Shawn Mendes again sang about climate change in the wake of Canadian wildfires. The singer-songwriter released a new song called What the Hell Are We Dying For? and said he wrote the song this week amid the Canadian wildfires that sent a blaze of smoke throughout many areas of the United States, causing air quality issues, reports a popular magazine.
"Started writing this song yesterday morning with my friends in upstate New York & finished it only a few hours ago...felt important to me to share with you guys in real-time," wrote Mendes, 24, on Instagram, noting that he's making a donation to the Canadian Red Cross alongside the song's release.
As per the magazine, the track, produced by Mendes and Mike Sabath and co-written by the pair with Scott Harris and Eddie Benjamin, was released with a cover image taken this week of the New York City skyline covered in orange smog from the wildfire smoke.
"Smoke in the air, the city's burnin' down, I wanna speak, but I don't make a sound," sings the Grammy nominee in the pop-rock ballad, referencing the situation. "Locked in my mind, you're all I think about I wanna save us, but I don't know how."
The magazine further states that while the song seems to be about the wildfires and climate change at large, some of its lyrics appear to nod toward the end of a relationship - leading fans to wonder if Mendes is singing about a possible breakup from Camila Cabello following their rumoured reconciliation.
"If we don't love like we used to / If we don't care like we used to / What the hell are we dying for? / If it doesn't cut like it used to / If you're not mine and I'm not yours / What the hell are we dying for?" sings the musician in the track's chorus.