It turns out I had heard it before but since I didn’t pay attention to the lyrics, I didn’t think much of it. This time I looked up the lyrics and listened carefully and wow! – it was very powerful. It was a message that I really needed to hear right then, a few days after having been hit by a car and feeling powerless and victimized.
So here’s the song – Brave, a remake by the Maccabeats of the original by Sara Bareilles. (Dd wanted to make sure I realized this isn’t a Jewish song, though it’s sung by an Orthodox mens’ acapella group and I’m passing this info along to you.)
And here are the lyrics:
“Brave” – by Sara Bareilles
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 youSay what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be braveWith what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be braveI just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be braveI just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be braveEverybody’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 have a couple of favorite phrases in this song but the entire message to me is something lots of us need to hear – have the courage to say how you really feel. Don’t keep everything in because you’re afraid of what people will think of you, or because you’re afraid they won’t hear you. It takes courage to find our inner strength when we’re not feeling strong. It takes courage to to take off the mask that we put on because we think that’s what others want to see, be vulnerable and to say how you’re really feeling.
Avivah
