Shawn Mendes's New Song "Nervous" Is Reminding People of a Selena Gomez Hit

Shawn Mendes new, self-titled album is just days away. To celebrate, he's teasing even more music from the project. Today's release was the song “Nervous,” and fans are already coming up with theories regarding the track. Specifically, listeners are saying it’s a tribute to Selena Gomez’s “Bad Liar.” Say what?

“Nervous” bops pleasantly in the same manner as “Bad Liar,” with its walking bass line, and Shawn mumble-sings the verses much like Selena did in her song, in almost the same rhythmic pattern. The lyrics, too, are similar; “Nervous” and “Bad Liar” are both about having a crush on someone and being too, well, nervous to get things started. (Been there.)

Selena fans couldn’t help but notice that the similarities between the two songs. “It makes sense that Shawn Mendes made a 'response' to 'Bad Liar,' because he was a big supporter of it when it came out. So, it would be the guy version of it,” wrote one listener. And that's true: Shawn posted a video to his Instagram Story where he was listening to "Bad Liar" and loving it.

While “Nervous” and “Bad Liar” may sound similar, that doesn’t mean there’s a rivalry between Shawn and Selena or that he copied her song; in fact, there are a few reasons why the two might sound similar. “Bad Liar” was inspired by the Talking Heads classic “Psycho Killer” and also features a sample from the 1977 song, and that bass line is definitely echoed in “Nervous,” too. It’s also worth noting that “Nervous” and “Bad Liar” were both co-written with Julia Michaels, which could be another reason why they sound alike. Others noted that “Nervous” also reminds them of Janelle Monáe’s “Make Me Feel” (another Julia co-write) or Pharrell’s “Come Get it Bae.”

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