Music Review: Sara Bareilles "Brave"

Sara Bareilles

Brave

Album: The Blessed Unrest

Year: 2013

           Sara Bareilles lectures her daughter on standing up for herself in the maternal “Brave.”

          Controlled synths open the single, setting a lightened tone.  Her fourteen-year-old daughter clutches her stomach, saying she feels like she’s going to throw up for the second day in the row. It’s that group of four girls again at school who keep bothering her. She tells her daughter to go back upstairs to bed.  She was afraid of her being bullied. Her oldest, her son, knew how to handle himself and she had always wished her daughter would’ve learned from him. However, she is the shy one. After making her some breakfast with crackers and tea, she sits on her bed to have a talk with her. First, she tells her she is incredibly smart. She can’t internalize what those girls are calling her (ugly, pig, etc) and fade into the background. It’s what they want. She explains she has to talk back. Otherwise, she will eventually start believing their insults. (“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/And they settle beneath your skin/Kept on the inside and no sunlight/Sometimes a shadow wins/But I wonder what would happen if you.”)

          In the chorus, she tells her that she would love for her to tell them off and say what she feels. It would make her proud. (“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.”)

      Her daughter tells her that one of the girls found her in the hallway and stood face to face, her gaze fixed on her.  She continues to say it’s what made her afraid to go to school. She thought the girl was going to beat her up. She tells her daughter that if it happens again to say something to the girl. She adds that she hopes her daughter will outgrow her shyness. (“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, 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.”)

              The second chorus is sung again. (“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.”)

            In the bridge, she caresses her daughter’s face, saying she’s a wonderful little girl. However, being quiet in life isn’t going to get her anywhere. It will only cause her to be alone and unhappy once she gets older. She needs to learn to be outgoing now. (“Innocence, 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?”)

           The first chorus is sung again with an extra “I just wanna see you..I wanna see you brave” section added.
 
          She says “I just wanna see you” three times to end the single.

        Bareilles’ nurturing vocals bolster her child’s confidence. At the end, her daughter hugs her and says she will go back to school tomorrow. Whether the advice turns out to be helpful is quite another. Nonetheless, she ends up trying to change her into some extrovert overnight. Shuness is a personality trait which is viewed to be shameful and undesirable in the single (most apparent in the bridge).  Some people are quiet. Simply telling them to speak up is a non-answer equal to “boys will be boys.” It solves nothing.

      The condescending  “Brave” misses the point of the entire self-esteem theme.