“29” by Demi Lovato
To note, Lovato herself is actually 29 years old at the time of this song’s issuance, which is something that the songstress notes in the chorus. But she is doing so within the context of harping back to her late teens, when she was rather dating someone who was 29 years old himself. And that someone, it has been deduced, would be a pretty-popular actor by the name of Wilmer Valderrama. Both Demi and Wilmer did end up dating for six years, from 2010 until 2016. So basically, what we have here is Demi commenting on her youth romance with a man who is 13 years her senior.
It has been noted that in the past, Lovato practically admitted that she’s the one who initiated this relationship with Valderrama. Be that as it may, the lyrics of this song still go on to present Wilmer, if he is in fact the intended addressee, as basically an older dude who took advantage of a naïve 17 year old girl.
Or let’s say that what’s being more comprehensively relayed, theoretically, is that now that the vocalist is a mature adult herself, she realizes that back then, due to the age difference most simply put, what the two of them did wasn’t right.
The implication is that she was too young at the time to appreciate that fact. But since the addressee was the full-fledged adult in the equation, he should have known better. He should have realized that she was young and powerless to resist his wiles, or something like that.
Hmmm…
Indeed, you have to walk away from this piece with the impression that if said addressee is a real-life person, he probably isn’t going to appreciate being displayed in such a manner. In fact by Demi’s own admittance, despite having the opportunity to hook up when she was 17, Wilmer, not her, rather waited until she was legal before the two of them became an item. And presumably he did so in the name of avoiding issues like this song.
But certain cultures are such that if a man becomes involved with a woman who is, let’s say at least a decade younger than himself, then said man is always under the threat of being relatedly criticized, especially if some issues develop later down the line. And so it is with “29”, with the younger female in this instance basically asserting that she was the innocent victim of seduction.
Release Date of “29”
The first time Demi Lovato seems to have teased this track was a little over two weeks before its release.
Island Records dropped this song on 19 August 2022. The song is one of the singles from Demi Lovato’s “Holy Fvck” album. This project, which is Demi’s eighth studio album, also features the following popular singles:
Credits
Lovato did have a hand in co-writing “29” alongside the following:
- Laura Veltz
- Sean Douglas
- Keith Sorrells
- Alex Niceforo
- Oak (who also serves as the track’s producer)
