Demi Lovato has been singing bops since the early 2000s, and with a queue so long and lyrics so catchy, the stories held between the lines are ones you won't want to miss. Watch as Demi talks about her revamped album, stories of writing with the Jonas Brothers, some of her favorite music she wants to leave untouched, and even her McDonalds order.
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00:00 I'm not a supermodel, I still eat McDonald's.
00:03 Baby, that's just me.
00:04 Now those are some 15 year old lyrics.
00:07 Hey everyone, I'm Demi Lovato
00:09 and this is my life in lyrics with Elle.
00:11 Song lyrics mean everything to me.
00:16 They're so therapeutic, it's where I get things out.
00:19 It's how I describe what I'm going through in my life
00:22 at any given time and they stick with me.
00:25 When I perform them live, I still feel the emotion
00:27 that I put into the lyrics.
00:29 (upbeat music)
00:31 (laughs)
00:33 Got a taste for the cherry, I just need to take a bite.
00:37 Go tell your mother, kiss one another,
00:39 die for each other, we're cool for the summer.
00:41 That is "Cool for the Summer", the rock version.
00:43 I changed the lyrics to "Go tell your mother"
00:46 because it's just more positive and it's like, I'm proud.
00:50 You know, I want everyone to be proud of their sexuality.
00:53 Yeah, it's a sexy song.
00:54 I actually wrote it before I came out
00:57 as bisexual at the time, now I'm pansexual.
01:00 I came out with that song first
01:02 and it was kind of an easy way to tell my parents
01:05 that I wasn't straight and my dad was like,
01:09 "Yeah, I've heard 'Cool for the Summer'."
01:11 I'm not talking about a real cherry,
01:13 so you can use your imagination there, so.
01:16 But somewhere we went wrong, we were one so strong.
01:20 Our love is like a song, you can't forget it.
01:22 That song was one of the first songs
01:24 that I ever wrote in my career
01:26 and I wrote it with the Jonas Brothers.
01:28 I actually went on tour with them to write my album,
01:32 so it was really cool.
01:33 I would watch their show every night
01:36 and then after their show, they were such troopers,
01:38 they would get on the bus and we'd write music
01:40 and that's how I wrote my first album.
01:42 Everything I need is standing right in front of me.
01:46 I know that we will be all right.
01:47 Through the ups and downs, baby, I'm gonna stick around.
01:50 I promise we will be all right.
01:51 That song was really important to me.
01:54 I actually didn't write on it,
01:55 but I really resonated with the song.
01:57 I just loved it so much, it was so soulful.
02:00 I love singing this on stage.
02:02 I haven't performed it in a while,
02:03 but I did do the rock version of it
02:05 and it sounds really sick.
02:07 I added a lot of drums, we added guitar.
02:10 It has a rock undertone, it's still really soulful.
02:13 It was hard to change that song to a rock song,
02:16 but I think we accomplished it.
02:18 I wanted to re-record all of my favorite songs
02:20 from my catalogs for the revamped album.
02:24 We only got 10, so make the best of it.
02:27 Now payback is a bad bitch and baby, I'm the baddest.
02:32 You fuckin' with a savage, can't have this, can't have this.
02:36 That was "Sorry Not Sorry."
02:38 I remember being in the studio,
02:39 it was the first day that I ever worked with
02:41 my producer, Oak.
02:42 I just was blown away by him.
02:44 We just have such great chemistry working together.
02:46 I think it also was the first day I worked with
02:48 Sean Douglas, who was a writer on the song.
02:50 We hit it off and we're all still working together
02:54 to this day.
02:54 I used to hold my freak back, now I'm letting go.
02:59 I make my own choice, bitch, I run this show.
03:02 That song is "Confident."
03:04 That was a really fun song to do, sexy lyrics,
03:08 but now it kind of takes on a new meaning for me
03:11 when I think of people calling me a freak
03:13 for being my true self.
03:14 I am just doing that unapologetically.
03:17 I actually have a song called "Freak" that talks about that.
03:20 I'm also really proud of that song
03:22 because it's in Max Martin's musical, "Anne Juliet."
03:25 I can't believe one of my songs is on Broadway.
03:27 [upbeat music]
03:30 You make me glow, but I cover up, won't let it show,
03:32 so I'm putting my defenses up
03:34 'cause I don't wanna fall in love.
03:35 If I ever did that, I think I'd have a heart attack.
03:38 That song was from my album, "Demi."
03:42 I'm really proud of that song,
03:44 and when I perform it live, we go really hard.
03:47 The new version on the revamped album
03:49 goes really hard as well.
03:50 I think people are really happy with it,
03:51 so that makes me happy.
03:53 Baby, when they look up at the sky,
03:56 we'll be shooting stars just passing by.
