It's impossible to listen to the radio without hearing
Shawn Mendes's
raspy vocals, and now he's opening up about how "There's Nothing
Holdin' Me Back" came to be. He wrote the hit song about a girl he was
crushing on and no, sorry, it wasn't you. In fact, it's impossible to
compete with this mystery girl, because she's 100 percent fictional.
"I wrote the song actually about a girl in a movie script that I
read," Mendes told MTV News correspondent Gaby Wilson this week, ahead
of his VMA performance on Sunday. "I was going to act in a movie and I
fell in love with the girl character, and so I wrote a song about her."
Let's be real here. Who among us HASN'T fallen for a fictional
character? I don't know about you, but I once harbored a serious crush
on Aladdin, and he's a cartoon. At least Mendes was rational enough to
catch feelings for a three-dimensional character. "I mean, it'd be cool
if it was a real girl," he added.
The girl may not be real, but Shawn's VMA nomination certainly is. "Treat You Better" is
up for Best Pop alongside
Ed Sheeran's "Shape Of You,"
Harry Styles's "Sign Of The Times,"
Fifth Harmony's "Down,"
Katy Perry's "Chained To The Rhythm," and
Miley Cyrus's "Malibu." But even if Shawn doesn't take home the coveted award, he'll still have a winning night as one of the show's
many talented performers.