Brave Lyrics

[Verse 2]
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
And show me, how big your brave is

[Chorus]
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


[Bridge]
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?

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About

Genius Annotation

“Brave” is the lead single of The Blessed Unrest. An upbeat pop song, it was co-written by Bareilles and Fun.’s Jack Antonoff. Bareilles has said that the song was meant to be a message to a friend who was struggling to come out as gay. In her memoir, Sounds Like Me, My Life (so far) in Song, she writes:

…[the song] became a love letter to a very dear friend of mine… she was struggling to come out with her evolving sexuality to friends and family and didn’t yet see a way to do it.

She goes on to discuss how it was a message she needed for herself, about how “we could try to be stronger than our weaknesses, and a shine a light on something better.”

Since its conception, the song has proved inspiring for a good many people. The University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital notably created a music video for the song.

Hillary Clinton also used the song frequently throughout her 2016 presidential campaign, a fact that Bareilles was clearly enthusiastic about.

The song is often compared to Katy Perry’s “Roar”. All parties are okay with that.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

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