too. What about will you let it die or let it live?" Shawn ran his large hand through his plump hair in frustration. I noticed that was a niche of his to do: get frustrated and touch hair. "What about grow? Say... Say will you let it die or let it grow?" Oliver piped in to the group. I could definitely feel everybody's eyes light up after that great suggestion. Once excitingly writing it down, Shawn high-fives everyone near him (including me) and began to sing the song in order to hear what it sounds like so far. He did this after every verse/chorus/bridge. Can't blame him, though. It was smart.
Maybe the tea was necessary, because his voice could screech throughout an entire stadium, and it would still break glass. (This isn't good, he's straining his voice!) He was out of breath and drank the remains of his tea.
Continuing to converse with the others around us, I awkwardly sat in between him and everyone else. It's not that I feel left out, it's more that I feel like I've had a lot less to contribute to his music compared to all of the other people here with us.
Every now and then I would just randomly bring up a subject and talk about it for a little bit and return to songwriting.
Just then, a spark bolted into my brain as I figured the next lyric got his song.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! What if, for the line after that, you say I'm not trying to start a fire with this flame...?" Shawn immediately wrote down those lyrics with excitement in his eyes. "Yes! Holy shit! That's perfect!" Oliver clapped his hands together. Everyone joined in with compliments toward me before returning until our serious songwriting mode.
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