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

The 10 Bands Most Like Spinal Tap

The 10 Bands Most Like Spinal TapSong Writing

Based on criteria like girlfriend tension, stage mishaps and drummer turnover, these are the 10 bands most like Spinal Tap.

Pam Tillis

Pam TillisSongwriter Interviews

The country sweetheart opines about the demands of touring and talks about writing songs with her famous father.

Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes

Chris Robinson of The Black CrowesSongwriter Interviews

"Great songwriters don't necessarily have hit songs," says Chris. He's written a bunch, but his fans are more interested in the intricate jams.

A Monster Ate My Red Two: Sesame Street's Greatest Song Spoofs

A Monster Ate My Red Two: Sesame Street's Greatest Song SpoofsSong Writing

When singers started spoofing their own songs on Sesame Street, the results were both educational and hilarious - here are the best of them.

Ed Roland of Collective Soul

Ed Roland of Collective SoulSongwriter Interviews

The stories behind "Shine," "December," "The World I Know" and other Collective Soul hits.

Janet Jackson

Janet JacksonFact or Fiction

Was Janet secretly married at 18? Did she gain 60 pounds for a movie role that went to Mariah Carey? See what you know about Ms. Jackson.