Sunday, November 30, 2014

Reading and Writing for Social Justice: Looking Through a Lens of Justice and Fairness 6

I recently listened to the song “Brave” by Sara Bareilles. I think that this song is about how you can do anything, and so you can stand up for yourself, mainly to bullies. For instance, in the verse, "You can be amazing
You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug
You can be the outcast
Or be the backlash of somebody’s lack of love
Or you can start speaking up,” I think that it refers to how someone can be a bully and can really affect someone negatively with their words, while someone else can be the victim, and can let themselves be ridiculed because someone else has their own problems, and feels that they need to let their anger out on other people. In addition, I think that the bridge, “And since your history of silence
Won’t do you any good,
Did you think it would?
Let your words be anything but empty
Why don’t you tell them the truth?” means that being quiet about being bullied won’t stop it, and the victim needs to stand up for themselves and tell this person who is hurting them how much pain this is causing them, or else nothing will get better. And then, the chorus, “Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave,” states how you need to be brave and say what you need to say or else nothing will change and you will still be miserable. 
Overall, this is a very uplifting song, and it touches on one of the most important issues of our time. After all, bullying is a very large problem that has been occurring since at least 1693, as that is how long the term “bully” has been around. This song really encourages people to stand up to whatever problem they are facing, and it is not only really about how you can stand up to your bullies, but also how you don’t have to be a bully yourself.
The full lyrics are as follows:
You can be amazing
You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug
You can be the outcast
Or be the backlash of somebody’s lack of love
Or you can start speaking up

Nothing’s gonna hurt you the way that words do
When they settle ‘neath your skin
Kept on the inside and no sunlight
Sometimes a shadow wins
But I wonder what would happen if you

Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave

Everybody’s been there,
Everybody’s been stared down by the enemy
Fallen for the fear
And done some disappearing,
Bow down to the mighty
Don’t run, just stop holding your tongue

Maybe there’s a way out of the cage where you live
Maybe one of these days you can let the light in
Show me how big your brave is

Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

And since your history of silence
Won’t do you any good,
Did you think it would?
Let your words be anything but empty
Why don’t you tell them the truth?

Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
See you be brave

I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you

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