Category: Art a Little More Robust-Songs

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This is Me

I love movie soundtracks. They are one of my favorite music genres. If a film captures my heart, then the musical score accompanying that movie has the power to instantly transport me back into the story. For that reason, I have a tendency to play a soundtrack over…and over…and over, just as I watch a compelling movie multiple times.

Often there is a song within that soundtrack that arrests me for reasons of its own. Beyond taking me back into the film, it usually has a powerful message that resonates with me or cracks open my heart. That song, within the amazing The Greatest Showman soundtrack, is This is Me.

Written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, this song is performed by Keala Settle, who portrays Lettie Lutz in the movie. Lettie is considered an oddity by her family and work colleagues. She has a full, luxurious beard. The term “bearded lady” doesn’t cut it at all in describing this amazing woman. She has an incredible voice, and she uses it for more than singing. Lettie becomes the spokesperson for P.T. Barnum’s group of unique performers. She is nurturing. She is brave. She is beautiful. In the course of this film, she comes into her power and glory, fully.

The lyrics to This is Me reflect Lettie’s journey.

This is Me

[Verse 1]

I am not a stranger to the dark

Hide away, they say

‘Cause we don’t want your broken parts.

I’ve learned to be ashamed of all my scars.

Run away, they say

No one’ll love you as you are.

[Pre-Chorus]

But I won’t let them break me down to dust.

I know that there’s a place for us.

For we are glorious.

[Chorus]

When the sharpest words wanna cut me down. I’m gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out.

I am brave, I am bruised

I am who I’m meant to be, this is me.

Look out ’cause here I come.

And I’m marching on to the beat I drum.

I’m not scared to be seen

I make no apologies, this is me.

[Verse 2]

Another round of bullets hits my skin.

Well, fire away ’cause today, I won’t let the shame sink in.

We are bursting through the barricades.

And reaching for the sun (we are warriors)

Yeah, that’s what we’ve become.

[Pre-Chorus]

Won’t let them break me down to dust.

I know that there’s a place for us.

For we are glorious.

[Chorus]

When the sharpest words wanna cut me down. Gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out.

I am brave, I am bruised

I am who I’m meant to be, this is me.

Look out ’cause here I come.

And I’m marching on to the beat I drum.

I’m not scared to be seen

I make no apologies, this is me.

[Bridge]

And I know that I deserve your love.

There’s nothing I’m not worthy of.

When the sharpest words wanna cut me down. I’m gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out.

This is brave, this is proof

This is who I’m meant to be, this is me.

[Chorus]

Look out ’cause here I come (look out ’cause here I come).

And I’m marching on to the beat I drum. (marching on, marching, marching on)

I’m not scared to be seen

I make no apologies, this is me.

Lettie’s song is the song we all long to sing. None of us are strangers to the dark. We’ve all hidden who we really are, because we fear ridicule or misunderstanding or not being accepted and loved. Even the most perfect, seemingly, among us has something about themselves that they dislike, some flaw that is glaring to them.

And some of us are so unique, so different, in appearance or thought or ability, that those differences are all that are seen. We feel shame. We feel outcast. We feel bruised.

How beautiful is this song’s reminder that differences are to be appreciated and celebrated. We can be exactly who we are and be seen, be glorious, be loved. Lettie’s journey is the journey we are all on, becoming real, becoming who we are, allowing others to do the same.

I have already listened to this song many times. It is currently my heart’s cry. Please take a moment, and listen to This is Me HERE.

What if we all celebrated our own uniqueness and each other’s too? What if we refused to hide, to be afraid, to fear others? What if this song began in our hearts and became our voice and our battle cry and our anthem, uniting us in our glorious differences?

Sing it with me…

“And I’m marching on to the beat I drum.

I’m not scared to be seen

I make no apologies, this is me.”

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My Song for the Year Finds Me

Along with a theme and symbol for each new year, I normally have a song as well. But not this year. A song had not shown up for 2017, and that was okay. I don’t ever want to force something to happen. I’ve learned to trust and allow what is to be to flow to me, making itself known by way of synchronicities and repetition. 

And, I have an amazing quote this year. Perhaps Alan Rickman’s words took the place of a song. I’ve continued to stay open, and unattached to any particular outcome concerning a song for 2017. 

The Academy Awards nominations were announced this morning. I love this yearly award show, and enjoyed scanning through the list of nominees. The musical La La Land captured the most nominations, tying a record. As I looked through the Best Song list, I was curious about the song from La La Land, Audition (The Fools Who Dream). 

My Song for the Year Finds Me

I listened to the song, again and again, on YouTube. There are a couple of other nudges that I get from the Divine, when I am supposed to pay attention. These taps on the shoulder include an increased heart rate and tears filling my eyes. 

As the song repeated, sung with great feeling by Emma Stone, my heart rate quickened, and tears slowly filled my eyes. This. This song… Was this my song, for 2017?

Audition (The Fools Who Dream)

My aunt used to live in Paris.

I remember, she used to come home and tell us these stories about being abroad and I remember she told us that she jumped into the river once, barefoot.

She smiled…

Leapt, without looking

And tumbled into the Seine

The water was freezing

She spent a month sneezing

But said she would do it again
Here’s to the ones who dream

Foolish as they may seem

Here’s to the hearts that ache

Here’s to the mess we make


She captured a feeling

Sky with no ceiling

The sunset inside a frame
She lived in her liquor

And died with a flicker

I’ll always remember the flame
Here’s to the ones who dream

Foolish as they may seem

Here’s to the hearts that ache

Here’s to the mess we make


She told me:

“A bit of madness is key

To give us new colors to see

Who knows where it will lead us?

And that’s why they need us”


So bring on the rebels

The ripples from pebbles

The painters, and poets, and plays


And here’s to the fools who dream

Crazy as they may seem

Here’s to the hearts that break

Here’s to the mess we make


I trace it all back to then

Her, and the snow, and the Seine

Smiling through it

She said she’d do it again. 


I haven’t seen La La Land yet, but I already love this song. I’ve listened to it several more times today and it stirs my heart each time. I would have liked the aunt that Emma sings about. She reminds me of Greg’s Aunt Pearl, who traveled the world, well into her 80s, returning home with souvenirs for us all and marvelous stories to tell. And it makes me think of my mom, who has a creative, gypsy soul, and loves traveling as well. 

She has passed that desire on to me. 

This song is about dreaming, and creating, and seeing the world with new colors. It’s about living life to the fullest and being daring and having no regrets. I can relate to the aunt that the song is about. I want to be the aunt, the fool who dreams, and celebrate the glorious messes that I make. Who knows, indeed, where it will lead me?

Audition (The Fools Who Dream) might win an Oscar for Best Song of the Year. Whether it captures the award or not, it has captured my heart and my imagination. It is my Song of the Year. 

Listen to Audition (The Fools Who Dream) 

My Song for the Year Finds Me