- What's up, guys? I'm Alessia Cara,
and I'm here with FBE to watch teens breaking down my music.
♪ (punk rock intro) ♪
Hey, I've seen these. I love the videos, by the way.
I'm a fan. "We asked teens to break down
the lyrics of 'Here' by Alessia Cara without being told the title
or who performs it." Oh, no. (chuckles)
Okay. Here we go. I was a brand new artist,
and so, there weren't a lot of videos on me.
And you guys were super early on this.
And so, I remember watching it a long time ago
and just being so scared, 'cause it's like, you know,
people around my age just essentially reading my lyrics
and talking about how they feel about it, and it was so scary.
I'm like, "Please don't hate me." - (Jasser) "I'm sorry if I seem
uninterested or I'm not listening or I'm indifferent."
- (Bryson) "Truly, I ain't got no business here, but since my friends
are here, I just came to..." - It's so weird.
It sound so strange seeing it read out like that.
It just becomes a different thing. It's like spoken word.
- (Tori) This is my jam right now. - Oh, thanks!
- (Tori) I'm like completely introverted and antisocial,
but I only go out, because my friends want me to.
- Totally. And it's not even a peer pressure thing.
I know a lot of people have talked about peer pressure.
I didn't feel pressured. It was just like, you know,
your friends are like, "It'll be fun! Just come,"
and I'm like, "Yeah, okay." You know, I thought it couldn't
be that bad if people I enjoy spending time with are there,
but the thing is is that you don't really
spend time with them, 'cause they're out doing other things,
and you're like, "Oh, well, okay." (chuckles) But we've all been there.
- "Really, I would rather be at home all by myself,
not in this room with people who don't even
care about my well-being." - (Bryson) That's...
a little darker turn there. - (chuckles)
- (Bryson) Your well-being's important.
- (Geneva) His friends aren't even...
- Thank you. (laughs) I'm glad to see that he cares
about my well-being. That's really sweet. (chuckles)
- (Leyla) "I can hardly hear over this music I don't listen to,
and I don't wanna get with you, so tell my friends
that I'll be over here." Okay. So, she can't hear anything,
because the music is bumpin'.
It's loud, it's poppin'. - Yes.
- (Leyla) Probably Zayn's "Pillowtalk,"
let's be real here. - Ah, no. That song wasn't out
at the time. I was in high school,
so it's not Zayn's "Pillowtalk." - There is a guy really
trying to hit and on her, and she's pissed off.
- (chuckles) I didn't really say "pissed off,"
but maybe I should've. - (Geneva) Some people
are more introverted, and they don't like that type
of thing, but their friends will peer pressure them
into going to these parties, and they don't even have fun,
and that's not their type of thing. - I hate the whole mindless,
like, "Oh, I'm just gonna drink..." - They're doing really well.
I feel like the girls are getting it a little bit more.
The guys are kind of just like, "Well, just don't go,"
which I get. But the girls are like--
they get me. They understand what it's like.
- (Bryson) "Excuse me if I seem a little unimpressed with this,
an antisocial pessimist, but usually I don't mess with this..."
- That guy hates me. (laughs) I know it. That guy's not into it.
I can tell. - (Daniel) This girl's just being
a [censored] to this guy. - (laughs)
Yeah, I guess I kinda was. Well, just in the song.
I promise I wasn't in person. The song kinda let out
the real feelings there. - (Jasser) I'm sure there are people
who go to parties, and they're just there
for appearances, but they don't really wanna be there.
- Yeah. No, he-- I think, yeah, he's definitely seeing
the perspective, which is sweet, 'cause you know what?
We've all been there. I feel like everybody,
especially around that age, we've all been there,
where we've had to go places we don't really wanna be.
