“Blink and the fairy tale falls apart.” Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images; Amy Sussman/Getty Images
Camila Cabello named her third album Familia, both to honor her Cuban and Mexican heritage (the record features a mariachi band and Spanish vocals) and the family and friends who support her in life. But there is one person lurking everywhere who is no longer in her family: Shawn Mendes. When the couple announced their split in November, Cabello was already well into the album cycle, having released one song and teased another. Now months later, Familia is here, and it’s not a breakup album – although some of the songs were clearly written or edited after things ended, many are likely about their relationship. Still, like Cabello’s exuberant previous album Romance, Familia contains many clues to Cabello and Mendes’ relationship and downfall.
Well, Cabello hasn’t cornered the lyrical market on the subject. Shortly after the breakup, Mendes released the Sad-Boi song “It’ll Be Okay,” which expressed his fears about the relationship ending while declaring to Cabello, “I’m going to love you either way.” Then, before a few weeks, Mendes followed up with “When You’re Gone,” another clear breakup song about “staring at a picture of the only girl that matters” — aka Cabello — and “missing her deeply.” (How is he spending Cabello’s release day, you ask? financial support his upcoming North American tour and minding his business.)
Cabello, meanwhile, has told People that her new album is absolutely true, which is practically an invitation to delve into the lyrics to theorize. Let us begin.
El se quiere mudar pa’ Miami y tomarse un tequila con papi
Él se quiere invitar a mi party no uh-huh, uh-huh-huh-huh
El sonrie aunque no entiende nada, yo le puedo dar clases privadas
Y un par de besitos en la cara no uh-huh, uh-huh-huh-huh
Cabello opens up on Familia in Spanish to gossip about her then-boyfriend, as he probably won’t understand anyway. She sings about a guy who’s dying to spend time in Miami (where she’s from) and spill some tequila with her dad — and who also needs Spanish classes because half the time he doesn’t understand what’s going on. Of course, we know Shawn went to Miami with Cabello during the pandemic, so it sounds like Shamila’s troubles didn’t start there. And at those Spanish lessons, Mendes said Cabello joined him in the studio when he recorded “KESI” with Camilo in 2021 to make sure his pronunciation was correct.
Sometimes I don’t trust my feelings
On my Instagram I talk about “I’m healed”
I worry if I still have sex appeal
I hope I don’t drive off that hill
When we love each other, I want to be there
And I wanna feel you pull my hair
And believe the words you say in my ear
I have to get out, I need some air
Cabello has been on a wellness kick since her split from Mendes on Instagram, posting about meditation and time in nature. On “Psychofreak” she sings about where that comes from: the feeling of not being able to be present in life. “Tell me you love me, are you lying?” she sings in the chorus, rousing the doubts about Mendes that snap her out of the moment. It’s not just because of their relationship, either — “Sorry, I couldn’t focus on the movie,” she sings later in the song, possibly referring to some difficulties surrounding her planned starring role in 2021’s Cinderella.
Everyone says they miss the old me
I’ve been on this ride since I was 15
I don’t blame the girls for how it went down
But pause — let’s talk about another breakup for a second. Cabello told Reuters that this song had a nod to her rocking farewell to Fifth Harmony, and indeed she says she has no issue with her former bandmates. But could that “Down” also be a reference to your first song without her, “Down”?
You said you hated the sea, but now you surf
I said I’d love you for life, but I just sold our house
In the beginning we were kids, now we’re grown up, mmm
I couldn’t imagine having any doubts
But not everything works
Okay, back to the Shamila split, our current topic. On “Psychofreak,” Cabello called the couple’s home “a house of cards” and sang, “Blink and the Fairytale Falls Apart.” Those are the opening lines of the post-breakup single “Bam Bam,” which she first released in March. After four tracks on Familia, Cabello is finally getting dodgy — while she’s posting about being in nature, Mendes has actually shown off his beach body in posts about surfing since the breakup. But bragging about selling the house? Now there is a setback.
