Don't Go Yet

Album: Familia (2021)
Charted: 37 42
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Don't Go Yet" is a raunchy entreaty from Camila Cabello asking her lover to stay a little longer. The "Havana" hitmaker sings of waiting months for her boyfriend to pay a visit. She marked time fantasizing about the long romantic night they would spend together only for him to ruin her dreams when he finally arrives. The guy tells her he's got a flight to catch first thing the next morning; he wants an early night, but she pleads with him to forget any such ideas and stay with her.
  • When Camila Cabello wrote the song, she was dating Shawn Mendes. Because they have separate successful pop music careers, they spend much of their time away from each other. Cabello likely drew from her feelings of frustration at being separated from her boyfriend for long periods.
  • Cabello sings some Spanish words in the bridge.

    No te vayas, quédate
    Dale
    Oh-no-no, don't leave yet
    Ahora voy yo


    It translates to:

    Don't go, stay,
    Do it
    Oh-no-no, don't leave yet
    I'm going now
  • Cabello told Apple Music's Zane Lowe the song about togetherness was inspired, in part, by being home again with her Cuban-Mexican family during the various coronavirus lockdowns. "What I really wanted to manifest is collective joy," she said. "'Don't Go Yet' is - sonically and melodically - just me being free."

    Cabello said she returned to her Latin origins while quarantining with her nearest and dearest. "I think being in Miami for so long and having more family around me and speaking Spanish just kind of brought me back," she said. "I think my roots went deeper in a way that I really needed."
  • Cabello's first new single since her 2019 album Romance, she released "Don't Go Yet" on July 23, 2021. It is the lead single from her third album, Familia.
  • Cabello penned the song with Shawn Mendes' regular writing partner Scott Harris and producers Ricky Reed and Mike Sabath. Cabello told Zane Lowe she became close to Harris through her boyfriend; they started writing tracks for Famila in a makeshift studio in her bedroom in Miami in the summer of 2020 using a mic, some MIDI keyboards and guitars.

    They bought their demos to LA where Cabello met and worked with Mike Sabath (Liam Payne's "Familiar," Jonas Brothers "Hesitate") for the first time. On the first day of working together they listened to some old Cuban songs, then wrote "Don't Go Yet."

    Afterwards, Ricky Reed "put his sauce" all over the track.
  • Cabello pays tribute to her heritage by featuring a live Cuban band on the song.
  • Multimedia artist Philippa Price (Katy Perry's "Never Really Over ") and Argentinean graphic designer Pilar Zeta (Bea Miller's "It's Not U It's Me") directed the video. It portrays a vibrant party with many of Cabello's actual family members, including her father, sister, and cousin. You also hear her grandad's voice playing on the radio station in the beginning.

    The singer told You Tube's Released the clip was inspired by Cuban-Mexican family parties from her childhood, where "everybody eats dinner, and then after you put on a little cheap disco ball with lights and suddenly the living room is the dance floor."
  • The song features on the dance rhythm game Just Dance 2022. "I knew obviously when my collaborators and I wrote the song that it was such a party, good-time song," Cabello told Billboard. "But I didn't realize until I played the game that I was like, 'Oh, it's so perfect for dancing with your friends,' and made me want to play Just Dance."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Billy Steinberg - "Like A Virgin"

Billy Steinberg - "Like A Virgin"They're Playing My Song

The first of Billy's five #1 hits was the song that propelled Madonna to stardom. You'd think that would get you a backstage pass, wouldn't you?

Kristian Bush of Sugarland

Kristian Bush of SugarlandSongwriter Interviews

Kristian talks songwriting technique, like how the chorus should redefine the story, and how to write a song backwards.

Colbie Caillat

Colbie CaillatSongwriter Interviews

Since emerging from MySpace with her hit "Bubbly," Colbie has become a top songwriter, even crafting a hit with Taylor Swift.

Soul Train Stories with Stephen McMillian

Soul Train Stories with Stephen McMillianSong Writing

A Soul Train dancer takes us through a day on the show, and explains what you had to do to get camera time.

JJ Burnel of The Stranglers

JJ Burnel of The StranglersSongwriter Interviews

JJ talks about The Stranglers' signature sound - keyboard and bass - which isn't your typical strain of punk rock.

Strange Magnetics

Strange MagneticsSong Writing

How Bing Crosby, Les Paul, a US Army Signal Corps Officer, and the Nazis helped shape rock and Roll.