“Not Afraid Anymore.”
By Halsey. After listening to the song, despite all the goosebumps, I even have the urge to book Halsey’s next show. I’m not exactly a fan of “Fifty Shades” series. But this song, this. I was blown. I found it powerful. I’ve noticed the trend in music these days grows darker and darker, ever since the days of Lorde and the Weeknd a few years back (shout out to SONGS, love that company). The sound is thicker. The emotion is so much more intense. It’s a thunderstorm.
But there is more than just the sound. There’s an intense emotion going on in this song that is so precious, added so much color. To be fair, for a very long time, popular music has lost this element. Specifically, true emotion which people can relate to.
But music without emotion is just noise.
And almost no one resinates to lying on piles of hundred dollar bills and feel like they are the king of the world, or “throwing money and f**king bi**hes.” There was a time when this type of music dominates our charts and radios. But it’s not a relatable experience or feeling. It’s called showing off. Luckily, no one appreciate it anymore.
I’m glad that the relatable stories are coming back, bit by bit, slowly, finally. Though some people say it’s artificial, it’s at last relatable once more. The dark days are finally coming to an end.
“I am not afraid anymore
Standing in the eye of the storm”
Sure, this song is an erotic piece. It is meant to accompany the movie, Fifty Shades Darker. And yes, it is talking about sex. But I see it in broader terms: to admit fear, to be true to yourself, to overcome your fear. Admit that you have needs and wants, some may be dark, some may even be crazy. Admit that you have fear and insecurity.
Sometimes just to admit them is hard. Sometimes you can’t even look at yourself this way. Because we are all taught and brought up in a way that’s telling us to be ashamed of part of ourselves. Institutions, authorities, society expectation all told us that something intrinsic of us is wrong, shameful, impure. We all are the product of this world. But we have to admit it. At one point or another, we all have to get over our psychological obstacle and explore deeply about ourselves. It’s the only way we can embrace our true selves, who we really are, what we are meant to be. It’s the only way that we can finally find our inner peace and happiness. The colorful, complex emotion is what make us humanly. That includes anger, fear, insecurity, disappointment. Don’t resist it.
The power I hear in this piece is enormous. What kind of patriarchal world do we live in that make this kind of piece so relatable? Since when admitting that you have feelings, wants, needs become so shameful? How come this world implements so many rules that we have to pretend to be someone else just to live? What does it take to make up your mind to be yourself? How much courage do you need to take the lead and speak it out loud to the entire world?
If this is not female empowerment, if this is not empowerment for us all, male and female, I don’t know what is.
“Not Afraid Anymore” by Halsey