I mean, I'm glad that they can be empathetic to that and not be like,
"Well, why don't you just not go?" - (Daniel) This sounds like some weird
teenage rock band music thing. - (laughs)
You know what? I kind of agree. When you read the lyrics like this,
it does not sound like a song. It sounds like a run-on sentence
that makes no sense. - (Bryson) I honestly think
they're really high and having stoner thoughts, like, "Yo,
we're gonna discuss our big dreams, take over the planet."
- (laughs) I knew-- this guy, I'm telling you. (laughs)
I mean, I guess you could say that. I didn't smoke, but I mean,
some of my friends did, and maybe that's what they were thinking.
- (Bryson) I'm not that-- it's very cliche.
- Ah! Everybody says that. Listen. Everyone's always like,
"You're trying so hard to be the different girl,
who's not into." I never said that.
All I'm saying is that I don't feel comfortable
in this environment. That's all I was trying to say.
I am like other girls. I am a girl.
But I just didn't like it there essentially.
- (Tori) She's kind of calling out those different stereotypes
at the parties, so you have, like, the guy who's trying
to hit on every girl, and then over here,
you have the girl who's in the kitchen
talking all kinds of [censored] about her friend.
- It was a thing where I didn't intend for that to happen,
but that whole night just felt like I was watching
all the stereotypes in one, which is why I thought I needed
to write about it, 'cause it was-- I was like, "This is exactly
what you'd expect from what this place is."
It's like every little stereotype happened to me.
- (Makena) She's with the guy who's throwing up,
'cause he got drunk or something, or someone spiked his drink.
She's just like, "Why'd I come?" - (Tori) That's when the realization
kinda comes, when she sees the guys throwing up.
Like, "Oh, god. Why am I actually here?"
- That's very true, yeah. It was a guy that I went to school--
he was actually my friend. But I was on the sidewalk outside,
trying to, you know, gather myself and he just came up beside me
and just threw up on the pavement right beside me.
And it was one of those moments in a sitcom, where you're just like,
"Really? Why?" (chuckles) - (Jasser) I think she should just go
and hang out with her real friends. I don't know why she stays
at this party. - (laughs) Oh, he's funny.
He does bring up a good point, but I did leave early if that helps.
I do go home early. - (Leyla) "Oh, oh, here."
(laughs) That sounds so funny. - (Jasser) "Oh, oh, oh, here."
- It does. (laughs) - (Geneva) "Oh, oh, oh, here.
Oh, oh, oh, here." - (laughs) Oh my gosh.
- (Sergio) This is the most relatable song
I've ever heard. The thing is, I think everybody has these...
- Aww. When you're in that situation, you just think, like, "Okay,
no one else gets this. I'm the only kind of
feeling this right now." And then, when you see kids your age
or around your age telling you indirectly
that they have been there, it's just nice.
I feel like he would've left the party with me.
He's a good guy. I would talk to him
at the party for sure.
- (FBE) Do you know this song's title and artist?
- (Sergio) I don't know, but I know I've heard it before.
- (Bryson) I do not. - No idea. Yeah, to be fair,
I was new. It's okay. As long as they like the song.
- (FBE) Alessia Cara said the song is based off a real experience
she had at a bad party and feels that's what makes the music
so accessible. - (Bryson) Yeah. Yeah, I can relate...
- Oh, now he's changing his tune! Now that there's a person behind it,
you see? (chuckles) - (Leyla) She's one of those people
that seems like she's really deep. And so, I didn't realize it was
literally just like she's at a party, and she doesn't wanna be at the party,
and that's it. - I mean, I guess, yeah.
Yeah. And that song was literally just that.
It was just recounting a night that I had.
And I know over the years people have sort of turned it
into this introverts' anthem, which is great,
and I'm so glad that people resonated. But honestly, for me,
it was just like, I was just telling a story
about a time that I was not enjoying myself,
and I felt like there weren't songs like that.
- (Sergio) Those are the most memorable songs,
the ones that are saying things that we won't say ourselves.
