For the second live session in my somewhat spontaneous Ukulele Lives this year, I chose the theme of self-love — or as RuPaul reminds me nightly on Drag Race, “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?”
The four songs in this set are:
Molly Tuttle, “Crooked Tree”
Cass Elliot (Mama Cass), “Make Your Own Kind of Music”
Lucius, “Wildewoman”
Taylor Swift, “You’re On Your Own, Kid”
And as I mentioned in the session, my incredibly talented friend Joi is the spark behind the radio show Electric Radio Club, and last year she asked me to pick a song for an episode “where the lyrics jumped out at you and changed your life.”
This is what I replied re: “You’re On Your Own, Kid” — and honestly, this can really pass as the manifesto for the whole set:
“You’re On Your Own Kid” is track five (iykyk) from Midnights, an album it took me some time to warm up to but which has become one of my most beloved in her oeuvre.
It’s also the song with the famous “make the friendship bracelets” line that kickstarted that whole phenomenon, but it’s the entire final stanza of the song that sticks with me the most.
In the song, the narrator talks about specific instances where she craved the approval of others, where she felt the need to be loved and accepted or where someone else’s judgment or opinion was supposedly the key to her success and happiness — and how each time, that approval or love was a false front.
By the end of the song, the narrator realizes that these external validations are just window dressing, and the refrain “you’re on your own, kid” goes from a rueful lament to a proud declaration:
“Cause there were pages turned with the bridges burned
Everything you lose is a step you take
So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it
You’ve got no reason to be afraid
You’re on your own, kid
Yeah, you can face this
You’re on your own, kid
You always have been”
Now I consider this song to be one of the Taylor songs that “gets me” the most. I compare it to tarot card The World — the final card of the major arcana, the culmination of the hero’s journey, the infinite possibilities of being complete just as you are.
You had it within you the whole time. Step into the power of BEING YOU.
I’m having so much fun doing these and can’t wait for the next one!
If you have any song suggestions you’d like to challenge me with, or a theme you want to throw out there, let me know.
