Y’all. Demi Lovato is my girl. There was a time in my life, my early twenties to be exact, when I lived with my parents, worked the graveyard shift at a local hotel, and generally moped around. I was supposed to be completing an online course to become certified as a teacher, but most nights, my heart wasn’t in it and I’d watch endless hours of YouTube instead. One of the shows I came across and loved was Disney’s “Sonny with a Chance.” It was ridiculous and silly and way too young for me, but it was three a.m. and there was no one around to judge. Sometimes you love what you love.
The biggest thing that drew me to this show was Demi Lovato. There was something so open and unabashed about her. She always gave it her all.
Then I saw her sing and play guitar on “Ellen,” performing her song “Don’t Forget” off her debut album of the same name. Just like in her TV show, she gave this performance her all. I went out and bought the album and I’ve bought every one of hers since. Throughout the years, Demi’s been through some shit, and usually she’s pretty open about her struggles and her pain. She’s always strove to be a role model for other girls and women, but with this latest album, she’s shed the restraints of what society says a role model “should” look and act like and has decided to just be herself.
It was honestly so hard to pick one song off this album because I love all of them, but in the end, I decided to go with the huge opening track, “Confident.” It sums up so perfectly what this album stands for—being true to oneself with no shame and no apologies.
The track comes in with a fanfare of horns blasting the melody. Then a marching band drum line enters. This is the kind of song you’d play at a pep rally. Every time the drumbeat comes in, I feel a surge of adrenaline, a need to go out in the world and kick ass. Demi cheers wholeheartedly for herself, and damn it, I’m cheering for myself too.
In the first chorus she makes it clear that she’s done worrying about what the world says she should be. “This is my game and you better come to play.” Right before she heads into the chorus, she says, “You’ve had me underrated.” I’ve always known Demi has supreme vocal chops, but in this song you can sense the delight she has in letting them run free, letting them dominate, letting them prove exactly what she’s singing about.
Shortly after the song came out, FLOTUS included it on her girl power Spotify playlist and tweeted to Demi Lovato, “And thank you for empowering girls, @ddlovato!”
And thank you for empowering girls, @DDLovato! #62MillionGirls https://t.co/tyGI7jLHFK
— The First Lady (@FLOTUS) October 13, 2015
This month, as I reach for dreams that seem almost too great to imagine and as I question whether I can actually achieve them, I turn this song up super loud and ask myself what Demi asks in her song, “What’s wrong with being confident?”
If you like this track, check out “Kingdom Come” and “Waiting for You” off her latest album.
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