Need a pick me up to begin wrapping up the semester? Here’s some classic girl-power pop songs from this decade to empower your inner queen (or king). Come learn some awesome facts about the artists and the songs. Click on the Gifs to listen to the song. Happy listening!
“Diamonds” – Rihanna Rihanna has been empowering women since hitting the music industry at sixteen years old. “Diamonds” is a single from her 2012 album Unapologetic. This album departs her recurring theme of an unhealthy relationship. The Barbados singer describes, “The lyrics are hopeful and positive. It’s about love and the gears are different than what people will expect.” Fun fact: Sia wrote this song.
“Grown Woman” – Beyonce As a child, Beyonce charged houseguests $5 to see her perform. It’s like she knew that people would spend thousands of dollars for the BeyHive in twenty years. This catchy tune with its African-influenced beats and powerful lyrics has 59 million views on YouTube. It’s produced by Timbaland and features his beat boxing skills. It debuted as an exclusive track on her self-titled record in 2013.
“Shake It Out” – Florence + The Machine This song talks about wanting to shake out a hangover. Front woman, Florence Welch explains, “I wanted to just shake something out, shake out these regrets, shake out these things that haunt you.” The song features the haunting feel of the organ, the piercing pulse of the percussion and the powerful performance of Welch herself. She explains “Shake yourself out of it, things will be OK,” she continued. “[Because] sometimes I have to write songs for myself, reminding me to let it go. But then, the end refrain of ‘What the hell’ is really important as well, because you’ll dance with the devil again at some point.
“Brave” – Sara Bareilles Sara Bareilles admits she cries a lot and she doesn’t bother hiding it. Which is pretty “Brave” of her. She was inspired by her close friend was struggling with coming out. This song was the first single off her first studio album which came out in 2012. A year later, Katy Perry’s “Roar” came out which spread rumors that Perry’s song stole the melody of “Brave”. Bareilles breaks it down and says, “I don’t feel like anything was taken from me artistically. I wasn’t the one having any problems with it,” she said. “I’ve known Katy a long time. We are friends and she and I spoke about it. I look at it as two female artists who are releasing a message of empowerment.”
“Try Everything” – Shakira Shakira sings and portrays the pop singer ‘Gazelle’ in the Disney film, Zootopia. The Colombian singer requested Disney to make the character’s hips bigger because she thought her original design was too skinny. This song was also written by Sia and the same team that brought “Diamonds” to life. This song is all about being empowered to follow your dreams no matter how big they are.
Slay baby, slay this semester!
Gifs from Giphy