Our society has certain expectations on how women should behave. Women are supposed to give up their uniqueness and independence to become the stereotypical shy and gentle, romantic that care only about their outward appearance. As a result, our society pressures women to conform to its expectations. However, there are women who choose to fight against this expectation by encouraging other women to be different — to be individual, independent, fierce, ambitious, and themselves.
One way they inspire each other is through songs. It is no different for P! nk, an American singer and songwriter, who is known for writing female-empowering songs. P! nk released her latest song titled “Just Like Fire” after she was asked to write a song for the movie Alice Through the Looking Glass. Her inspiration behind the song came from her daughter, Willow Park, and the movie. After watching the preview of the movie with her daughter Willow, P! k thought, “what’s awesome about Alice is the whole theme, from the start of the movie, is: Girls can do it, too. She’s the captain of her own ship, but it takes her femaleness to be that fierce” (Nelson). She wants her daughter to be like Alice: someone who is fierce and in charge of their life; however, she knows that society will pressure her to conform to their expectations through entertainment, media, and other means. Since she “is very conscious of the entertainment and media her daughter consumes,” P! k wrote “Just Like Fire” so that it will communicate the theme of the movie. She hopes this song will “keep Willow as empowered as possible” (Nelson).
In her song “Just Like Fire,” P! nk effectively use deliberate lyrics, similes, and rhetorical questions to convey the message that although life may be difficult, women should choose to live as themselves because that is the best outcome. The song begins by portraying the hardships of women who choose to live differently from society’s expectations. P! k sings in the first verse: I know that I’m running out of time I want it all, mmm, mmm And I’m wishing they’d stop tryna turn me off I want it on, mmm, mmm And I’m walking on a wire, trying to go higher Feels like I’m surrounded by clowns and liars Even when I give it all away I want it all, mmm, mmm (“Just Like Fire” Lyrics) The listeners can sympathize with these descriptive lyrics. Specifically, the lyrics “I want it all” and “I want in on,” depict women’s desire to live as themselves. They want to be charge in their life and make their own decisions.
They want to decide how they will live according to their desires and not by society’s expectations; however, the lyric “And I’m walking on a wire, trying to go higher” suggests that this life will be difficult. Women know they are living dangerously because society will not tolerate them behaving differently from their expectations. They do not know if they can succeed because society will do anything to stop them. Society will pressure them to act a certain way because society wants them to be the same as every other woman.
Although they face pressure, the lyric “And I’m wishing they’d stop tryna turn me off” suggests that they refuse to yield. They wish society will stop trying to change them because they refuse to become like everyone else, who they view as “clowns and liars. ” They do not want to be forced to behave in a way only to make society happy. Instead, they want to behave according to their desires. Nothing will stop their strong desire to be true to themselves.
Even if they are forced to “give it all away,” they still “want it it all, mmm, mmm. They always want to be themselves no matter what. After the first verse, listeners became familiar with what these women go through. They learn that although life may be difficult for them due to all the pressure, they refuse to become fake like everyone else and just want to be themselves. Following the first verse, P! nk uses fire as a symbol in the chorus to create a powerful image on how they will live as themselves.
The chorus begins with the lyrics “We came here to run it, run it, run it / We came here to run it, run it, run it / Just like fire, burning up the way. The repetition of the word “run” helps listeners understand the magnitude of their actions. They choose to run away from society’s expectations because they refuse to be someone they are not. Instead, they run their life however they want to because they want to live as themselves. They are just like fire–powerful and strong– and will create their own path just as fire burns a path. The lyrics “If I can light the world up for just one day / Watch this madness, colorful charade/ No one can be just like me any way” suggests the effect of their decision (“Just Like Fire” Lyrics).
When they can “light the world up,” they show and prove to society that they succeed at living as themselves. Society sees their success as “madness, colorful charade. ” Society thinks they are crazy and uncontrollable for wanting to be different. Society believes they are just pretending they can succeed at being themselves because their success can never happen. However, they will not be discouraged and try their hardest to prove they can live as themselves. Once they succeed, they will be “Just like magic, I’ll be flying free” (“Just Like Fire” Lyrics).
