Lying

Album: Good Things (2021)
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Songfacts®:

  • Here, Dan + Shay are telling their ex they are way over her. They assure their former lover they don't miss her in bed and aren't thinking about her any more. They insist there is no love, no tears and swear they're "not lyin."

    As the duo continue their long-winded professions, the listener begins to suspect they are protesting too much. And on the bridge and the final chorus they partially admit to being in denial:

    Smile in the mirror like I ain't goin' through hell
    I keep tellin' my, tellin' myself
    I don't miss you in my bed
    I don't hear you in my head
    I don't love you, I'm just tryna keep on tellin' my, tellin' myself
  • Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney co-penned "Lying" with Andy Albert and Jordan Reynolds. The same pair also helped Smyers, Mitchell Tenpenny, and Jordan Schmid write their festive single "Take Me Home for Christmas." Smyers also produced the jazzy piano-driven tune.
  • Bill Withers gets a writing credit too. This is because Dan Smyers' jazzy piano line is an interpolation of the soul legend's "Lean On Me."
  • Dan + Shay's go-to visual collaborator, Patrick Tracy, co-directed the video with Dani Vitale. A professionally trained dancer and choreographer, Vitale is Demi Lovato's former creative director. The clip starts with a Cactus Club performance by Dan + Shay before they show some fancy footwork while leading a choreographed line dance in the parking lot.
  • Dan + Shay admitted to Audacy's Rob & Holly that they improvised some of their dance steps in the video because they didn't know all the moves. "We're just like, 'I love all the improv we're doing,'" he said, laughing. "Meanwhile, in our minds we're like, 'everybody panic 'cause I don't know anything!'"

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