While performing at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado last night (October 28), Shawn Mendes played “The Mountain,” an unreleased song he has been performing live lately. Notably, the lyrics (per Genius) address Mendes’ sexuality: “You can say I’m too young / You can say I’m too old / You can say I like girls or boys / Whatеver fits your mold.”
During the show, Mendes also spoke more directly about his sexuality, saying (as seen in this video shared on TikTok)
“Since I was really young, there’s been this thing about my sexuality, and people have been talking about it for so long. And I think it’s kind of silly, because I think sexuality is such a beautifully complex thing, and it’s so hard to just put into boxes. It always felt like such an intrusion on something very personal to me, something that I was figuring out in myself, something that I had yet to discover, and still have yet to discover.
Writing this song felt really important to me because it felt like a moment where I could address it in a way that felt close to my heart. I guess I’m just speaking freely now because I just want to be closer to everyone and be in my truth. The real truth about my life and my sexuality is that, man, I’m just figuring it out like everyone. I don’t really know sometimes, and I know other times, and it feels really scary because we live in a society that has a lot to say about that, and I’m trying to be really brave and just allow myself to be a human and feel things. That’s all I really want to say about that for now.”
Mendes’ sexuality, for those not aware, has been a talking point for years now.