July 4th is a special day in the United States of America.
It's the 236th birthday of the good ole' U. S. of A.
If you think about it, today can be more than the country's independence day. It can be a day that we choose to take back our independence from whatever it is holding us back. It also might mean we surrender that fierce independence and begin to allow ourselves to lean on others for support. Today can be a lot more than just the birthday of a nation.... it can be a celebration of a personal victory, celebrating one step closer toward freedom from whatever it is holding you back.
With that in mind.... I'm revisiting Week 7... yep, that means another song! As cliche as this is for today, this song is one of my all time favorites. I remember when it first came out, how the words spoke to the depths of my cells, and the lyrics filled me with hope. I actually did a pretty dynamic writing assignment with my students using this song. The video is quite powerful, but even more powerful is the story behind the video's creation. Enjoy!
Week 7: Words that Give Me Meaning - Take 7
Firework by Katy Perry
(lyrics below video)
(Check out the making of the video at the end of this post!)
Do you ever feel like a plastic bag,
Drifting through the wind
Wanting to start again?
Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin
Like a house of cards,
One blow from caving in?
Do you ever feel already buried deep?
Six feet under screams but no one seems to hear a thing
Do you know that there's still a chance for you
'Cause there's a spark in you
You just gotta ignite the light, and let it shine
Just own the night like the 4th of July
'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Ah, ah, ah"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y
Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go "ah, ah, ah"
You're gonna leave 'em all in "awe, awe, awe"
You don't have to feel like a wasted space
You're original, you cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow
Maybe a reason why all the doors are closed
So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will glow
And when it's time, you'll know
You just gotta ignite the light, and let it shine
Just own the night like the 4th of July
'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Ah, ah, ah"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y
Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Ah, ah, ah"
You're gonna leave 'em all in "awe, awe, awe"
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It's always been inside of you, you, you
And now it's time to let it through-ough-ough
'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Ah, ah, ah"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y
Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Ah, ah, ah"
You're gonna leave 'em all in "awe, awe, awe"
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
Drifting through the wind
Wanting to start again?
Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin
Like a house of cards,
One blow from caving in?
Do you ever feel already buried deep?
Six feet under screams but no one seems to hear a thing
Do you know that there's still a chance for you
'Cause there's a spark in you
You just gotta ignite the light, and let it shine
Just own the night like the 4th of July
'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Ah, ah, ah"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y
Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go "ah, ah, ah"
You're gonna leave 'em all in "awe, awe, awe"
You don't have to feel like a wasted space
You're original, you cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow
Maybe a reason why all the doors are closed
So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will glow
And when it's time, you'll know
You just gotta ignite the light, and let it shine
Just own the night like the 4th of July
'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Ah, ah, ah"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y
Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Ah, ah, ah"
You're gonna leave 'em all in "awe, awe, awe"
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It's always been inside of you, you, you
And now it's time to let it through-ough-ough
'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Ah, ah, ah"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y
Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Ah, ah, ah"
You're gonna leave 'em all in "awe, awe, awe"
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
Updated to add a great article I just read via Twitter -
Declaring Independence from Body Image Saboteurs
this is such an empowering song! and it's so fun to belt out and sing a long too. ; )
ReplyDeletei love what you say about this day being a symbol of (not only our countries independence) but ALSO our independence from whatever is holding us down. lovely! <3
I SO love this song. I saw KP in concert last summer and this song was just amazing live! Such fun to sing, even in my fingernails-on-blackboard voice :)
DeleteIndependence is pretty big, huh... if only it were simple to declare it!