03:58 You'll be coming home with me tonight,
04:00 and we'll be burning up like neon lights.
04:02 That song is "Neon Lights."
04:04 I think it's my favorite song
04:05 that I've redone on the revamped album.
04:08 Those lyrics, they're simple, they're fun,
04:10 and I had a great time writing them,
04:12 and that was with Ryan Tedder.
04:13 I'm not a supermodel.
04:17 I still eat McDonald's.
04:18 Baby, that's just me.
04:20 Now, those are some 15-year-old lyrics,
04:24 and they're simple, they're fun, but they say a lot.
04:27 That's another song that I wrote on the road
04:29 with the Jonas Brothers for my first album, "Don't Forget."
04:31 I think my fans really resonate with those lyrics
04:34 because I've never fit the mold of your typical pop star,
04:37 and I never will, and I'm proud of that.
04:41 I still eat McDonald's, not often,
04:43 'cause I'm trying to be healthier,
04:44 but once in a while, it's great.
04:47 - What's your McDonald's order?
04:49 - I like Big Macs.
04:51 They're really good,
04:52 but I also really miss their snack wraps.
04:54 Their snack wraps were so bomb,
04:56 and I really wish they would come back.
04:58 If Taco Bell can bring back the Mexican pizza,
05:00 McDonald's can bring back the snack wraps.
05:03 When your lips are on my lips and our hearts beat as one,
05:09 but you slip out of my fingertips every time you run.
05:12 Give your heart a break.
05:14 That was a song that did really well in my career
05:17 that I'm really proud of.
05:18 It's definitely one of my more pop songs.
05:20 No rock influence at all,
05:23 so I don't perform it live anymore,
05:24 but I did redo it for my revamped album,
05:27 and it sounds fire, so really excited about that.
05:31 I just remember that song really taking off for me,
05:33 and I was really, really happy that I recorded that.
05:37 That song is not hard to sing live,
05:40 but the revamped version is gonna be hard to sing live.
05:43 My strategy behind recording songs is,
05:46 when I'm in the studio, hit the highest notes
05:49 that you possibly can,
05:50 because that's what's gonna last forever.
05:52 Now, when you go on tour, you might have to adjust them,
05:54 because singing them live every single night
05:56 is really difficult.
05:57 So sometimes I change the notes when I sing them live,
06:00 and I kind of like bang my head against a wall
06:02 and say like, "Why did I do that in the studio?"
06:05 But it sounds great, and I'm really proud of the recordings,
06:07 and I'm really happy with what it sounds like
06:10 on the revamped album.
06:11 Go on and try to tear me down.
06:14 I will be rising from the ground like a skyscraper.
06:17 "Skyscraper" is a really meaningful song to me,
06:20 because I recorded it before I went to treatment
06:23 for the first time, and when I was in treatment,
06:25 I had an iPod that had "Skyscraper" on it,
06:28 and I would listen to that song over and over,
06:30 and even though it was myself singing,
06:32 I still felt really inspired,
06:33 and I would dream about what it would be like
06:36 to release this song,
06:37 and that song got me through
06:38 a really difficult time in my life.
06:40 So that song means a lot to me,
06:41 and sometimes I still get emotional when I sing it live.
06:44 And I'm really, really proud of it.
06:46 Even re-recording the vocals, I was like,
06:47 "Damn, do I wanna touch this, because it sounds so good."
06:50 I don't say that with a lot of my songs,
06:52 'cause I'm such a perfectionist,
06:54 but that one I'm really, really proud of.
06:57 Last one.
06:58 "Even though you're far from suffocating me,
07:02 I can't set my hopes too high,
07:03 'cause every hello ends with a goodbye.
07:06 Catch me."
07:07 I wrote this song by myself in my room when I was 16.
07:10 I was falling in love, or so I thought,
07:13 and I wrote this song basically about falling in love.
07:17 My fans love it when I perform it live.
07:19 I am so happy that they resonate with it so deeply.
07:23 And it's definitely one of my favorite songs
07:25 from my past albums.
07:27 A fun fact about that song is,
07:29 I used to say the word "hypnotize" with an M.
07:34 I used to say "hypnotize"
07:36 because nobody taught me differently.
07:37 I just grew up saying "hypnotize."
07:40 So in that song, when you listen to the recording,
07:43 I say, "You're so hypnotizing."
07:46 And I regret it to this day.
07:48 - I've never noticed that.
07:50 - Well, thank God no one noticed it.
07:52 Thank you so much for watching.
07:53 That was "My Life in Lyrics."
07:55 Don't forget to check out my album "Revamp,"
07:57 and the rock version of "Sorry Not Sorry" is out now.
08:00 (explosion)