Do you have any personal anthems? Songs that hold special meaning for you?
In September I posted about Project Truly Brave, which involved Sara Bareilles and Cyndi Lauper performing a mashup of their hits “Brave” and “True Colors.” Each of these songs is surely the personal anthem of many—and now “Truly Brave” has also hit that mark.
More recently Aretha Franklin came out with a collection of covers (“Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics”) that includes a couple quasi-mashups of anthemic tunes. Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep,” for example, has a little “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” added to it; Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” gets a bit of Destiny Child’s “Survivor.”
Well, I thought it would be fun to create my own mashup—though I can see no way of doing it other than, using a bunch of lyrical excerpts, making one ginormous “poem.” In other words, fortunately for you, there’ll be no video involving me (or anyone else, for that matter) singing.
Although not all my selected songs have been anthemic specifically for me, they have been for others. One such example is Katy Perry‘s “Firework,” which a young pianist with autism, Jodi DiPiazza, got the singer to perform with her a couple years ago for a Comedy Central benefit. Update, June 2015: As far as I know, the clip is no longer available.
My compilation, presented below, includes a few different themes: Being and Accepting Yourself, Strength and Surviving, and Love/Friendship. The hyperlinks denote the titles of personal anthems excerpted.
You don’t have to feel
Like a waste of space.
You’re original
Cannot be replaced. (Firework)
…(Y)our history of silence
Won’t do you any good. (Brave)
Life’s not worth a damn,
‘Til you can say, “Hey world, I am what I am.” (I Am What I Am)
(Ain’t this my world to be who I choose?) (I’m Beautiful)
If I fail, if I succeed
At least I’ll live as I believe.
No matter what they take from me
They can’t take away my dignity. (The Greatest Love of All)
Something inside so strong
I know that I can make it .(Something Inside So Strong)
I’m a survivor
I’m gonna make it. (Survivor)
I get knocked down. But I get up again. You’re never gonna keep me down. (Tubthumping)
If you fall I will catch you — I’ll be waiting
Time after time. (Time After Time)
I won’t give up on us
Even if the skies get rough. (I Won’t Give Up)
Every road is a slippery slope
There is always a hand that you can hold on to.
Looking deeper through the telescope
You can see that your home’s inside of you. (93 Million Miles)
I found the greatest love of all
Inside of me… (The Greatest Love of All)
But I know I’m who I am today
Because I knew you. (For Good)
How about you? Mashable or not, what personal anthems resonate with you?
Great post! It would take me weeks to do that, but here are my high-level mash-ups and themes: Offering encouragement to someone down (True Colors, C. Lauper; Shake It Off, T. Swift); Being distressed about the world (World on Fire, S. McLachlan; Break Your Heart, N. Merchant; What’s Going On, M. Gaye); Finding happiness in life (Days Like This, V. Morrison; Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow, F. Mac; These are the Days, N. Merchant; What A Wonderful World); Searching for yourself (On the Road To Find Out, Cat Stevens; This Year, C. Kreviazuk); Finding love (Northern Sky, Nick Drake; Cool, Clear Water, B. Raitt; Simple, Kd Lang; Somebody Loved, Weepies).
I’m so impressed with how quickly you put those together!
I’m impressed by both of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All you need is love, love. All you really need is love. And the love you take is equal to the love you make. Imagine.
Thanks for such a great blog!!
Thank you! Such a clever little ditty!!