Inspiration comes when you least expect it. No one knows this better than Charlie Puth, whose signature candor recently revealed details about his personal life we never could’ve anticipated. In a June 13 conversation in Interview, the 31-year-old musician spoke about the lengths he’s willing to go to in pursuit of the perfect track, admitting he once took a break during sex to capture an unexpected stroke of genius. “I wrote the song in the middle of the act,” he said of his song “Marks on My Neck.”
Puth added, “Maybe I should have focused on the act a little bit more, but the melody just kind of popped into my head and I actually had stopped and recorded a little quick voice note and then had to get back into the act.” (Who says chivalry is dead?)
“I wrote the song in the middle of the act.”
Puth went on to explain the meaning behind “Marks on My Neck,” which appeared on his self-titled album released last year. He also swore the story wasn’t as bad as it may initially seem: “That’s where that melody came from. I was getting over somebody and what better way [to do that] than meet new people? It probably wasn’t going to work out with this person and that was what I was energetically picking up, which is OK.” No love lost. Although, this likely wasn’t how Puth’s muse expected to find out they had “energetically” inspired the tune to a pop hit.
“I remember waking up and looking at myself in the mirror, noticing these marks on my neck, and every day they’d heal and fade but so would the person who put them on me,” he continued. As for his former partner? “We went our separate ways.” Now, all that’s left is his new sexually charged record and the knowledge that, for Puth, his creative process comes first.