“I don’t wanna hurt you but you live for the pain
I’m not tryna say it but it’s what you became
You want me to fix you but it’s never enough
That’s why you always call me cause you’re scared to be loved
But I’ll always be there for you, I’ll always be there for you
I’ll always be there for you, girl I have no shame“
This explores a theme that The Weeknd has expressed previously in songs like “Earned It”, where he insists that he is not the source of pain. In these lines, Abel is claiming that the girl’s pain is self-inflicted.
Abel is reluctantly laying down some brutal truth. These hookups may make her feel better for a little while, but it’s destroying her that he is unwilling to turn this into real relationship.
The Weeknd has written about this type of emotional bind before; in “Echoes of Silence,” he tells the girl
“You thought there was more to us but you knew how this would end
It’s gonna end how you expected girl you’re such a masochist”
“Shameless” presents a friends-with-benefits arrangement gone bad. Abel continues in the sexual relationship, even though he realizes the emotional damage it is doing to his partner. Instead of being apologetic, he blames the girl for not being honest with herself. Abel is choosing to fulfill his own needs without shame, hence the name of the song ‘Shameless”.
