Behind the smooth tone and dramatic drums of Shawn Mendes's hit single "In My Blood," are lyrics that document an inner struggle. Canadian outlet eTalk recently resurfaced a video from 2018 discussing the song and its ties to Shawn's anxiety in honour of Bell Let's Talk Day [1], a campaign created by Bell Canada to raise awareness about and destigmatize mental illness.
Shawn tells eTalk that the most challenging part about releasing a track with lyrics referring to walls caving in or lines like, "Someone help me / I'm crawling in my skin / Sometimes I feel like giving up / But I just can't / It isn't in my blood," was fighting the doubts that it wasn't worth listening to. "As a songwriter, I was thinking, 'I don't know if people are gonna want to listen to this because I don't know if they wanna hear me talk about being sad.'"
Shawn, who was 19 at the time of the interview, continued on to say, "I realise that 15-year-old me could have used 19-year-old me's song." It became, he explained, a "very intimate, personal thing." He further detailed to Billboard that same year that "In My Blood" explores specifically his first experience dealing with anxiety [2]. It's meant to, he said, allude to this feeling that you're on the verge of giving up "and then you don't."
Dance-worthy songs get you excited to take on life and have fun, but vulnerable songs — ones that talk about inner struggles despite happy times — are what truly connect us. Ahead, watch the full interview from eTalk and listen to "In My Blood."