You should be here, should be with me tonight
“Shut up, you work, you work all the time
Why am I home alone with your glass of wine?
Oh no, oh no, this is not life
Cabello first performed this song on her NPR Tiny Desk in October, before she and Mendes announced their split. So let’s say this song was written before the breakup. Still, things are sounding a little off, as Mendes appears to be twitching time for work alongside Cabello. Sure enough, a source told People after the split that work got in the couple’s way — and from the way Cabello sings it, it sounds like Mendes’ work. (Admittedly, she may have had high expectations for their relationship, singing about dreams of “traveling the world together” and “making love in the afternoon”. They both have jobs to do!)
Listen, listen, I get it, I get it
I understand it better than anyone
Life is now, one tends to forget it
In retrospect you will regret it
Here it is again: the attendance issues. Only this time, Mendes seems to be the culprit. “La Buena Vida” is the angriest song on Familia, and this is where things start to improve — with a confident Cabello later teasing Mendes about missing her. Do you remember their little meeting after the breakup in January? Afterward, a source told Hollywood Life Mendes “thought being without her would be easier than it is.” Hmm!
have you grown up Your hair looks longer
Few tattoos since I saw you
Look at your hands and think of my plans for them
With “Quiet,” one of Familia’s sexier songs, it’s a bit difficult to get the timeline straight. Cabello begins by singing about how she longs to see Mendes before moving on to a chorus about kissing and touching her ex in the back seat of a car. Sounds pretty coupled, right? But then there’s this second verse where it sounds like we’re in post-breakup status. (Thanks to the Stans for noticing that Mendes got a new tattoo after the breakup.) Cabello proceeds to imagine having Mendes’ hands on her again … before we get right back into the backseat of that car in the chorus . Sure, that’s how songwriting works, but maybe, just maybe, could she say that she and Mendes had a little moment together during that reunion?
Hate it when you shut me out
Pretend it’s your shit to find out
I don’t want to be touched, I don’t want to argue
I see, I just
Now I’m in my head about what’s in your head
Come back to bed, can we talk about this?
Do you notice a topic? From Cabello’s point of view, Mendes seems to shut her out — and that extends to his feelings, which he previously sang about having trouble expressing himself. “Why are you hiding from me?” Cabello sings. “That only makes it worse.”
see visions on the ceiling
Drunk kisses, heavy breathing
You are against the wall
She unbuttons your jeans and you tell her you want it all
Contrary to the title, Cabello reveals in this song that she had some doubts about Mendes – specifically, worrying about him with other girls, which she also sings about in the previous song “Hasta Los Dientes.” But Cabello’s imaginary scene (which is pretty hot, for those of us who have crushes on Shawn-Mendes) comes from a real concern, she adds, that Mendes and this other woman had “a real connection.” Still, Mendes leaves her “without a doubt” when they’re together and he bites her lip, she sings. As if anyone in this situation could!
Say you have a flight, need an early night?
No, don’t go yet
Looking back on the first single to Familia, which came out when Mendes and Cabello were still very much together in July 2021, some bubbling issues seem clear. Namely again Mendes work, which stands in the way of their relationship. It’s not red flag status… maybe just a yellow one?
And I keep having these thoughts, did we screw it up or not?
Have we wasted two years?
And did you get the space you need?
Did you realize that you don’t need me?
Cabello slows things down on Familia’s Closer, a song about the oh-too-relative feeling of going to an event to look for your ex. “I just had this vision of you looking at me differently / When you saw that dress,” Cabello sings, explaining her own concerns that their breakup was a mistake. She digs further into the second verse, wondering if she threw away two years with Mendes (from about July 2019 to November 2021) — or, worse, if he doesn’t feel the same way about how things ended. “Hey, did you realize you don’t need me?” she repeats at the end of the song. Talk about a cliffhanger! Hand over the tissues.