The Weight

Album: The Shawn Mendes EP (2014)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Shawn explained the song's meaning during a conversation with performance coach Tom Jackson. "There's a little bit of anger behind it," he said. "It's about your girlfriend cheating on you with your best friend, and now she wants to come back, and you say, 'I want you back, but I just can't get past this.'" (Source: Billboard magazine)
  • This song was co-written by Shawn Mendes, Scott Harris, and Joshua Grant. In an interview with Songwriter Universe, Harris explained the process of creating the song. "After 'Life of the Party,' Shawn and I continued writing," he said. "We just clicked. He wanted to keep writing with me and the feeling was mutual. I think we inspire each other in ways we could have never imagined. Aside from writing, we just became really good friends. He would send me voice note ideas he was coming up with on the road and I would send him ideas back. We actually wrote a song called 'The Weight' together entirely on Skype. I eventually joined him on the tour bus to keep the creativity flowing and a lot of those songs became Handwritten."

Comments: 1

  • Siahara Shyne Carter from United States"I can't lift the wieght and I won't lift the wieght"
    You rock!!!! Shawn I love the songs
    I should be inlove with the

    "writer" hahaha, <3
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Gary Numan

Gary NumanSongwriter Interviews

An Electronic music pioneer with Asperger's Syndrome. This could be interesting.

Curt Kirkwood of Meat Puppets

Curt Kirkwood of Meat PuppetsSongwriter Interviews

The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.

Dean Friedman - "Ariel"

Dean Friedman - "Ariel"They're Playing My Song

Dean's saga began with "Ariel," a song about falling in love with a Jewish girl from New Jersey.

Colin Hay

Colin HaySongwriter Interviews

Established as a redoubtable singer-songwriter, the Men At Work frontman explains how religion, sobriety and Jack Nicholson play into his songwriting.

Corey Hart

Corey HartSongwriter Interviews

The Canadian superstar talks about his sudden rise to fame, and tells the stories behind his hits "Sunglasses At Night," "Boy In The Box" and "Never Surrender."

Did They Really Sing In That Movie?

Did They Really Sing In That Movie?Fact or Fiction

Bradley Cooper, Michael J. Fox, Rami Malek, Reese Witherspoon, Gwyneth Paltrow and George Clooney: Which actors really sang in their movies?