A Complete Breakdown of Camila Cabello’s Possible References to Shawn Mendes on ‘Familia’

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A Complete Breakdown of Camila Cabello's Possible References to Shawn Mendes on 'Familia'

Truth in music. Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes called it quits just six months ago, and her new album, Familia, is seemingly full of references to their romance. The former Fifth Harmony member, 25, released her third solo LP, Familia, on Friday, April 8. Ahead of the album's debut, the Cinderella actress said that she feels her latest work is more "true" to who she really is. “Compared to my previous albums, I think I'm ... in a better, more grounded, more well-rounded space," she told Reuters on Wednesday, April 6. "My first two albums was, like, late teens, early 20s. I had a lot of anxiety making those albums.” When Cabello released her previous album, Romance, in December 2019, she and the "In My Blood" singer, 23, were still together. The former couple called it quits in November 2021 after two years of dating. The "Crying in the Club" singer was already at work on Familia, so fans began speculating about whether any new tracks would mention Mendes. [sendtonews type="float" key="peRBvDVsYh-2833574-14453"] Last month, the Latin Grammy winner revealed that her single "Bam Bam" is about how "things change and things take really unexpected turns” in life. The first verse includes the lines: “We were kids at the start, I guess we’re grown-ups now / Couldn’t never imagine even havin’ doubts, but not everything works out.” Cabello explained that she wanted the lyrics to reflect the way her "focus has changed" over the years. “Those years that we were dating … even while I was writing this album and even still now, I guess my focus is really on, ‘How can I be a well-rounded person?'” she told Zane Lowe during a March interview with Apple Music. “I love Shawn and I feel like there is literally nothing but love for him. And this song is mostly just about, like, ‘OK, how do I make a song that shows the cycles of love and life?'” The "Lost in Japan" singer, for his part, released a new song on March 31 that he wrote "about a month" after his split from Cabello. "A month later, you kind of start having all the memories of things that happened, and all the memories of so many amazing things," he told Extra after "When You're Gone" debuted last month. "And I was writing about that." Mendes added that he gave his ex-girlfriend a heads-up about the tune before its release. "Camila and I have always been writers for as long as we've known each other, so we understand what that means," he explained. "And we respect what that means. And there'll always be transparency between us." Keep scrolling for a complete breakdown of the Familia tracks that seemingly nod to Mendes. [podcast_block]

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'Psychofreak'

Cabello confirmed that her duet with Willow Smith is partly about her exit from Fifth Harmony, but a few lines hint at drama in her personal life as well. "House in the hills is a house of cards / Blink and the fairytale falls apart / Sorry, didn't mean to get so dark / Maybe I'm an alien, Earth is hard," read the lyrics in the chorus.

In the first verse, Cabello sings, "Sometimes I don't trust the way I feel / On my Instagram talkin' 'bout 'I'm healed' / Worryin' if I still got sex appeal / Hopin' that I don't drive off this hill." The pop star often updates her fans about how she's feeling via social media. Shortly after her split from Mendes, for example, the "Havana" singer told her Instagram followers that she was "grateful" for many things in her life. "Happy gratitude day everybody!" she wrote on Thanksgiving 2021. "I’m very thankful for all of you on here who send me love, listen to my music, and support me on this creative/ life journey!"

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'Bam Bam'

"You said you hated the ocean, but you're surfin' now / I said I'd love you for life, but I just sold our house," begins the first verse of Cabello's duet with Ed Sheeran. The "Shape of You" crooner, 31, later sings the lines, "It's been a hell of a year, thank God we made it out / Yeah, we were ridin' a wave and trying not to drown / And on the surface, I held it together / But underneath, I sorta came unwound."

In the chorus, Cabello hints that she feels more like herself after the emotional aftermath of her split from Mendes. "Yeah, that's just life, baby," she sings. "Yeah, love came around and it knocked me down / But I'm back on my feet."

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'La Buena Vida'

In "La Buena Vida," Cabello sings about feeling alone in a long-distance relationship. "I woke up happy by accident / I forgot you were gone again," read the lyrics of the first verse. "But you're so far away / And I can go off the memories / Starting to feel like a memory."

In the pre-chorus, the narrator realizes that her romance hasn't turned out quite like she imagined: "And I thought we'd be traveling the world together / Making love in the afternoon / But I'm forgetting what it's like to wake up next to you / And this is what I go through."

This feeling continues in the chorus with the lines, "You should be here, should be with me tonight / 'Stead you're working, you're working all the time / Why am I home alone with your glass of wine? / Oh no, oh no, this is not the life."

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'Boys Don't Cry'

"Boys Don't Cry" isn't about a breakup, but its lyrics relate to a topic that Mendes has talked about wanting to dismantle: toxic masculinity. "It’s the feeling of having to be so strong all the time and having to be bigger or better than feeling sad or feeling anxious or feeling upset," he told ET Canada in December 2020. “Real strength comes from being strong enough and being vulnerable enough to feel those feelings and to cry and to let it go.”

In "Boys Don't Cry," Cabello sings, "You never had much of a poker face / It doesn't make you less of a man / You're just human right now."

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'Don't Go Yet'

This track premiered before Cabello and Mendes' split, and the "Liar" singer confirmed that it was inspired by the feeling of wanting to take things to the next level with your crush. "It was so easy for me to write this song because it’s such a vivid memory that I have from before my current boyfriend was my boyfriend," she told Genius in September 2021. "And I remember us being like, 16 or 17, and a handful of times feeling like, 'We’re gonna go to this afterparty or this party.' And I was like, 'This is the night! This is the night that we’re finally gonna kiss. That it’s finally gonna turn more than a friendship.'"

In the first verse, for example, Cabello sings, "I replayed this moment for months / Alone in my head, waitin' for it to come / I wrote all your lines in the script in my mind / And I'd hoped that you'd follow it for once."

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'Everyone at This Party'

In the final track on Familia, Cabello reflects on wanting to see someone at a party who she knows won't be there — or anywhere else she's going to be. "I just had this vision of you looking at me different / When you saw this dress / But I'd have one drink and I'd say the wrong thing," she sings in the second verse. "So it's probably for the best / And I'm looking over people's shoulders / And I'm hoping that you're somewhere close."