They will experience great freedom because they can behave however they want to. When this happens, society will attack them for being different. When society does this, the lyrics suggests what they will do: “I’mma disappear when they come for me /I kick that ceiling, what you gonna say? ” (“Just Like Fire” Lyrics). They will run away from the society because they will not let society convince them to stop. They will continue to create their own path and living as themselves. Following the chorus is an important verse that describes how living as themselves is the best outcome.
In the second verse, P! nk sings in the second verse: And people like to laugh at you ’cause they are all the same, mmm, mmm See I would rather we just go a different way than play the game mm, mm And no matter the weather, we can do it better You and me together, forever and ever We don’t have to worry ’bout a thing, ’bout a thing (“Just Like Fire” Lyrics) Specifically, the lyrics “You and me together, forever and ever / We don’t have to worry ’bout a thing, ’bout a thing” provides the reason as to why it is better to live as themselves.
Although society will ridicule them for trying to behave differently from everyone else, they should not care. Creating their own path is better than abiding to society’s expectation. Once they create their path, they are free to behave however they want because they no longer have to constrain their behavior. As long as they choose to take charge of their behavior, they can “forever and ever” behave the same because they do not have to worry about changing their behavior in order to fit other’s expectations.
After the second verse and chorus, listeners hopefully become inspired to be different after learning the benefits. After the second verse, P! nk encourages other women to live as themselves. She sings in third verse: So look I came here to run it Just ’cause nobody’s done it Y’all don’t think I can run it But look, I’ve been here, I’ve done it Impossible? Please Watch I do it with ease You just gotta believe Come on, come on with me (“Just Like Fire” Lyrics) These descriptive lyrics suggests that women can succeed in living as themselves as long as they believe they can do it.
At first, these women did not know if they could succeed because “nobody’s done it”; however, they took the chance and “came here to run it. ” Society thought it was “impossible. ” Society thought women will break down from all the pressure and give up; however, they prove society wrong because they succeed. Society can just “watch” them “do it with ease. ” Specifically, the lyric “You just gotta believe” provides the reason to their success. Because of their strong conviction to live as themselves, they are able to survive through the pressure.
Since they have succeed, they encourage other women to “come on, come on with me. ” They want other women to join them by being different from society’s expectation because they know other women can succeed as well as long as they believe they can. In addition to descriptive lyrics, the use of rhetorical questions in the third verse is another method in encouraging women to join them in living differently from society’s expectations.
The third verse consists of one rhetorical questions repeated four times: Oh, what’s a girl to do? (What, what? ) Hey, what’s a girl to do? (What, what? Oh, what’s a girl to do? (What, what? ) Oh, what’s a girl to do? (“Just Like Fire” Lyrics) These questions help women consider what they should do. The first instance asking “Oh, what’s a girl to do? ” makes women consider whether they should change themselves, so that they no longer be the same as everyone else. The next three questions work to further convince the listeners and emphasize that they should definitely change to live as themselves. Following these rhetorical questions, P! nk sings the chorus again. This implies that P! nk definitely suggests that women should create their own path in life.
They should join the successful women who are able to live as themselves. Through her song, P! nk urges women to be themselves despite the hardships. The lyrics paint the picture that women should live as themselves. Although the path will be difficult due to ridicule and pressure from society to change, they should not give up. Living as themselves is best thing they can do for themselves because they are able to experience the freedom in making their own decisions. As long as they have strong desire to be themselves, they will be successful because nothing can convince them to back down.
The simile helps provide the guideline on how they can live as themselves, where they should create their own path. Lastly, the rhetorical questions further encourages and convince the women to live as themselves. Women deserve to live the life they are meant to live instead of living a fake life. P! nk especially wanted to convey this message to her daughter since she knows Willow will face this situation. So, P! nk wants to encourage her daughter to overcome any hardships and always live as herself through this song. Not only does this song empower her daughter, but it will also empower all women.
