Peak
4
Weeks
52
Score
9,272
Chart Year
2015
A first music video for "Stitches" was directed by Jon Jon Augustavo and premiered on Vevo March 18, 2015, following the song's release to digital retailers.[20] It features the same actress, Ivy Matheson, that appears in his videos for "Never Be Alone" and "Life of the Party" and is the third installment in the Handwritten music video series, but has been later made private.[6] Mendes eventually announced a new music video for the song on his Instagram account,[21] which was premiered on June 24, 2015. The clip begins with Mendes driving his car into an abandoned parking lot where he gets out and begins singing the song's verses. As he does an invisible force or a ghost is knocking him over in various ways. As the song goes on the force or ghost gets more vicious and slams his head into his car window. Mendes regains strength and runs through the parking lot but the force or ghost knocks his body into a wall where he goes to a bathroom to wash off his disabled face but after rinsing it finds that it has gone back to normal. As a child, Mendes would pretend to be attacked by a ghost. As of February 2022, the "Stitches" YouTube video has been viewed over 1.4 billion times.[22] In July 2015, an acoustic version video duet with Hailee Steinfeld was also released
The third single from Handwritten, this became the first song by Shawn Mendes to appear on a Billboard airplay chart when it debuted at #36 on Pop Songs in June 2015. The song's music video was directed by Jon Jon Augustavo, who was also the man behind the lens on the Canadian's "Something Big" and "Life of the Party" clips. It finds Shawn getting beaten up in an empty parking lot by some unseen emotional force. Shawn has acting aspirations too. "The whole video is me getting beaten up by this thing that you can't see," he explained. "It was really fun. I got to do some acting in it and learn how to 'pretend' get hit. I love acting. I wanted to be an actor for a long time before I thought about singing. So I think definitely I'd love to be in movies." The final scene reveals that Shawn wasn't really getting beat up; it's all in his head. "Just filming the very last scene - I'm not all beat up anymore. I'm looking into the mirror and realizing that I was never hurt in the first place," he explained. "It was emotionally, the girl was hurting me." The song was written by Daniel Parker, Teddy Geiger and Daniel "Daylight" Kyriakides. Shawn Mendes takes pride in his songwriting abilities, though, and wasn't sure he wanted to record a tune that he hadn't penned himself. Mendes told Radio.com, "I was thinking, I don't want to sing [it] because I only want to sing songs that I write." "I was like, 'Well, let me just listen to this,' and I fell in love," he continued. "And man, it was just so cool to hear that. I remember before I heard it, I was like 'I really want to write a song where the bridge is a repetitive something, that just drills itself into your head.'" "'Needle in a thread gotta get you outta my head,'" Mendes added quoting the song's bridge."When that bridge hit I was like, 'This is the song.' I had to have it." Mendes has had some interesting encounters with this song. He Tweeted: "Its weird every time stitches comes on in the gym, especially when the soaking wet viking with a beard is singing a long." The song made a slow ascent to the top spot on the UK singles chart, reaching #1 in its 17th week. It was Shawn Mendes' first song to reach the peak position in the UK. Daniel Parker described the songwriting session with Geiger and Kyriakides which produced this song as a "blind date" set up by their publishing company, Big Deal Music. He recalled to Songwriter Universe: "I had written down the word 'Stitches' in my phone but I didn't know where I wanted to take it. Like most writers, I am constantly writing down words, titles, concepts—anything to spark a song somewhere down the road. I brought in the word for Teddy and I to vibe off of, and I came up with the line 'Now without your kisses, I'll be needing stitches.' We quickly came up with a melody for the chorus, and things evolved and the song was refined in a back and forth way. I focused on the topline and sculpting the concept. The producer Daylight was part of the second day of writing. He stepped in and developed the track and we laid down acoustic guitar and bass sounds. It was cool that we used all acoustic instruments." This won best single at BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards on October 23, 2016. Shawn Mendes also took home the prize for best international solo artist at the same ceremony.
I thought that I've been hurt before But no one's ever left me quite this sore Your words cut deeper than a knife Now I need someone to breathe me back to life Got a feeling that I'm going under But I know that I'll make it out alive If I quit calling you my lover Move on You watch me bleed until I can't breathe I'm shaking, falling onto my knees And now that I'm without your kisses I'll be needing stitches Tripping over myself Aching, begging you to come help And now that I'm without your kisses I'll be needing stitches Just like a moth drawn to a flame Oh, you lured me in I couldn't sense the pain Your bitter heart cold to the touch Now I'm gonna reap what I sow I'm left seeing red on my own Got a feeling that I'm going under But I know that I'll make it out alive If I quit calling you my lover Move on You watch me bleed until I can't breathe I'm shaking, falling onto my knees And now that I'm without your kisses I'll be needing stitches Tripping over myself Aching, begging you to come help And now that I'm without your kisses I'll be needing stitches Needle and the thread Gotta get you outta my head Needle and the thread Gonna wind up dead Needle and the thread Gotta get you outta my head Needle and the thread Gonna wind up dead (gonna wind up dead) Needle and the thread Gotta get you outta my head (gotta get you outta my head) Needle and the thread Gonna wind up dead (wind up dead) Needle and the thread Gotta get you outta my head, get you outta my head You watch me bleed until I can't breathe I'm shaking, falling onto my knees (falling on my knees) And now that I'm without your kisses (without you) I'll be needing stitches (and I'll be needing stitches) Tripping over myself Aching, begging you to come help (begging baby please) And now that I'm without your kisses I'll be needing stitches And now that I'm without your kisses I'll be needing stitches And now that I'm without your kisses I'll be needing stitches
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jun 13, 2015 | 89 | 37 |
| 2 | Jun 20, 2015 | 78 | 48 |
| 3 | Jun 27, 2015 | 79 | 47 |
| 4 | Jul 4, 2015 | 69 | 57 |
| 5 | Jul 11, 2015 | 56 | 70 |
| 6 | Jul 18, 2015 | 62 | 64 |
| 7 | Jul 25, 2015 | 55 | 71 |
| 8 | Aug 1, 2015 | 57 | 69 |
| 9 | Aug 8, 2015 | 54 | 72 |
| 10 | Aug 15, 2015 | 41 | 85 |
| 11 | Aug 22, 2015 | 42 | 84 |
| 12 | Aug 29, 2015 | 35 | 91 |
| 13 | Sep 5, 2015 | 32 | 94 |
| 14 | Sep 12, 2015 | 20 | 106 |
| 15 | Sep 19, 2015 | 19 | 107 |
| 16 | Sep 26, 2015 | 14 | 112 |
| 17 | Oct 3, 2015 | 12 | 114 |
| 18 | Oct 10, 2015 | 11 | 115 |
| 19 | Oct 17, 2015 | 9 | 117 |
| 20 | Oct 24, 2015 | 8 | 118 |