- Aww. He's sweet. He's really, really sweet
Yeah, it's just great. It's great to see people
that relate like that, you know, and allow it to take on a whole new,
deeper meaning, you know? Something that you don't think
people are ever gonna care about that much or relate to.
It's just really, really nice to see that people do.
- So, first of all, Alessia, thank you so much
for being here on FBE. We're so excited to have you.
- Thank you. Thanks for having me. - Obviously, you know, things look
a little different than they normally do
on the show due to us all being quarantined right now,
so before we get into everything, how are you holding up right now?
- I'm doing okay. You know, trying to stay positive in all this.
I mean, times are really weird obviously.
We kind of have had to adjust to the new norm, which is this.
But thankfully, I mean, we all have these resources now,
where we can do things that don't make it too difficult.
And thankfully, you know, my family's healthy.
Everyone's good, so trying not to, you know,
focus on too many negatives. Or at least trying to see
the silver lining in all of it.
- So, getting back to the episode, this episode that you watched today
was actually shot all the way back in 2016.
So, what was it like to see the teens break down your song here?
- It was so cool. It was kinda cool to go back in time too,
'cause I was like a brand new artist. Nobody had really heard of me yet.
So, it was cool to see them judge totally based on just the words
on the screen. And I also really liked how a lot
of them were relating it back to their own experiences,
'cause I just didn't think that people related to me that way.
So, that was the first time I actually-- you know, back then,
it was the first time I actually realized
how much of an impact the things you say can have.
- So, since this video was from 2016, clearly this collaboration
that's happening right now has actually been a long time
in the making. - I know! I know.
I'm glad we finally got to do it. - Well, when we heard that you were
coming in for this episode, we actually did some digging
on Twitter, and we... - Oh my goodness.
- ...found this. - (chuckles)
Ah, yes! See? "Would love to collab
with you one day." And I said, "For sure. I'm a fan."
I told you! I told you before we started filming I'm a fan.
I watch you guys all the time, and I used to wanna be
a Kids React kid. But obviously, my life took
a different turn. But if you'll have me one day,
I'm still a kid at heart. It's hard to believe that
that many years have gone by, 'cause it feels-- very cheesy,
but it feels like yesterday, like two days that this all
kind of happened. But yeah, since then,
my life has just taken such a turn. I've done things I never expected
to do in my whole life, let alone in just four years.
- So, many of us are such big fans of you here at FBE.
So, obviously, you have your film, The Willoughbys,
adapted from Lois Lowry's book, coming out soon on Netflix.
So, is there any inside scoop you can give us on the film
or maybe anything else you have exciting coming up?
- Yeah. So, the movie is probably just one of my favorite things
I've ever done. It's my first time acting, obviously,
but I love the whole message of the film.
It talks about unconditional love and family you choose
and atypical family lifestyles. In that are a lot of elements
that are really realistic and elements that aren't really
talked about in the other children's movies that I've seen,
so I'm just glad to be part of a movie like that.
And as far as anything else, I mean, I don't know.
Everything's sort of up in the air. I've been writing a lot
and trying to keep busy. But that's my focus right now
is thankfully I have something to look forward to
and that my fans can look forward to, and I hope everybody enjoys it.
- So finally, you saw the teens break down your lyrics today.
Can you break down what this whole experience
has been like for you today? - Yeah. Well, it was
a little bit scary watching people react
to my lyrics, especially when they have
no outer context for the most part of who I am or what the song
even sounds like. Tori, she said she was a fan,
which was awesome. And the young man with the glasses
who was talking about his experience with that similar scenario,
it was just nice to see him connect that way and open up
and talk about how he feels the same way.
It was really sweet, and I feel like we'd get along really well.
It actually-- it worked out pretty great.
I think everybody had their own views on the song,
all of which were really understandable.
And I get it, and I loved it.
Thanks so much to FBE for having me.
That was more painless than I thought thankfully.
If you wanna watch my movie, The Willoughbys, that would be great.
I would love it if you would watch it.
And thank you guys for watching. Mwah!